Subversives: Sorry to Bother You
Tuesday, October 13, 2020 / 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM (PDT) - ONLINE

Set in an alternate-reality contemporary Oakland, Boots Riley’s 2018 film Sorry to Bother You blends absurdist satire and leftist labor politics to skewer white corporatism. Down-and-out telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) ascends the company ladder after finding a secret weapon to success, and befriends the maniacal CEO Steve Lift (Armie Hammer). His opulent lifestyle eventually clashes with the unionized labor struggle fought by Detroit (Tessa Thompson), Squeeze (Steven Yeun), and others, and a more sinister corporate conspiracy emerges. Much like the hip-hop music created by The Coup, rapper Boots Riley’s directorial debut represents a funky, surreal, and politically charged funhouse mirror to American capitalism.

Writer, director, and musician Boots Riley will join moderator Miguel Penabella (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a discussion of Sorry to Bother You and his musical career.

Sorry To Bother You can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.

This event is sponsored by the Carsey-Wolf Center and KCSB.

Part of the CWC Presents series.

Subversives
Throughout film history and across the globe, mediamakers have resisted social conventions and attracted the ire of governments and censorship boards. The Carsey-Wolf Center’s fall 2020 and winter 2021 screening series will showcase films and TV shows considered politically, socially, culturally, and ideologically subversive. From mischievous caricatures to biting social critiques, the events in this series invite discussion of the efficacy of subversion and the historical contexts that have rendered these works subversive in the first place.

This virtual event will take place on Zoom. The event is free but prior registration is required - register here.