FanFare

Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright)'s writing career has stalled because his work isn't deemed "Black enough." Monk, a writer and English professor, writes a satirical novel under a pseudonym, aiming to expose the publishing world's hypocrisies. The book's immediate success forces him to get deeper enmeshed in his assumed identity and challenges his closely-held worldviews. (Based on Percival Everett's Erasure.) [more inside]
posted by praemunire on Dec 10, 2023 - 30 comments

Ayşe returns to her hometown in northeastern Turkey to nurse her gravely ill mother. She promises to fulfill the dying woman's last wish: to care for her beloved bee farms. AKA Keeping the Bees. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Sep 11, 2023 - 1 comment

Three siblings, exhausted by the monotony of day-to-day adulthood, seek to find fulfillment and freedom from their unremarkable lives. [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on May 31, 2022 - 3 comments

A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations. (Written and directed by Alice Wu) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Aug 1, 2020 - 3 comments

Jessica convinces Seth to visit his estranged brother, Richard, who recently married Alice Davies. When Richard is found murdered, it's up to Jessica to sort the family drama (including Richard's two adult children from a prior marriage) from the stories around the apparently cursed ruby from India, while dealing with Lt. Steven Ames, who is sure that JB is working for some government agency.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 17, 2015 - 3 comments

Jessica is honored to have been invited to Crenshaw College to receive an honorary degree and give the commencement address. The head of the English department is her old friend Dr. Jocelyn Laird. A reception at Jocelyn's home in interrupted when her daughter Daphne Clover, the rich and successful writer of trashy romance novels, arrives unannounced with her boyfriend Nick Fulton. They are loud and rude leaving Jocelyn thoroughly embarrassed. Jocelyn is having other problems as well. She needs to appoint a new Deputy Head for the English department and must choose between Alger Kenyon and Ron Mercer, one of whom will be deeply disappointed with her choice. When Nick Fulton is found dead, Daphne is the immediate suspect, though Jocelyn eventually confesses. Jessica thinks they're both innocent and seeks out the true killer.
posted by filthy light thief on Nov 11, 2014 - 6 comments