“A deeply intimate portrait”
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
“An excellent film about one man’s journey to find himself.”
— Lapacazo Sandoval, Los Angeles Sentinel
THIS NOVEMBER, JOIN FILM MOVEMENT FOR THE
UNTOLD STORY OF THE GODFATHER OF RAP
SCARED OF REVOLUTION
Street Date: November 12, 2019
DVD/Digital: $24.95
Adapted from Christine Otten’s Book “The Last Poets”, This Doc Portrait
of Umar Bin Hassan from Director Daniel Krikke was an
Official Selection of IDFA and Full Frame
SYNOPSIS
Umar Bin Hassan hasn’t even hit 70 yet, but he walks with difficulty and there’s sadness and fatigue in his eyes. As a member of The Last Poets, a group of performance poets who expressed the progressive spirit of the times starting in the late 1960s, he was a major influence on later hip-hop artists. In one of his best-known pieces, “Ni****s Are Scared of Revolution”, he criticizes his black brothers’ destructive, macho behavior.
SCARED OF REVOLUTION, based on Christine Otten’s book, “The Last Poets” concentrates on Hassan’s personal life, in which he still fights his demons. He grew up poor with a violent, unpredictable father, which in turn left him with an inferiority complex. In the course of his adult life, he has had a string of bad relationships and left children without a father figure. In his darkest hour, he also battled a crack addiction.
“Deep inside, Umar was scared of the revolution himself,” says fellow member of The Last Poets Abiodun Oyewole. But, as this intimate documentary portrait shows, Hassan takes control of his life again, breaks the destructive cycle and does his best to be the devoted father and grandfather that he was never fortunate enough to have.
SCARED OF REVOLUTION, based on Christine Otten’s book, “The Last Poets” concentrates on Hassan’s personal life, in which he still fights his demons. He grew up poor with a violent, unpredictable father, which in turn left him with an inferiority complex. In the course of his adult life, he has had a string of bad relationships and left children without a father figure. In his darkest hour, he also battled a crack addiction.
“Deep inside, Umar was scared of the revolution himself,” says fellow member of The Last Poets Abiodun Oyewole. But, as this intimate documentary portrait shows, Hassan takes control of his life again, breaks the destructive cycle and does his best to be the devoted father and grandfather that he was never fortunate enough to have.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type: DVD/Digital (iTunes, Amazon, Vudu)
Running Time: 72 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen
Audio: 5.1 Surround Sound/2.0 Stereo
About Film Movement
Founded in 2002, Film Movement is a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide. Film Movement’s theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign art house titles. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Diane Kurys, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, King Hu, Sergio Corbucci and Ettore Scola. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com. Visit www.filmmovementplus.com for more information about Film Movement Plus, the new subscription streaming service from Film Movement.