James Baldwin's "Beale Street" Novel Slated For The Big Screen

At the 56th New York Film Festival (September 28-October 14), to be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, there will be a screening of If Beale Street Could Talk, director Barry Jenkins's film adaptation of James Baldwin's novel of the same name. (Jenkins's last film was Moonlight, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2017.)

The film, reported amNew York (August 8, 2018), is about "a young African-American man in 1970s Harlem who is arrested and convicted for a crime he didn't commit." (Could this be another Oscar contender in the fall?)

I've never read the book and may have a copy of it. If I do, it's probably buried among the hundreds of books I own. I may just buy a copy and read it before the film is released nationwide. It's slated for release on November 30.

"Moonlight" Should Be On Broadway Or Off-Broadway,Too

Moonlight, released in 2016, and the Best-Picture Oscar winner earlier this year, is a beautifully made movie about the coming-of-age of a young black gay man living in Liberty City, Miami's inner-city area.

The movie, directed by Barry Jenkins, is based on fellow Miami native Tarell Alvin McCraney's play, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. The play to date has never been produced. I hope all the accolades bestowed on Moonlight will encourage a Broadway or Off-Broadway producer to bring the movie's source to a New York stage. A radio production on NPR or a live telecast on one of the TV networks would also be worth doing. No doubt the gay community, especially the black gay community, would support these efforts.

The one thing we don't need is a Broadway musical version of the movie or the play.