Set in and around Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing complex in 1992, writer-director Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now follows best friends Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez), who were born and raised in the low-income housing project most people associate with its high crime and poverty rates. For the two boys, though, Cabrini-Green is neither abhorrent nor an aberration, but rather a self-contained world containing all their hopes and dreams, and which they leave only to walk to elementary school.
Told primarily from Malik’s point of view, the film delicately captures both the wonder and tunnel vision of adolescence, particularly through its depiction of the built-in defense mechanism that is his imagination. In the opening scene, Malik and Eric take an old mattress from an abandoned apartment and, after realizing the elevator is broken, drag it down several flights of stairs and outside, where they use it...
Told primarily from Malik’s point of view, the film delicately captures both the wonder and tunnel vision of adolescence, particularly through its depiction of the built-in defense mechanism that is his imagination. In the opening scene, Malik and Eric take an old mattress from an abandoned apartment and, after realizing the elevator is broken, drag it down several flights of stairs and outside, where they use it...
- 4/13/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
"Don't be afraid to fly." Sony Pictures Classics has revealed the main official trailer for an acclaimed film titled We Grown Now, set in Chicago in the 1990s. This is the third feature film created and directed by filmmaker Minhal Baig, best known for her Sundance gem Hala from 2019. We Grown Now premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival last year, and it also stopped by AFI Fest in the fall. Two young boys, best friends Malik and Eric, discover the joys and hardships of growing up in the sprawling Cabrini-Green public housing complex in 1992 Chicago. Starring Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday, and Ora Jones, along with Lil Rel Howery and Jurnee Smollett. This received rave reviews from TIFF, with critics saying it's a "unassuming character study set to poetic rhythms makes for an empathetic study of Black life, full of resolve." Watch out for...
- 1/31/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Award-winning feature documentary “Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory” has inked a deal with Sonder Entertainment for a national theatrical tour beginning in October to coincide with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory,” a Jubilee Production, will screen in theaters nationwide and into next year ahead of its digital release in February.
Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Justin Johnson, the feature documentary tells the story of Johnson’s parents’ resilience in the face of a breast cancer diagnosis and unilateral mastectomy — which unexpectedly leads them to launch a novel homespun prosthetic nipple business. They hide this endeavor from their five children, church and small community.
“Mom and Dad’s journey, filled with love, humor, and ingenuity amidst adversity, has blossomed into a project that has already touched thousands of hearts in our festival run. I’m excited to partner with Sonder Entertainment to share this poignant yet humorous film with audiences nationwide,...
Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Justin Johnson, the feature documentary tells the story of Johnson’s parents’ resilience in the face of a breast cancer diagnosis and unilateral mastectomy — which unexpectedly leads them to launch a novel homespun prosthetic nipple business. They hide this endeavor from their five children, church and small community.
“Mom and Dad’s journey, filled with love, humor, and ingenuity amidst adversity, has blossomed into a project that has already touched thousands of hearts in our festival run. I’m excited to partner with Sonder Entertainment to share this poignant yet humorous film with audiences nationwide,...
- 10/5/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay, Jaden Thompson and Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American rights to Stage 6 Films, Participant and Symbolic Exchange’s We Grown Now, which had its world premiere in the Centerpiece and Next Wave Selects section at this year’s TIFF. The movie’s writer, director, producer Minhal Baig received TIFF’s Changemaker Award which explores issues relevant to young people and is focused on themes of social change and youth empowerment.
In 1992 Chicago, as Michael Jordan solidifies himself as a champion, a story of two young legends in their own right begins. As wide-eyed and imaginative best friends Malik and Eric traverse the city, looking to escape the mundaneness of school and the hardships of growing up in public housing, their unbreakable bond is challenged when tragedy shakes their community just as they are learning to fly.
The film stars Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday and Ora Jones,...
In 1992 Chicago, as Michael Jordan solidifies himself as a champion, a story of two young legends in their own right begins. As wide-eyed and imaginative best friends Malik and Eric traverse the city, looking to escape the mundaneness of school and the hardships of growing up in public housing, their unbreakable bond is challenged when tragedy shakes their community just as they are learning to fly.
The film stars Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday and Ora Jones,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Sony Pictures Releasing International will release film internationally.
Sony Pictures Classics will release Minhal Baig’s TIFF premiere We Grown Now from Stage 6 Films, Participant, and Symbolic Exchange in North America.
‘We Grown Now’: Toronto Review
Baig received TIFF’s Changemaker Award for the coming of age drama, which stars Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday and Ora Jones, with Lil Rel Howery and Jurnee Smollett.
