SLAM
DIRECTED BY | Marc Levin
PRODUCED BY | Henri M. Kessler, Marc Levin, Richard Stratton
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS | Henri M. Kessler, David Peipers
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER | Daphne Pinkerson
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY | Mark Benjamin
WRITTEN BY | Marc Levin, Richard Stratton
EDITED BY | Emir Lewis
MUSIC BY | DJ Spooky
AWARD | Sundance Grand Jury Prize, Cannes Golden Camera
STARRING | Saul Williams, Sonja Sohn, Beau Sia, Bonz Malone and Lawrence Williams
“Brace yourself for a slam-dunk of a movie, in an in-your-face cinema verite-style that makes Godard's 'Breathless' seem like a cartoon. Art redeems Life.” - HOLLYWOOD REPORTER JAN. 6, 1998
“Freedom isn’t out there, it's in here…. Never give anyone the power to take away your freedom.” - SONJA SOHN IN SLAM
SYNOPSIS | SLAM, starring Saul Williams, Sonja Sohn, and Bonz Malone, is a powerful work of cinema verite that portrays the story of a young black performance poet, Raymond Joshua (Saul Williams), who is arrested and imprisoned for a petty marijuana charge in a Washington, D.C. jail. Although the confining prison walls do little to shield him from danger, it is within those walls that Raymond establishes his identity, strength and voice, and meets a prison gang leader (Bonz Malone) and a prison writing teacher, Lauren Bell (Sonja Sohn). Bell inspires Raymond to use the power of creative expression to free himself from the struggles and demise of the black male, as another victim of the judicial system. Sublime poetry and heart wrenching realism, SLAM is itself a testament to the importance and the impact of artistic expression.
MORE INFO | Buy the DVD movie | Buy the VHS movie | The Book | The Soundtrack
LINKS | Saul Williams | Sohja Sohn | Bob Holman | Nuyorican Cafe