Jimmy

Documentary / History

In November 1948, James Baldwin left New York and, thanks to a fellowship grant, relocated to Paris. The 24-year-old writer would spend most of the next decade there, escaping American racism and his own social alienation, ensconcing himself in the city’s Algerian quarters and the community of Left Bank artists in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and writing his first books. In his first feature, photographer and filmmaker Yashaddai Owens imagines Baldwin’s first experiences in Paris in impressionistic fashion. Shooting in black-and-white on 16mm film, Owens conveys a subjective feeling of wonder and freedom as Baldwin (Benny O. Arthur) observes and absorbs his new environment, and experiences newfound individuality and erotic liberation. A work of exhilaration, set to a lush original score by Paco Andreo, Jimmy is a portrait of the artist reconnecting with the world.