The African Desperate (2022)

The first 24 hours as an MFA. Palace (Diamond Stingily) is a tall black Aquarius and a sculptor on the up. She was in the Venice Biennale, among other shows, which pisses people off; they think her success is not because of her art, but other attributes. She is exhausted, frustrated, and wants to go home to see her family. She plans a silent protest to not attend the graduation party, even though she has promised DJ. In her first feature film, artist Martine Syms applies her celebrated conceptual grit, humor, and social commentary to the cinematic form, where the natural beauty of upstate New York abuts the Day-Glo druggy haze of an art party. With a banging soundtrack and cinematography that references street photography, giddy gonzo cinema and 1990s high-school romcoms, The African Desperate ultimately chronicles the need for release and emancipation from mental slavery.