Brock University Film Society’s (BUFS) latest screening, If Beale Street Could Talk, is a moving celebration of love and the African-American family.

The movie will hit the big screen at the Film House in downtown St. Catharines on Thursday, March 21.

Based on the novel by James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk was written and directed by Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and stars KiKi Layne and Canadian-born Stephan James (Race, Selma).

The film follows Tish (Layne), a newly engaged Harlem woman, who races against the clock to prove her fiancé’s (James) innocence before the birth of their first child. Beale Street is a celebration of love told through the story of a young couple and their families as they try to bring about justice through love, for love and the promise of the American dream.

“What Jenkins gets most right — what astonishes me the most about this film — is Baldwin’s vast affection for the broad varieties of black life,” says Vanity Fair. “It’s one of the signature lessons of Baldwin’s work that blackness contains multitudes.”

Regina King (American Crime, Jerry Maguire) was named Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for her performance in the film, which also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute included Beale Street in their Top 10 films of 2018.

Tickets for all BUFS shows are available at the Film House in the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) on the evening of screenings. General admission is $9.50 or $7 for members, plus tax. Memberships are available through the Film House website.

Visit the BUFS web page for a full list of this season’s selections. A calendar of films coming to the PAC over the next few months is posted on the Film House website. Look for the red B that indicates a BUFS-hosted screening.

For more than 40 years, the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film has hosted the film society (previously known as a series) to bring some of the best in independent, international and Canadian cinema to St. Catharines.