Bushman

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1:30

Bushman

2024

1h 13m

Drama

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

In 1968, Peace Corps veteran David Schickele enlisted his friend Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam to star in a light-hearted comedy about the adventures of a young Nigerian intellectual in San Francisco. Using a docu-fictional style reminiscent of Cassavetes' Shadows, the film observes the foibles of late 1960s African-American culture with an outsider's incisive eye. The result is a vibrant snapshot of the nation's racial politics, from interracial romance to cross-cultural misunderstandings and countercultural joy. The film morphs into a documentary when the director's voice abruptly intrudes to narrate its star's enraging fate: Okpokam was accused of a crime he did not commit and was thrown in prison before being expelled from the country.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

07/09/2024

5/5

It is a vividly beautiful and dynamic monochrome work resembling something by Godard or Cassavetes but with something special and specific; an amazing real-time transcription of the life of a young black man in San Francisco in the fraught year of 1968.

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Clayton Dillard

Slant Magazine

05/20/2024

The dramatic stakes of cultural and ethnic stressors become especially relevant once Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam is arrested during the making of the film on a phony charge involving the possession of an explosive device.

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Ben Kenigsberg

New York Times

02/01/2024

The jarring switch to documentary gives “Bushman” its added charge.

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David Bax

Battleship Pretension

Dec 10

May it outlast the popular counterculture it critiques.

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Hayley Croke

Loud and Clear Reviews

10/20/2024

4/5

It’ll make you challenge your openness to understanding the different cultural experiences that exist all around you and the injustices in the world that face many. Go into it with an open mind, but more importantly, with a curious heart.

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Lisa Nesselson

France24

05/07/2024

This is a truly special time capsule awash and still pertinent in aspects that society needs to improve after almost 50 years [since] it was shot. It's entertaining, fascinating, and leads to a melancholy real-life twist... [Full review in Spanish]

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Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam

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Synopsis

In 1968, Peace Corps veteran David Schickele enlisted his friend Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam to star in a light-hearted comedy about the adventures of a young Nigerian intellectual in San Francisco. Using a docu-fictional style reminiscent of Cassavetes' Shadows, the film observes the foibles of late 1960s African-American culture with an outsider's incisive eye. The result is a vibrant snapshot of the nation's racial politics, from interracial romance to cross-cultural misunderstandings and countercultural joy. The film morphs into a documentary when the director's voice abruptly intrudes to narrate its star's enraging fate: Okpokam was accused of a crime he did not commit and was thrown in prison before being expelled from the country.

Director: David Schickele
Screenwriter: David Schickele
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: American Film Institute (AFI)
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 2, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 2, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA): $31.4K
Runtime: 1h 13m
Sound Mix: Mono

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