Drylongso

(Cauleen Smith, 1998, USA, 82 minutes)

Newly restored in 4K, Cauleen Smith’s Oakland-set 1998 DIY charmer Drylongso focuses on the friendship between young art student Pica (Toby Smith) and Tobi (April Barnett), a woman who lives nearby who is suffering in an abusive relationship. After an initial act of kindness on Pica’s part draws the two together, they later reconnect when Pica, mistakenly taking Tobi for a male, asks to take her photo. Pica is collecting Polaroids of young Black men in Oakland because they’re “becoming extinct,” and Tobi dresses as a man when in public to avoid being catcalled on the street. For a movie where one of the main characters is in an abusive relationship and with a subplot about a serial killer on the loose, Drylongso remains remarkably light and celebratory, a real joy to watch.