Bronx Gothic

"I saw Okwui Okpokwasili in her piece Bronx Gothic and the top of my head blew off. The piece is a tour de force on the order of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, the author’s seminal text on black girlhood and power."—Hilton Als, New Yorker

"No matter what she does, [Okpokwasili] is riveting."—New York Times

Catch one of the most up-and-coming and adventurous artists working today in this electrifying new documentary from Andrew Rossi, the director of Page One: Inside the New York Times and The First Monday in May. Writer, performer, and choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili is fast becoming recognized as one of the most dynamic stage presences in the performing arts world, both through her solo work and her involvement with other artists, including many who have presented at the Wex, such as Young Jean Lee, Ralph Lemon, Richard Maxwell, and Julie Taymor. Even more recently she received national praise for her mesmerizing performance in Jay-Z's remarkable video "4:44". Bringing her acclaimed one-woman show Bronx Gothic to the movie screen, this intimate documentary captures her fusion of song, dance, and drama to tell the story of two 12-year-old black girls coming of age in the 1980s. The film provides unparalleled insight into the artist's creative process as well as the complex social issues embodied in it. As New York's Film Forum wrote, "Just as Ta-Nehisi Coates's writings demand that readers comprehend the dangers of being a black man, [Okpokwasili’s] riveting performance demands empathy for the poetry and pain of being a black girl." (91 mins., DCP)