A film we first profiled back in July, and which was met with mixed reactions will be released this weekend in a limited number of theaters.
Titled Joy Road, and directed by Harry Davis, the film stars Wood Harris and Jamie Hector, both of The Wire fame, Nbushe Wright, Obba Babatunde and Roger Guenveur Smith, and centers on a successful lawyer (Harris) who, after finally uprooting himself from the hood he grew up in, soon finds himself unfortunately way in over his head, when he agrees to help his troubled sister (Wright) defend her boyfriend after he’s arrested for murder. He becomes a pawn in a conspiracy to pass laws that fill up prisons, as Sergio’s initial write-up of the film noted.
This Friday, October 21st, Joy Road will open in Detroit (where it’s set), Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington DC, St Louis (MO), and Chicago. For specific theater locations in those cities, visit the film’s website HERE.
Mike D at ReelBlack (in support of the film’s theatrical run in Philly) recently interviewed director Harry Davis, covering a variety of topics related to the film, as well as the industry; I embedded an enlightening clip below in which Davis talks funding and distribution of Black Independent cinema, using his film as a model (he talks about how he raised the money with the assist of former pro athletes like Charles Oakley and other business people, and more); and underneath that is the film’s trailer if you missed it the first time:
