Barry Jenkins shares ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ first look at Essence Fest with Regina King, Stephan James and KiKi Layne

It’s been less than two years but people have been highly anticipating the follow-up to Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning Moonlight, which won Best Picture, Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali and Adapted Screenplay (for Jenkins and short story creator Tarell Alvin McCraney) at the 89th Academy Awards. He came to Essence Fest in New Orleans to share a first look at that follow-up, an adaptation of James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk.

If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of Fonny and Tish in 1970s Harlem. When Fonny is accused of rape, Tish desperately scrambles to prove him innocent of the crime while carrying their first child. The film stars Stephan James (Shots Fired) as Fonny, KiKi Layne (Chicago Med) as Tish and two-time Emmy winner Regina King (American Crime) as Tish’s mother, Sharon. It’s set for release by Annapurna Pictures this November.

The quartet then sat for a Q&A with Essence entertainment director Cori Murray to talk about the casting process, not shying away from Baldwin’s fiery language and how a story taking place in 1974 is current for today.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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