Marc Levin 

USA
 

Set in Washington DC, Slam tells the story of Ray Joshua (Saul Williams), an original, gifted rapper/poet trapped in a war zone housing project known as Dodge City.  When Ray is arrested on a petty drug charge, he is sucked into the black hole of DC's criminal justice system.  While there, he finds his salvation in Lauren Bell (Sonja Sohn), a beautiful writing teacher who helps him to understand and cultivate his skills.  Using his wits and his dazzling verbal talents as weapons against the brutality of his forced surroundings, Ray learns to survive both in and out of jail. Through his words he finds freedom in his mind despite his circumstance and gives voice to the pain of his lost generation. 

Slam builds its central idea around a phenomenon that is prevalent in the East Coast of the United States, known as 'slamming'. "In the spoken word/poetry circle, they have these things called slams, where poets get up for a given amount of time, say three minutes, they do a piece and there are judges in the audience," Levin explains. "It's half circus atmosphere, with people yelling and screaming for what they like, and half serious. It's an entertaining way of presenting poetry, from street rap to things much more sophisticated."

Though Levin's film chronicles the experiences of one such performer, Ray, with the central role played by an actual slam poet, Levin is quick to point out that his film is more than a look at this peculiar facet of American youth culture. "It's more about a kid who has a lot of talent as a poet-cum-rapper, gets busted on a small drug charge, and thrown into the DC jail system. It's his journey, finding his voice, culminating in the final slam contest he ultimately embarks upon. Also, the film investigates the quagmire of the criminal justice system in Washington."

Much of the film was shot on location in a prison in Washington DC, one of the rare occasions that the American capital was utilised to highlight the enormous crime rate prevalent in that city. Levin's past experience as a documentary director brings a tone of authenticity and truth to Slam, coupled with its raw, cinema verite style, sharp dialogue and the use of poetry. The two lead actors both contributed to the film's collaboratively written script.

As a result of its reception at Sundance, the film has been picked up for US distribution by Trimark Pictures, which is also handling international sales at Cannes, with the film having recently been sold to France. Levin is optimistic that, despite difficulties with Black American cinema, Slam will find a broad audience. "I guess that's what we'll find out at Cannes. However, the fact that hip-hop music has become a global youth culture, I think, is in our favour, because the world in which this film is set is a world inhabited now by kids that don't even speak English, from those in Japan to Russia. Those kids know the likes of Tupak – this is the world youth culture. So that's a major plus. Yes it's parochial, but it is also like going to the source of where the creativity, energy and personalities come that are feeding a global youth language and market. Also, it's a film about a poet and artist, so I think it reaches a kind of European sensibility, that the artist is the real hero." Paul Fischer