Talk To Me (2007). Photofest.
Talk to Me(Kasi Lemmons, US 2007, 118 min., 35mm)
The importance of radio in the 1960s and ’70s is explored in this biographical film about famous Washington, DC, disc jockey Petey Greene (Don Cheadle). Recently released from prison, golden-tongued Petey schemes his way into a radio job with executive Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the brother of an inmate Petey knew. Petey’s style is confrontational and crass, a far step from the congenial DJs the station is used to, but he connects with the listeners and ratings start to rise. When they hear about the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, the radio listening public turns to Petey for guidance through the riots that followed. Yet even as his fame grows, and he turns to television and the stage, Petey has to question whose dream he is following—Dewey’s or his own?