The Inheritance

The inheritance is a house in Philadelphia bequeathed to Julian (Eric Lockley) by his grandmother. He asks his girlfriend Gwen (Nozipho Mclean) to move in, and next thing he knows there’s an entire collective, The House of Ubutu, a commune that will be a safe space for Black folk. On the wall, prominently, there is a poster for Godard’s radical Maoist movie La Chinoise, and this is clearly a key inspiration for writer-director Ephraim Asili: primary colour-coded costumes and production design, dialetical montage and conversations conducted in quoration marks. Others include Julius K. Nyerere’s Essays on Socialism and Sonia Sanchez’s poetry, both quoted explicitly, alongside a dissertation on the Nuer language of South Sudan and a fair bit of free jazz. It’s heady but playful, a call to arms that resonates loud and clear.

Celebrating Black Futures is co-presented with the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Kika Memeh.

A playful, erudite, and boundary-blurring examination of what performing Black theory, literature, music, and testimony in a contemporary Philadelphia commune might set in motion.

James Lattimer, Cinema Scope

A joyous celebration of Blackness. The Inheritance is alive, drunk off the colors and textures of West Philadelphia.

Ryan Lattanzio, Indiewire

One of the best movies of the year. An excellent debut. Observed with warmth and playful humor, without ever losing sight of serious political purposes and the potential for poetry therein.

Kieron Corliss, Sight & Sound

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