Test Pattern (2021)
Director: Shatara Michelle Ford Run Time: 82 min.
Starring: Brittany S. Hall, Drew Fuller, Gail Bean, Will Brill
Country: United States
Language: English
Returning to the Film Center after our Virtual Screening Room presentation in February 2021
“Shatara Michelle Ford’s lean, smart debut feature confronts us with our presumptions about what rape and victimhood look like — onscreen and in life”
—Devika Girish for NYTimes
About the film:
Nominated for 3 Film Independent Spirit Awards and winner of top prizes at the BlackStar and New Orleans Film Festivals, this powerful debut feature from writer-director Shatara Michelle Ford offers a unique exploration of institutional racism and sexism from a Black woman’s point of view.
Test Pattern follows an interracial couple whose relationship is put to the test after a Black woman is sexually assaulted and her white boyfriend drives her from hospital to hospital in search of a rape kit. Part psychological horror, part realist drama, their story reveals the systemic injustices and social conditioning women face when navigating sex and consent within the American patriarchy.
About the filmmaker:
Shatara Michelle Ford is a Black American filmmaker born in rural Arkansas and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Their work explores class, power, womanhood, identity, memory, perception and race. Intellectually propelled by the LA Rebellion film movement and stylistically influenced by Neoclassical directors, their films feature marginalized characters with rich internal lives that defy dominant stereotypes. In 2010, they received an MFA in Screenwriting from Royal Holloway, University of London. Their script, “Queen Elizabeth” was featured on the 2017 Black List.
Their award-winning debut feature Test Pattern was listed in IndieWire’s 10 Best First Feature Films of 2021.
See our upcoming films