BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

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BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

2025

1h 53m

Sci-Fi

Drama

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Popcornmeter

100%

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12 Reviews

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0 Ratings

A cinematic experience to mirror the sonic textures of a music album. Adapted from Kahlil Joseph's highly acclaimed video art installation, which was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2019, the film interweaves fictional and historical characters in an immersive story that spans 247 years across land and sea.

Aisha Harris

NPR

Its most affecting moments are the essayistic montages of archival footage, which stitch together a clear-eyed mediation on memory, lineage, and the meaning of freedom.

Feb 28, 2025

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David Fear

Rolling Stone

Joseph’s quick tour through African-American culture over the last few centuries felt radical and mindblowing in the best possible way.

Feb 28, 2025

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Marshall Shaffer

Slant Magazine

This hybridized essay film embodies the complications and contradictions inherent within Black history—complete with all its erasures and variances.

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 21, 2025

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Chase Hutchinson

The Playlist

Merging archival footage, film clips, online videos, historical recreations, a futuristic sci-fi narrative, and much more, it’s an art exhibit in the best sense of the word, pushing you to places films like this rarely go.

Rated: A-

Feb 8, 2025

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Jordan Raup

The Film Stage

In many ways, Joseph’s mesmerizing debut feels like a living, breathing dispatch from a time beyond ours, ushering in new possibilities for the form.

Rated: A-

Feb 3, 2025

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Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

Between all the name-the-clip moments and the very cool soundtrack (the end credits play over a graphic of a vinyl record turning), I had a decent time watching BLKNWS, which I’ll give the benefit of the intellectual doubt.

Jan 31, 2025

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Kahlil Joseph

Director

Shaunette Renée Wilson

Actor

Penny Johnson

Actor

Zora Casebere

Actor

Bria Samoné Henderson

Actor

Kaneza Schaal

Actor

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Synopsis

A cinematic experience to mirror the sonic textures of a music album. Adapted from Kahlil Joseph's highly acclaimed video art installation, which was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2019, the film interweaves fictional and historical characters in an immersive story that spans 247 years across land and sea.

Director: Kahlil Joseph
Producer: Onye Anyanwu, Kahlil Joseph, Amy Greenleaf, Nic Gonda
Screenwriter: Sheba Anyanwu, Kristen Adele Calhoun, Madebo Fatunde, Kahlil Joseph, Saidiya Hartman, Irvin Hunt
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 53m