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FAMU Universal has given students another opportunity to attend a free pre-screening of a movie starring black protagonists.
In late October, FAMU Universal originated on Twitter and began hinting towards an event for students dedicated to the drama/thriller Queen and Slim. The event was a private screening that occurred at Regal Cinemas on November 6, 2019.
Their Twitter account hinted towards an upcoming surprise for students on December 31, 2019, which was revealed on January 16, 2020, to be a pre-screening of The Photograph. The Photograph is an upcoming drama/romance starring Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield.
FAMU psychology student Giniare Ridore enjoyed the screening and was excited to see another work of art by Issa Rae.
“I’m most excited about seeing Issa Rae, because when she used to do Awkward Black Girl, she was always like my favorite director and my favorite person in film. I’m just excited to watch her perform, because I’ve never really watched a movie from her,” Ridore said.
Between online ticket reservations and their interactive hide-and-seek games on campus to give away tickets, the screening immediately sold out.
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Along with Ridore being excited for Issa Rae’s character, she was also looking forward to the different narrative of the film.
“It was a different narrative than what they usually put the black woman as, because it looked like they both had the same type of background, instead of the woman being at the top and settling for a lower man. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s usually what the narrative is that we have to settle with,” Ridore said.
Other attendees like FAMU student and filmmaker, Jazmin Johnson, were looking forward to Monday’s screening because of her interest in black films.
“I like that Issa and Lakeith are both doing very non-conventional things that actors don’t really tend to do. She’s doing the radio project, and he’s releasing music as well, it’s just the things that we didn’t expect out of them. She also recently opened a coffee shop in Inglewood too,” said Johnson.
Universal Pictures Campus Marketing Representative, Madison Johnson, is responsible for hosting the event at the theater and engaging with the students attending the show.
“The best part of working for Universal Pictures as a Campus Marketing Representative is that I have full autonomy of anything I do for the job. Since I’m the only one it does make it hard sometimes trying to juggle between work and classes. But being able to make people laugh through the social media accounts and engaging with the students makes it all worth it,” Johnson said.
In a Twitter thread, she included a list to prepare for the movie, which featured the hashtags #SeeThePhotograph and #UniversalxFAMU.
The Photograph will be released in theaters on Valentine’s Day on Friday, February 14, 2020. If you’re interested in learning more about the next screening by FAMU Universal, visit their their Twitter account @famuniversal.