Yelling to the Sky
| Yelling to the Sky | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Victoria Mahoney |
| Produced by | Victoria Mahoney Billy Mulligan Ged Dickersin |
| Written by | Victoria Mahoney |
| Starring | Zoë Kravitz |
| Music by | David Wittman |
| Cinematography | Reed Morano |
| Edited by | Billy Henry |
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Production
company |
YTTS LLC
Front Row Filmed Entertainment |
| Distributed by | MPI Media Group |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Yelling to the Sky is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Victoria Mahoney. The film premiered In Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Bear.
The film starts out with quiet, studious, high schooler, Sweetness O'Hara riding her bike with a friend down the street, when neighborhood bully Latonya, her boyfriend, and friends begins picking on her. The boyfriend threatens to take her bike, unless she can beat him in a race to a tree down the street. Sweetness agrees, taking off running. The bully comes up behind her and pushes her to the ground, proceeding to kick her. Sweetness' older, yet pregnant sister, Ola, comes to her rescue, beating up the bully.
The girls return home to their emotionally unstable mother, Lorene, and caring, but violent father, Gordon. After an altercation between the parents, Lorene takes off, telling Sweetness she'd return. Gordon takes off as well, with Sweetness saying she wished he stayed wherever it was he went.
A few days later, as Ola is helping Sweetness with her homework and ironing, Gordon returns. He hits Ola after her choice to wear a jacket inside the house. Ola then packs up and moves in with her probation-serving, abusive boyfriend and baby's father, leaving Sweetness with just her father. Months go by and Ola returns with a baby girl named Esther. Not too long after, Lorene returns as well, in an absent state of mind.
At school, her principal, Mr. Coleman, unknowingly protects Sweetness from getting beat up by Latonya and her friends, Fatima and Jojo, by asking about her sister and asking how she was doing. The girls deliver a letter written to their father, saying his brother has passed in his sleep. After their father embarrasses them in front of his friends, Sweetness announces that she hates their father to her sister as they walk home. Back at home, with Gordon absent, Ola chases after Lorene, who has absent-mindedly walked out of the house. Sweetness gets frustrated at the way their lives are going and decides to take action.
The next morning, Sweetness and her father get into a fight due to her wearing makeup to school. She defends herself, talking back and throwing a bottle of glue at him, telling him that was the last time he'd ever hit her. She starts selling drugs, with the help of a local drug dealer and friend, Roland, who is reluctant. She persuades him by telling him it's not for extra spending, but to help her family out. He agrees.
She begins to hang out with Fatima and Jojo, after they buy drugs off her. She fights Latonya at school, which ends up in getting Sweetness suspended. She sees Latonya at school later on, carrying books and going to class, symbolizing how the roles have reversed between the girls since the start of the film.
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Wikipedia