Play it Safe (2021)
Play it Safe
”A young black man challenges racial stereotypes in a London drama school.”
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Why watch this film?
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW Festival, ‘Play it Safe’ is a short but intense short film that calls into question unconscious racism in places and situations where, in theory, racism no longer exists, all based on the story of a young black man participating in a theater class, but is pigeonholed into the same racial stereotypes. It is the kind of cinematic work that concentrates serious reflections on stereotypes in its very brief footage, further increasing the impact of the visceral leading performance of Jonathan Ajayi, as well as that of the script by also director Mitch Kalisa.
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Plot summary
Jonathan is out of place in his middle-class London drama school. Pigeon-holed for a role as a Black hoodlum in a classmate’s play and coaxed by his teacher to take the typecast part, Jonathan decides to demonstrate to his peers the prejudices, during a class role play exercise.
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