The Sunglasses / Lunettes Noires

Film

by Owell A. Brown

Details

Ivory Coast and France / 1997 / 6mins / Drama / French

Joey and Lisa are two ordinary lovers, but their lives are turned upside down when they meet Max, a checkout clerk at a gas station. Hyped media has turned Max into a paranoiac living in fear of being attacked by black thieves. The film’s outcome is eerily prescient of the Amadou Diallo incident.

About the Director

Owell A. Brown

Owell A. Brown was born in 1973 in the Ivory Coast. When he was ten he moved to France, living first in Lyon, then in Epinal-sur-Seine in the Paris suburb where he attended the technical workshops of the 7ème Art Français. This is where he decided to pursue acting, but he was soon disappointed by the lack of roles for black actors. In his frustration, he began to write screenplays about the life he knew in the tough suburbs. In 1996 he directed his first short, Embrouilles de cités, which was shown on television several times. His other works include The Sunglasses (1997), Mas (1997), Confidences sourdes (1998), Le Droit Chemin (1998), The Birthday (2005), No Way (2008) and Le Mec idéal (2011). Learn More