Each student of the arts has experienced the terror of having to justify their work in front of their teachers. In the first scene of “The African Desperate,” Palace (Diamond Stingily) listens as her four white teachers deliver comments full of convoluted terminology. As Palace clumsily struggles to keep her head above water during their interrogation, the professors start a piss-off about how great their creative achievements are. Palace’s final days at university as she prepares to return home to Chicago after completing her MFA continues in this same thematic and symbolic vein. The African Desperate, the first film directed by Martine Syms, is a coming-of-age tale about a young man’s search for stability and identity after leaving the relative safety of the school. Palace is the only student in the film who appears truly disoriented after graduating. Given that she is the film’s lone Black female protagonist and that she is first introduced in a scene where white academics are more concerned with invading her identity than analysing her work, the audience is immediately confronted with the stifling feeling of being a Black artist in the fine art sphere.
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Stingily does a fantastic job portraying Palace. Because her signature is a deadpan delivery, any emotional breakdowns she makes while she goes through her emotional difficulties and tribulations hit her all the harder. Stingily’s portrayal is palpable; her rough exterior and sharp wit remind us of real people we know. Friends Aidan (Cammisa Buerhaus) and Hannah (Erin Leland) and a kind of love interest, Ezra (Aaron Bobrow), round out the supporting ensemble, all of whom have a similar emotional quality to Palace. They’re credible because each one represents (to a different extent) a different sort of art school student. The actors are all professional performers, so the authenticity and sincerity of their portrayals really do ring true. These parts are precisely suited to bring out the best in Palace. After all, Stingily has his big moment in this film. The experimental score complements the film’s fast-paced action sequences and helps to keep its tone consistent even during quieter scenes.
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In one scenario, Palace is the DJ, and the jarring beats and melodies she plays highlight how hard she is working to maintain her own emotional stability. It is in these kinds of chains that Syms demonstrates her expert grasp of what makes a given moment either harmonic or disturbing. Syms’s influence can be seen in every scene, and no time or detail is wasted. The film’s cinematography reflects its base of turmoil and tranquilly. Its soft, golden light may sometimes make current pictures look like they were painted in the style of the Impressionists. The juxtaposition of the world in black light with the contrasting intensity of picturesque, romantic photographs is like a breath of fresh air. Martine Syms writes in a distinctive style that overflows with originality. Drawing on her own experience as an artist, Syms has blended both creative education, the shock of leaving the safety of the school, and cannabis, ketamine, and the awakening to one’s true nature to create a unique and potent concoction.
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