BLACK TABLE
Spotlight Documentary
Feature | United States | 93 MINUTES | English
Yale’s Class of 97′ boasted the largest admission of black students in the university’s history. Filmmakers John Antonio James and Bill Mack bring Tribeca 2024 BLACK TABLE, a documentary that delves into the complexities of learning, thriving, and simply existing within a predominantly white Ivy environment and beyond.
The documentary interviews an array of graduates from the 90s. Each comes from a different background, but in almost every admission story, parental involvement plays a vital role in communicating with guidance counselors.
As the spouse of a Yale School of Management ’13 grad and president of The SOM Partners Club during our time in New Haven, hearing The Whiffenpoofs sing is a nostalgic sensory memory. To no one’s surprise, we are both white. The reality for the featured alum evokes vastly different experiences, particularly their introduction to the environment. One thing they all had in common is that each individual had their validity and accomplishments relentlessly challenged.
Commons is the university’s overwhelmingly beautiful dining hall. Everyone who sees it likens it to something straight out of Harry Potter. Our alums describe making room for other black students, thus creating a safe space for their community, sometimes pushing tables together to grow the joy and share their daily knowledge and experiences. It is described as black excellence training for their time on Yale’s campus. 
There is no escaping the discussion of Affirmation Action, and filmmakers fully understand it. We delve into the racist talking points that thrive today in diminishing accomplishments and a sense of belonging. An explosive incident at Naples forced Yale and its student body to confront the reality of being black on campus. Rodney King changed the name of the game from a student action standpoint. Then O.J. Simpson’s trial reignited cultural tension.
A fascinating conversation surrounds reasons not to sit at the black table. Alums discuss that perhaps the table hindered their growth, their fear of branching out, and the ensuing judgment from their black peers. It is a complicated conversation that continues with their children.
The photos from the alums are storytelling gold. When friends get together in 2022, they break down their college experiences, childhoods, and ancestral wisdom. One statement from the film succinctly tackles the overall message: “Even if it were affirmative action that got you here, affirmative action is not keeping you here.” BLACK TABLE is a history lesson and a celebrated tour through years of black excellence.
Black Table
Remaining Screenings of Black Table:
The documentary is by turns uplifting and shattering. Most powerfully, it is a stark reminder of the human costs of ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. Unbelievably, this week will mark 2 years since Russia’s invasion and escalation of the conflict. While the war may not be at the forefront of the public conscious in 2024 to the same degree as it once was, it remains a constant for the staff and families at Veselka. This is not an overseas battle for them – these are their loved ones and families fighting and dying while the world moves on to the next crisis.
On-the-ground video from January 6th, up close and personal from cell phones, retraumatizes the viewer. The new footage is mind-boggling and will undoubtedly fill you with rage and disgust. The film features sociologists, authors, historians, lawyers, and pastors. We examine the Constitution and the precise articles requiring separation of church and state. We look at evolving statistics on social issues through the years. The interconnectedness of women’s rights, race, and power is undeniable. 
Violence as a means of “spiritual defense” comes directly from the pulpit over and over. The film effectively builds towards January 6th by wading through the madness swirling in the years prior. It is utterly bewildering and 100 percent terrifying. This coordinated effort to keep people in a cult is deliberate and well-funded. History repeats itself. Wait until you find out the architect of Evangelical sermons. 
GOD & COUNTRY keenly explores the long history and bastardization of Christianity through White Nationalism. It is a political movement about power. America is a ticking time bomb encouraged by social media, media, and billions of dollars. Stay vigilant and show up at the polls because democracy depends on it.
The documentary follows Tina Cordova as she advocates for herself and her fellow “downwinders.” Downwinders are innocent bystanders who may have suffered negative health effects from the Trinity test – the 1945 detonation of a newly developed nuclear weapon in New Mexico.
The anecdotes from the immediate aftermath of the nuclear test are truly horrifying. One particularly striking recounting involves children playing with what they thought was “warm snow, but may have actually been nuclear fallout. Still more disturbing is the potential generational effects of the test. There are recounts of stillbirths, of children born without eyes, and of widespread cases of cancer across the affected communities. Cordova herself is a thyroid cancer survivor, the 4th generation in her family to have cancer since the test in 1945.
Political spin can make or break a campaign. Those few who possess the skill have the power to command entire nations. In the Bloomquist Brothers’ latest film, FOUNDERS DAY, a small-town mayoral race brings chaos in the form of a serial killer dressed as, you guessed it, a twisted Founding Father straight out of a cliche painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As members of the town of Fairwood get knocked off, one by one, the race is one to find the killer and their ultimate motive. Tackling every political hot-button issue and tactic with a bucket of gore, FOUNDERS DAY is here to mix things up.
DIG! XX
To find out more information on all things Sundance 2024, head to 
TIME BOMB Y2K makes terrific points about the effects of technology on human interaction. The film delves into how certain groups of people reacted during the unknown. Some folks became preppers, while others cried “Hoax” from the beginning. It’s a perfect metaphor for the power of disinformation, closely mirroring how a particular subsection of alt-right people think a homegrown militia uprising is coming. I had no idea this existed in preparation for Y2K. We have to take into consideration how the world reacted during COVID. The potential for violence equals the potential for peace. It is a fine line. 
As a whole, DISTANT TALES tackles all the chaos of lockdown in complex ways. Each story gets under the audience’s skin for vastly different reasons. If nothing else, Bitterman’s keen observation of human desperation will undoubtedly have people talking.
We have been lucky enough to have seen a few of the titles already making the rounds. You can catch our reviews for the following films:
Paiffe
Following her rise to fame in shows like Orange is the New Black, The Handmaid’s Tale, and 
The main all-white set plays a dual role, subconsciously reminding you of white power and allowing your eye to focus on Brewer and the green plants she tends in her quiet time. The practical FX are gag-inducing. The score is ominous. It is easily one of the most affecting and unsettling things I’ve seen this year. 
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