Screening Room: Rashid Johnson’s ‘Native Son’

Based on the classic novel by Richard Wright, ‘Native Son’ tells the story of Bigger Thomas (Ashton Sanders), a young African-American living in Chicago who is hired as a chauffeur for affluent businessman Will Dalton (Bill Camp). As Thomas enters this seductive new world of money and power—including a precarious relationship with Dalton’s daughter, Mary (Margaret Qualley)—he faces unforeseen choices and perilous circumstances that will alter the course of his life forever. ‘This is an opportunity to interrogate what and how we have consistently imagined or explored through a black character on screen, especially a protagonist,’ explains Rashid Johnson. ‘What kept coming to mind was this character who in some ways is an outsider, but in some ways quite familiar because most black folks in my sphere are keenly aware of brothers who don’t necessarily fit the description that we’re often given of what a black man is. I think it’s important that we start to explore the diversity of black representation in film.’