By Elaine Hegwood Bowen, MSJ
An extravagant ankle-length, neon-yellow fur coat becomes the focus of desire and the symbol of dreams of fame for Goldie (model and Rihanna muse Slick Woods), an 18-year-old Bronx woman living in a homeless shelter with her mom, her adoring little sisters Sherrie and Supreme, and her mom’s drug-dealer boyfriend. “Goldie” pulsates with energy, bumped to the max at every turn by Woods’ abundant charisma and eye-popping street style, enhanced by Dutch director Sam de Jong’s use of colorful graffiti-like animation overwriting the images. Radiating optimism fueled by driving ambition and an impressive sense of self, Goldie prepares for an entry-level gig as a backup dancer in a hip-hop video, the break that she imagines will make her a star.
Reality is dangling a different possibility when the family is evicted from the shelter, the mom is arrested, and the two little girls become the sole responsibility of their big sis.
This film by Film Movement is described as a coming-of-age story, with Goldie doing all that she can to keep her family together. Before her mother’s arrest, Goldie was working on video after video in an effort to be recognized and slotted into a video that she thinks will serve as her big break. Goldie runs with a vast support group, and although some people are out to use her, most implore her to look out for her younger siblings and call child welfare services so they can be properly taken care of. But she knows that the two girls will be separated.
Her friend Eli is played by hard-working actor George Sample III. He lives with his grandmother and is only able to put Goldie and her siblings up for a couple of days. Gbenga Akinnagbe plays Richard, the young- er girls’ father, but he’s re-married with a family of his own. So, he can’t help their situation. Other actors are Salome Azizi, Ratnesh Dubey, Marsha Stephanie as Goldie’s mother Carol, A$AP Ferg, among others. “Goldie” is very much a New York film, which is a gritty, hard town, but Goldie doesn’t let much stand in the way between herself and that yellow fur coat—and in essence her chance at fame and fortune. In real life, Woods reportedly went from being homeless to being a model under the Rihanna brand; I think art imitates life in “Goldie.” The film, which also premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, is presented at the Gene Siskel Film Center in the spirit of that theater’s Black Harvest Film Festival, which is held every August. It will screen at Gene Siskel from February 21 through February 27. For information, visit http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/goldie.
It will also be available via Video
on Demand (VOD). Take a peek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP4puq7dgC4&feature=you&app=desktop.
