Nine years before Marvel’s record-breaking Black Panther made him a household name, Ryan Coogler wrote and directed this poignant six-minute short while still attending the University of Southern California. Set in Oakland, it centres around a dreadlocked man taking a walk through his neighbourhood, and sees the filmmaker touch upon several key themes – family, police aggression, negative pre-conceptions of young African-Americans – he would explore further in his 2013 breakout hit Fruitvale Station. This film marked the first collaboration between Coogler and composer Ludwig Göransson, who has subsequently written original scores for all three of the director’s feature films to date.
Nine years before Marvel’s record-breaking Black Panther made him a household name, Ryan Coogler wrote and directed this poignant six-minute short while still attending the University of Southern California. Set in Oakland, it centres around a dreadlocked man taking a walk through his neighbourhood, and sees the filmmaker touch upon several key themes – family, police aggression, negative pre-conceptions of young African-Americans – he would explore further in his 2013 breakout hit Fruitvale Station. This film marked the first collaboration between Coogler and composer Ludwig Göransson, who has subsequently written original scores for all three of the director’s feature films to date.
