- Title: FILM-DOPE Festival acclaimed indie teen comedy 'Dope' released in US
- Date: 17th June 2015
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (FILE-MAY 22, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CAST AND CREW OF 'DOPE' WALKING TO PHOTOCALL PHOTOGRAPHERS CAST BEING PHOTOGRAPHED LEAD ACTOR SHAMEIK MOORE JUMPING AT PHOTOCALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEAD ACTOR, SHAMEIK MOORE, SAYING: "We are not really acting. It doesn't feel like that. It feels like you're really watching something th
- Embargoed: 2nd July 2015 13:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA3V255CA5GCRNMH5XOF32792V2
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: ***WARNING CONTAINS PROFANITY***
After conquering Sundance and Cannes, urban teen comedy 'Dope' is released in US on Friday (June 19).
The film follows a teenager called Malcolm (Shameik Moore) who alongside his two best friends are geeks and do their own thing in a tough macho neighbourhood. They listen and play retro music and dress accordingly.
However, a chance meeting with Dom (A$AP Rocky) puts Malcolm on a journey discovering things he'd never experienced before - drugs, money and sex.
Shameik Moore, who plays the leading role in the film admitted "We are not really acting. It doesn't feel like that. It feels like you're really watching something that's happening in 2015. These are all subjects, these are all things, this is...these are all possible. You know, this is all possible in 2015, so I think the movie just hits home for everybody and you can just...It makes it clear. It gives a clear perspective on where everything is in our... in our community."
Zoe Kravitz plays the love interest Nakia. Speaking after the photocall about the success of the film, she said "I don't think I realised that everyone was as hungry as I was for something like this. I really wanted something that spoke to me, to my generation, a different view on black cinema, a different view on young people. So I think I realised that I'm not the only one that really wanted this film. This is that film you watch over and over again. It's the 'Friday' or the 'Risky Business' - those classic films and I think we really captured a generation and people are responding to that."
Pharrell Williams may be best known for his music, but on 'Dope' he has the role of executive producer as well as providing the soundtrack.
"If you were to look at a lot of the films and the television shows, they only give you one slice of what urban life is like but I feel that this film did a really good job of giving some diversity to not only our culture but everybody else's perspective on our culture so that's particularly exciting for me and 'i am OTHER' because that's what we're all about," he said.
A$AP Rocky also waded in on the fact that Hollywood films aren't reflective of urban life in America, saying: "I feel like with Hollywood, man, they always give these young directors these urban films. It's all so so low budget. It's always some 'Madea' film or some mother fucker talking about happy holidays or some Christmas film with a black family. Nobody wants to see that shit so that's why you know, we've got the 'Dope' thing going on right now. It's very jiggy, man, very groovy. You know what I'm saying?"
After the success of this film - it's been reported to have been sold to Sony Pictures and Open Road Films for $7 million - Williams is keen to do more.
"It is very definitely a very important arena and platform for us creatively. It's a way to get messages out. They're like these hour and change long Hallmark cards meant to lift other people and inspire them, so that's what you'll see with the film department over at 'i Am Other', films that lift people," he said.
'Dope', was screened in the Director's Fortnight selection at Cannes. It is opening in North America on June 15 and in the UK on September 4. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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