*Sandra Evers-Manly, founder of ‘Films with a Purpose,’ has a passion for finding funding for purposeful films, so it’s not hard for her to assume that Satie Gossett’s vision to create ‘Forgiveness,’ a film about a child that seeks to question the President of the United States would inspire others to do great things.
After all, Gossett has all the right things going for him. Being the son of famous actor and Academy-Award winner, Louis Gossett, Jr., he is well poised and is able to tap key personnel in the industry to help make his vision a reality. In addition to industry contacts, Gossett uses this film to touch the sensitive parts of African-American’s psyche by allowing them to envision a world where government officials seriously consider the wants and needs of the average urban citizen.
According to Evers-Manly who also founded the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center back in 1996, “a film must inspire, uplift, and make a difference,” to be considered for funding and ‘Forgiveness,’ is poised to do just that.
‘Forgiveness’ details the adventures of a young student who questions the President of the United States about giving an apology for the government’s role in slavery. This hot button topic and topics like this are what great films are made of. Despite the lack of attention to detail, wither it be on purpose or not, Gossett’s ‘Forgiveness’ touches both the hearts and minds of the viewer with its treatment of the exceptional, but miss-understood student sitting in class and not understanding why his people aren’t treated fairly and finding anger in choosing the proper expression while seeking answers.
Described as a “Full ten minutes,” by several of the viewers at the Hollywood theater where the short film was screened last Saturday evening, ‘Forgiveness’ generated a serious post-screening discussion that ranged from why Gossett made the decisions to exclude technology from the film, showing a character playing Xbox, while having the main character do analogue research at the library, to the actual government policies that surrounded the actual Congressional apology for slavery and Jim Crow, back in 2009.
Overall, the film steered clear of overdoing it with heavy topics like racism and focused on the treatment of students inside the classroom, and a student’s struggle with obtaining the information without derailing the positive qualities of the film itself. The positive aspects generated by the film far outweighed the production and script issues brought up by the post-screening crowd. This film is a worthwhile viewing experience for the whole family and schools are encouraged to seek out viewing opportunities for their students.
The film will be screened from September 7th through 14th at the Landmark Theater, 10850 West Pico at Westwood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Also being screened with ‘Forgiveness,’ is ‘Agents of Change,’ a documentary that recounts black student led protests on college campuses in the late 1960s. For more information on ‘Forgiveness’ or Films with a Purpose, go to www.Filmswithapurpose.net .
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