After collaborating on Patrik-Ian Polk’s Blackbird, Isaiah Washington and Mo’Nique will pair up again, to star in another indie drama by another black filmmaker, Choice Skinner, titled We Are Family.
You have to appreciate Washington’s motivations over the last couple of years or so, attaching himself to smaller, what would be deemed *riskier* independent movies, written and directed by black filmmakers (mostly) who, otherwise, may not have access to an actor of his abilities and name recognition – from Russ Parr to Tony Abulu, to Matthew Cherry, Patrik-Ian Polk, and now Choice Skinner.
Of course, I can’t leave out his quietly-unnerving performance in Alexandre Moors’ Blue Caprice.
And he’s apparently bringing Mo’Nique along for the ride, as the pair embark on a new journey together, in Skinner’s second feature directorial effort.
In We Are Family, five siblings reunite for the funeral of their father and arrest of a brother, facing a murder charge. The film shifts between the past (their childhood) and the present (25 years later) to tell its tale of these now estranged adult siblings.
Washington will play the alcoholic father.
And, by the way, Orlando Jones and Daniele Watts also co-star.
A spring shoot in Michigan is eyed, with Washington’s Coalhouse Productions, Skinner’s Darkan Entertainment, Driveby Entertainment and Hicks Media Productions all producing.
