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What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?

What You Gonna Do When the World's On Fire?

A film by Roberto Minervini

What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? is the story of a community of black people in the American South during the summer 2017, when a string of brutal killings of young African American men sent shockwaves throughout the country. A meditation on the state of race in America, this film is an intimate portrait into the lives of those who struggle for justice, dignity, and survival in a country not on their side.

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“Minervini has his performers enact scenes of their own devising in dialogue reflecting their own voices, in scenarios frequently drawn directly from life experience.”

- ARTFORUM

"Minervini eschews didacticism and activism, focusing instead on the raw, emotional textures of his subjects. The results are often beautifully immersive.”

- AV Club

"Minervini shows what Black people have always done when the world is on fire: live, organize, protect one another, and keep our history at the forefront.”

- Film Comment Magazine

"An urgent and absolutely essential piece of non-fiction filmmakin from today’s most interesting documentarian. One of the very best films of 2019.”

- Criterioncast

“A reminder that history’s sprawling canvas is populated by lives that are desperately struggling to live and make the world around them better for those who come after.”

- MUBI

“Such quiet moments, captured in heartbreakingly vivid detail, make ‘What You Gonna Do' unassumingly powerful.”

- NOW Toronto

About the Director

Roberto Minervini (Fermo, Italy) is a film director, screenwriter, and author. After completing a Master’s Degree in Media Studies at The New School University in New York City in 2004, he taught Documentary Cinema at both De la Salle and San Beda Universities in Manila, Philippines, and he was the director of Film Studies at the International Academy of Film and Television in Cebu City, Philippines. In 2007, he moved to Houston, where he directed three feature films, The Passage, Low Tide and Stop the Pounding Heart, presented and awarded at some of the most renowned film festivals in the world such as Cannes, Venice, Toronto, and Rotterdam, among others. The Other Side (Louisiana), his fourth film, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, competing in the Un Certain Regard section in 2015.

DIRECTOR’S FILMOGRAPHY

2015 THE OTHER SIDE (LOUISIANA)
2013 STOP THE POUNDING HEART
2012 LOW TIDE
2011 THE PASSAGE
2006 LAS LUCIERNAGAS
2005 VOODOO DOLL

Cast and Crew

CREW

Producers: Paolo Benzi, Denise Ping Lee

Director: Roberto Minervini

Screenplay:

Director of Photography: Diego Romero Suárez-Llanos

Editing: Marie-Hélène Dozo

Sound Mixer: Bernat Fortiana Chico

Sound Editors: Ingrid Simon

Production Manager: Biliana Grozdanova

CAST

JUDY HILL – The woman

DOROTHY HILL – The woman’s mother

MICHAEL NELSON – The woman’s cousin

RONALDO KING – Older brother

TITUS TURNER – Younger brother

ASHLEI KING – Boys’ mother

KEVIN GOODMAN – Mardi Gras Indian Chief

THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF DEFENSE

Film Info

Year: 2018

Country: Italy/US/France

Runtime: 123 min

Color: Black & White 

Language: English

 

Awards and Festivals

75th Venice International Film Festival – In Competition

Toronto International Film Festival

New York Film Festival

Vancouver International Film Festival

Busan International Film Festival

Festival Internacional de Cine de Valdivia

London Film Festival

International Film Festival Rotterdam

CPH:DOX

Play Dates
Theater/FestivalCityStateDate
Toronto film Festival TorontoCanada9/6/18
New York Film Festival New York NY9/28/18
New Orleans Film SocietyNew OrleansLA4/10/19
Winnipeg CinemathequeWinnipegMB, Canada5/16/19
AFS Doc Days_ Austin Film SocietyAustinTX6/1/19
Film at Lincoln CenterNew York NY8/16/19
Northwest Film CenterPortlandOR8/23/19
Maysles Documentary CenterNew YorkNY8/23/19
Zeitgeist Theatre & LoungeArabiLA8/23/19
Facets ChicagoIL8/30/19
Fresno FilmworksFresnoCA9/6/19
Laemmle GlendaleLos AngelesCA9/6/19
Gateway Film CenterColumbusOH9/6/19
Digital Gym Cinema San DiegoCA9/6/19
The Beacon CinemaSeattleWA9/13/19
The CinemathequeVancouverCanada9/20/19
Museum of Fine ArtsBostonMA11/3/19
Glimmerglass Film DaysCooperstownNY11/7/19
St. Louis International Film FestivalSt. LouisMO11/7/19
Sonoma Film InstituteSonomaCA11/8/19
Three Rivers Film FestivalThree Rivers Film FestivalPA11/8/19
Cleveland Museum of ArtClevelandOH12/6/19
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