Laney student's award winning 'The Sealed Letter' opens Oakland international film festival
Fifty-two films were screened in five venues in week-long event
Joe Kempkes
Issue date: 10/15/09 Last update: 10/16/09 at 5:02 PM PST
Section: Movie Reviews
Have you ever received a letter in the mail that actually changed your life? Well, if you are a young black man living in West Oakland, the right letter at the right time might not only change your life it might actually save it.
Mark (Tyree Moore) often wakes up to the sound of a police siren. On one of his bedroom walls is a photo of Tupac Shakur; on the opposite wall a photo of Barack Obama. Mark has all his bases covered: he can relate to both the murdered rap hero as well as the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
His mother Yolanda (Marion Mair) doesn't have money to pay her bills so she just throws them directly into the trash. She also tosses Mark's game changing scholarship letter sent to him from an out of state college.
Mark finds it, puts it in his pocket and heads out the door with his friend Don (Yaphet Santana). While they walk, Mark opens the letter and reads the scholarship offer. It's as if a giant hand reaches down, snatches him up and transports him to a more hopeful future far away from the snapping guard dogs, the police sirens and the throw-down hands guns of West Oakland.
The film "The Sealed Letter", which was screened at the Oakland International Film Festival, was produced by Sandra "Zondre" Smith, a Laney College student. She also was Assistant Director and co-wrote the script with Peralta TVs Taylor Wansley, who skillfully directed, edited, scored and served as the film's cinematographer.
The film captured the grim reality of life in West Oakland in its eight-minute running time. The relationship between Mark and his mom Yolanda is fraught with need: need for more money, need for safety and need for a better life. All three of these needs may have continued if Mark hadn't fished the scholarship letter out of the trash.
The acting was uniformly professional and production values were remarkably high for such a low budget production. The script and Wansley's taut editing propelled the story forward. Camera work by John Kahn and assistant Tre Vion Foster was especially good particularly in their liberal use of extreme close-ups.
Producer Sandra Smith also wrote and did a pitch perfect performance of her song "Wise Up" on the soundtrack.
Mark (Tyree Moore) often wakes up to the sound of a police siren. On one of his bedroom walls is a photo of Tupac Shakur; on the opposite wall a photo of Barack Obama. Mark has all his bases covered: he can relate to both the murdered rap hero as well as the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
His mother Yolanda (Marion Mair) doesn't have money to pay her bills so she just throws them directly into the trash. She also tosses Mark's game changing scholarship letter sent to him from an out of state college.
Mark finds it, puts it in his pocket and heads out the door with his friend Don (Yaphet Santana). While they walk, Mark opens the letter and reads the scholarship offer. It's as if a giant hand reaches down, snatches him up and transports him to a more hopeful future far away from the snapping guard dogs, the police sirens and the throw-down hands guns of West Oakland.
The film "The Sealed Letter", which was screened at the Oakland International Film Festival, was produced by Sandra "Zondre" Smith, a Laney College student. She also was Assistant Director and co-wrote the script with Peralta TVs Taylor Wansley, who skillfully directed, edited, scored and served as the film's cinematographer.
The film captured the grim reality of life in West Oakland in its eight-minute running time. The relationship between Mark and his mom Yolanda is fraught with need: need for more money, need for safety and need for a better life. All three of these needs may have continued if Mark hadn't fished the scholarship letter out of the trash.
The acting was uniformly professional and production values were remarkably high for such a low budget production. The script and Wansley's taut editing propelled the story forward. Camera work by John Kahn and assistant Tre Vion Foster was especially good particularly in their liberal use of extreme close-ups.
Producer Sandra Smith also wrote and did a pitch perfect performance of her song "Wise Up" on the soundtrack.
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