By Arturo R. García
When last we left Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale, it had earned both the top prizes and a distribution deal at the Sundance Film Festival.
Now known as Fruitvale Station, the film is continuing to win acclaim, this time at the Cannes Film Festival. As star Michael B. Jordan, who plays Oscar Grant, the victim of a police shooting on New Year’s Day 2009, told the Associated Press:
“It’s electric. It’s like March Madness. It’s that time of year where everyone’s just in it, talking about movies.
…
“I don’t want to be that ignorant American who comes over here and expects everyone to love it: ‘Oh, you got to love it because it’s hot over there. I want people to be excited about it because it really affects them.”
The trailer above offers a glimpse into not just the events leading up to Grant’s death, but the world he was trying to rebuild with himself, his mother (Octavia Spencer), his partner Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and their daughter Tatiana (Ariana Neal). One thing that did strike me from the footage so far: we’re going to get at least some interpretation of how the shooting was captured on video by witnesses, and the police response.
Fruitvale opens on July 26, which places it in a relatively slow week in the middle of summer blockbuster season. The only “major” film opening that week appears to be Hugh Jackman’s The Wolverine. According to Movie Insider, the other films of note debuting are the Cate Blanchett/Alec Baldwin/Louis C.K. project Blue Jasmine and Blackfish, a documentary that uses the story of a killer whale responsible for the deaths of three trainers to shed light on how orcas are treated in captivity.
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