We Grown Now marks the filmmaker’s follow-up to her 2019 debut Hala and screened in TIFF Centrepiece and Next Wave Selects.
Set in 1992 Chicago as Michael Jordan solidifies himself as a champion,...
Sony Pictures Classics will release Minhal Baig’s TIFF premiere We Grown Now from Stage 6 Films, Participant, and Symbolic Exchange in North America.
‘We Grown Now’: Toronto Review
Baig received TIFF’s Changemaker Award for the coming of age drama, which stars Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday and Ora Jones, with Lil Rel Howery and Jurnee Smollett.
We Grown Now marks the filmmaker’s follow-up to her 2019 debut Hala and screened in TIFF Centrepiece and Next Wave Selects.
Set in 1992 Chicago as Michael Jordan solidifies himself as a champion,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sony Pictures will release Minhal Baig’s movie “We Grown Now” after the director, writer, and producer snagged the Changemaker Award at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Baig says, “I could not be more delighted to have found a home for ‘We Grown Now’ with Sony Pictures Classics. ‘We Grown Now’ is a film that captures the tender moments of childhood resilience and the power of human connection in the face of adversity.”
“Sony Pictures Classics and Participant recognize the significance of our story’s themes of community and the importance of bringing such a film to theaters. We are beyond grateful that they have recognized this film as part of their incredible canon,” she concluded.
Set against the backdrop of Michael Jordan’s incredible 1992 season with the Chicago Bulls, “We Grown Now” follows two best friends, Malik and Eric, as they explore the city they also call...
“Sony Pictures Classics and Participant recognize the significance of our story’s themes of community and the importance of bringing such a film to theaters. We are beyond grateful that they have recognized this film as part of their incredible canon,” she concluded.
Set against the backdrop of Michael Jordan’s incredible 1992 season with the Chicago Bulls, “We Grown Now” follows two best friends, Malik and Eric, as they explore the city they also call...
- 10/4/2023
- by Stephanie Kaloi
- The Wrap
Sony Pictures Releasing International will release film internationally.
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American rights to Stage 6 Films, Participant, and Symbolic Exchange’s TIFF premiere We Grown Now directed by Minhal Baig.
‘We Grown Now’: Toronto Review
Baig received TIFF’s Changemaker Award for the coming of age drama, which stars Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday and Ora Jones, with Lil Rel Howery and Jurnee Smollett.
We Grown Now marks the filmmaker’s follow-up to her 2019 debut Hala and screened in TIFF Centrepiece and Next Wave Selects.
Set in 1992 Chicago as Michael Jordan...
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American rights to Stage 6 Films, Participant, and Symbolic Exchange’s TIFF premiere We Grown Now directed by Minhal Baig.
‘We Grown Now’: Toronto Review
Baig received TIFF’s Changemaker Award for the coming of age drama, which stars Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday and Ora Jones, with Lil Rel Howery and Jurnee Smollett.
We Grown Now marks the filmmaker’s follow-up to her 2019 debut Hala and screened in TIFF Centrepiece and Next Wave Selects.
Set in 1992 Chicago as Michael Jordan...
- 10/4/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – One of the finest genre filmmakers from Chicagoland is releasing her latest horror epic. Writer/director Jennifer Reeder has created “Perpetrator,” her fourth feature film, and it will have a run at select theaters, including Chicago’s Music Box Theatre (Link Here) as well as streaming on Shudder beginning September 1st.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Jonny Baptiste (Kiah McKirnan) is a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone). On her 18th birthday, she experiences a radical metamorphosis … a passed-through-the-generations spell that redefines her called Forevering. When several teen girls go missing at her new school, a mythically feral Jonny goes after the Perpetrator.
Jennifer Reeder, Writer/Director of ‘Perpetrator’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto at HollywoodChicago.com
Jennifer Reeder emerges again, as her reputation evolves in the horror space. But her films are much more than is on the surface, with feminist themes of a woman’s quest for strength,...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Jonny Baptiste (Kiah McKirnan) is a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone). On her 18th birthday, she experiences a radical metamorphosis … a passed-through-the-generations spell that redefines her called Forevering. When several teen girls go missing at her new school, a mythically feral Jonny goes after the Perpetrator.
Jennifer Reeder, Writer/Director of ‘Perpetrator’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto at HollywoodChicago.com
Jennifer Reeder emerges again, as her reputation evolves in the horror space. But her films are much more than is on the surface, with feminist themes of a woman’s quest for strength,...
- 8/23/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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