IN CINEMA

Harlem Week 50
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Tickets: FREE
Thursday, August 15th at 7PM
Co-presented with Harlem Week 50 and ImageNation

Barry Jenkins, 2018, 119 min.

Based on James Baldwin’s 1974 novel of the same name, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK follows childhood friends and devoted lovers, Tish (Kiki Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James), as they build a a life together in 1970s Harlem. When Fonny is incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, Tish vividly recalls the passion and trust that have connected them over the years and fights for his release before the birth of their first child. 

A story ripe with Baldwin’s deep emotion and visual ecstasy, featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Regina King.

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK screens FREE as part of HARLEM WEEK 50 (Aug 7th-18th).

HARLEM WEEK began in the summer of 1974 as a “one-time only,” one-day event (HARLEM DAY) with the huge objective of creating a much-needed “positive vibe” and pulling the greater Harlem community’s residents, businesses, religious, educational, arts and cultural institutions out of the most severe economic and social doldrums that New York City and the nation had faced in generations.

Utilizing the well-known reputation of the 1st Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, HARLEM DAY was decreed “THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND HARLEM RENAISSANCE” by the legendary Ossie Davis, who said the day “provided a much-needed spiritual boost” for the entirety of Harlem.

That “spiritual boost” will continue through HARLEM WEEK 2024’s conferences, sporting events, cultural events and festivities, offering multiple positive benefits for Harlem, New York City and the “Harlems of the World.”