The cast and crew of this gritty indie coming of age film came together to celebrate the launch of their film.
Kicks is a film following Jahking Guillory as he ventures through Oakland to retrieve a pair of stolen sneakers and exact revenge on the bully gangster who took them. That’s the film in a nutshell, but for more information, check out my full review. All in all, it’s a great film that’s worth a watch, and everyone seems to agree. Kicks is a darling here at Tribeca Film Festival. I got a chance to talk with director Justin Tipping who opened up on the origin of the story, the roots it has in his personal life, and the meaning of manhood he tacked in the film.
“The motivation for the movie actually comes from the time I got jumped over a pair of Nike’s when I was 16. Just from the humiliation of that, a beating over objects and I remember talking to my older brother and he was like it’s all good, you’re a man now. It was that moment that made me proud and in retrospect made me think this is completely backwards. Why do we associate violence with becoming a man? Why does that make you a man? There’s no reason that that should be the case and it’s always perpetuated in society the way you’re raised where you have to, you know, man up! What does that mean? Why isn’t it like, do good in school! Like man up, do good in school!”
Jahking and Justin were at the red carpet along with Jahking’s co-stars Christopher Jordan Wallace, Christopher Meyer and Mahershala Ali.
