For Ahkeem

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2:17

For Ahkeem

2017

1h 30m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

26 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

After a fight lands 17-year-old Daje Shelton in a court-supervised high school, she's determined to turn things around and make a better future for herself -- a challenge that many black teenagers face in America today.

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Critics Consensus

For Ahkeem uses one young woman's stirring story to offer a sobering reflection of the lives of many in modern America.

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Peter Keough

Boston Globe

03/15/2018

"For Ahkeem" ... reminds white audiences that it is not enough to agree that black lives matter, but that it is also necessary to try and understand how black lives are lived.

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David Ehrlich

IndieWire

12/15/2017

B

By simply documenting Deja's humanity, For Ahkeem offers a vivid example of the incontrovertible fact that black lives matter.

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Leah Pickett

Chicago Reader

12/15/2017

[For Ahkeem] is a compelling but often frustrating documentary, a microcosm of the struggles faced by many disadvantaged young people of color today.

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Elissa Suh

MUBI

02/27/2020

For Ahkeem poignantly unfolds with all the accouterments of a narrative film.

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Al Hoff

Pittsburgh City Paper

03/21/2018

Throughout the movie, there is one constant: Daje's smile. You can't help but want to keep rooting for her.

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Brian Costello

Common Sense Media

01/10/2018

4/5

Excellent docu on teen's struggles in inner-city St. Louis.

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06/23/2020

Very sad. Thought provoking. Emotional. Historic.

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06/17/2020

A sad but perfect depiction of many African American families. Born into poverty, to parents doing the best that they can with the resources(or lack there of) that they have available to them. This story also reflects the unfortunate reality that young black men fall into the web called the justice system and usually remain entangled because by default, they plead guilty because they can not afford representation.

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10/15/2017

This documentary follows a bright and talented young lady from St. Louis. It's raw and honest. She isn't trying to be a superstar, she simply opened the doors to her life and all of the challenges she faces. A must see for all demographics.

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05/09/2017

If I see another film about impoverished black girls directed by privileged white men, I honestly think I will lose my mind.

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Jeremy S. Levine

Director

Landon Van Soest

Director

Daje Shelton

Self

Antonio Thomas Shumpert Jr.

Self

Iyabo Boyd

Producer

Nicholas Weissman

Producer

Step

96%

78%

Step

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TRAILER

for Step

A Woman Captured

89%

100%

A Woman Captured

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What Haunts Us

100%

74%

What Haunts Us

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TRAILER

for What Haunts Us

Jacinta

100%

94%

Jacinta

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Swim Team

100%

80%

Swim Team

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For Ahkeem: Trailer 1

2:17

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Synopsis

After a fight lands 17-year-old Daje Shelton in a court-supervised high school, she's determined to turn things around and make a better future for herself -- a challenge that many black teenagers face in America today.

Director: Jeremy S. Levine, Landon Van Soest
Producer: Iyabo Boyd, Nicholas Weissman
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 13, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 12, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $23.1K
Runtime: 1h 30m

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