At a time when many seem to have forgotten the promises of allyship that were made in the heat of the summer of 2020, Vintage Rhodes Films is partnering with 1091 Pictures to bring the award-winning feature It’s A Wonderful Plight to commercial audiences everywhere. The film, written and directed by celebrated music producer Justin Rhodes (Dr. Dre, Rick Ross, Lecrae, Styles P, Royce Da 5’9, and Talib Kweli) will be available to purchase or rent starting on June 15th on Amazon Prime Video.
Jokingly billed by its director as “A Christmas Carol meets Hamilton,” It’s A Wonderful Plight takes viewers through a musical history lesson. Its main character Scott, a young white man in Dallas, learns the difference between appreciating Black culture and using his privilege to support Black and marginalized people in general. After calling out his roommate for holding antiquated prejudices towards African-Americans, Scott gets called out for being equally as detached from the “Plight” of the people behind the Hip-Hop culture he loves so dearly. Enter fictional musician and “Woke Spirit” Josef the Hotep played by Rhodes, who appears in a hallucination to usher him from appropriation to allyship.
Over the course of its 75-minute runtime the film takes viewers through a very thorough review of the plight of African-Americans. From slavery to the assassination of great voices like Fred Hampton, Martin Luther King Jr. and even Bob Marley, Tupac and Biggie. Going beyond history, the film also utilizes some amazing reenactments to address more recent acts of police brutality like the death of Botham Jean in Dallas and the true price of gentrification. While Scott (played by Brian Shorkey) may technically be the film’s lead character, It’s A Wonderful Plight avoids pandering to the white gaze, as many other attempts to present a conversation on race relations via film has done.
In addition to being adeptly written, the film also showcases Rhodes’ talents as a performing artist, producer and songwriter, as his voice and music are the soundtrack that move Scott’s awakening along. It’s A Wonderful Plight was screened in limited release last year and won the monthly edition of the Oniros Film Awards. The film was also a 2020 selection at the San Francisco Black Film Festival. It was also noted as one of the Top Films to watch in the summer of 2021 by USA Today!
“The beauty of the film is that it tells a story told a thousand times, in a way that has never been told before. That’s extremely tough to do & I’m proud to be a part of the team that executed such greatness,” says Justin Rhodes.
It’s A Wonderful Plight is available for pre-order on Apple iTunes and Amazon.
Please view the trailer for It’s A Wonderful Plight Here.
For media inquiries, please contact: Syreta J. Oglesby at 311956@email4pr.com or 201-658-3711.
About 1091 Pictures
1091 Pictures is a modern distribution partner for independent film and series owners based in New York and Los Angeles, offering content licensing and delivery to over 100 destinations in over 100 countries. The company represents over 500 filmmakers and distributors and has amassed over 150 award nominations, including two Academy Award® nominations, an Emmy nomination and over a dozen Spirit Awards nominations. Leading the way in digital distribution, 1091 Pictures helps its clients navigate the streaming landscape, providing marketing resources and valuable insights through partnering with its parent company’s new technology platform in development, Streamwise. 1091 Pictures’ diverse slate of releases include recent NYT Critic’s Picks such as The Ghost of Peter Sellers and Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, riveting sports stories such as A Kid From Coney Island executive produced by Kevin Durant and featuring Stephon Marbury and Red Bull’s The Dawn Wall, groundbreaking documentaries such as Unacknowledged and The Phenomenon, which reveal the latest intelligence on UFOs, and indie film hits such as Academy Award® Winner Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Spirit Awards-winner Christine, and the knockout comedy The Overnight starring Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling and Jason Schwartzman. For more information, please visit: 1091pictures.com
