Drylongso (15)

USA | 1998 | 86’ | 15 | Cauleen Smith | Toby Smith, April Barnett

Pica is a young photographer who takes pictures of the young Black men in her area. She fears for their futures, having seen so many of them killed or lost to the unfeeling prison system of the United States. One night, she meets Tobi, who’s been abused by her boyfriend. The two form a close friendship, whilst a serial killer, ‘The Westside Slasher’, starts killing many of the men Pica has photographed. The film’s title Drylongso is a word derived from the Gullah people of South Carolina and Georgia that means ‘ordinary’ or ‘ordinariness’. Instead of capturing ordinariness, director Cauleen Smith finds instead something deeply tender and sad by using Pica’s photography to delve into her relationship with those around her and her environment, her friendships and family, gender and a pre-gentrified Oakland.