“Hollywood Jerome” is a short film set to a spoken word composition by Malik Yusef that tells the story of an African-American youth caught in the crossfire of racial stereotypes and police violence.
Director Frey Hoffman is able to deftly translate Yusef’s poetry into darkly comical vignettes that trace the progress of young Jerome (Ishmael Hatter) as he finds himself far from home and out of luck.
This is a good movie. A traditional review would not do this short film justice. It is more like a narrative music video and much of its impact comes through the marriage of Yusef’s spoken word poetry and Hoffman’s moving images. I highly recommend you check this out at a festival near you or, if that is not possible, contact the filmmakers directly to purchase and/or request a copy.
