Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner MONSTERS AND MEN takes its initial concept direct from the headlines, and even drew some of its scenes from Green’s real life conversations and experiences, including the fact that his father was a police officer. TheWrap says, “Its innate intelligence and matter-of-fact sensitivity are the kinds of storytelling assets we need more of, especially when the fabric of life for many continues to fray and tear in ways that demand a larger societal reassessing.” Green wanted to examine all perspectives around the situation that involve police and race relations, and thus his film was born, with its ebbs and flows between multiple angles and experiences.

Anthony Ramos says his character, Manny, is someone he relates to – “there are too many parallels to my life in this script,” he states. Here, he elaborates on that:

Harrison relates to his character as well, and says he “saw the burden” of his character’s inadvertent place of privilege in the story. Green elaborates on the perspectives in the story here:

Green’s hope with this film was to open the discussion and inspire people to use their platforms, however small, and use their voices to speak out.

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A!

About the film:

Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner MONSTERS AND MEN follows a young father, Manny, who witnesses the police shooting of an unarmed black man. In the incident’s aftermath, the tight-knit community of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn is pushed to the brink in this impeccable portrait of race, family and consequence.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

MONSTERS AND MEN is now playing at Angelika New York and Angelika Plano, and opens Friday 10/5 at Angelika Carmel Mountain.