ORIGIN

Director: Ava DuVernay

2023, 141min., PG-13

Cast: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Niecy Nash-Betts Jon Bernthal Vera Farmiga Nick Offerman Victoria Pedretti

(Open Captioning) available Monday, February 26 at 7 pm

 

It is impossible to imagine another director other than Ava DuVernay (Selma, When They See Us) taking a Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller that explores a new way to understand racism through the lens of caste, and turn it into a mind-opening and profoundly moving film. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (2023’s The Color Purple) stars as author Isabel Wilkerson, who embarks on a life-changing journey into the ways that racism in the U.S. is just one example of how powerful elites keep their designated underclass down. She travels to Germany to explore chilling Nazi archives and meet with people affected by the Holocaust. In India, she explores the caste system that keeps the Dalit, once called “Untouchables” stuck at the lowest rung of society, and meets activists fighting for Dalit rights. Intertwined with her intellectual voyage are her personal losses, family, and exciting possibility of new conversations. “A dense, forceful masterwork, and, quite simply, the most radical film of DuVernay’s career.” – Robert Daniels, rogerebert.com