Cauleen Smith

Drylongso

Drylongso

A rediscovered treasure of 1990s DIY filmmaking, Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso embeds an incisive look at racial injustice within a lovingly handmade buddy movie/murder mystery/romance. Alarmed by the rate at which the young Black men around her are dying, brash Oakland, California, art student Pica (Toby Smith) attempts to preserve their existence in Polaroid snapshots, along the way forging a friendship with a woman in an abusive relationship (April Barnett) and experiencing love, heartbreak, and the everyday threat of violence. Capturing the vibrant community spirit of Oakland in the nineties, Smith crafts both a rare cinematic celebration of Black female creativity and a moving elegy for a generation of lost African American men.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1998
  • 81 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.33:1
  • English
  • Spine #1190

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Cauleen Smith, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New conversation between Smith and film scholar Michael B. Gillespie
  • Short films by Smith, including Chronicles of a Lying Spirit by Kelly Gabron, Songs for Earth & Folk, Lessons in Semaphore, Egungun (Ancestor Can’t Find Me), Remote Viewing, and Suffolk, with a new introduction by Smith
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Yasmina Price

    New cover by Krista Franklin

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Cauleen Smith, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New conversation between Smith and film scholar Michael B. Gillespie
  • Short films by Smith, including Chronicles of a Lying Spirit by Kelly Gabron, Songs for Earth & Folk, Lessons in Semaphore, Egungun (Ancestor Can’t Find Me), Remote Viewing, and Suffolk, with a new introduction by Smith
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film scholar Yasmina Price

    New cover by Krista Franklin
Drylongso
Cast
Toby Smith
Pica Sullivan
April Barnett
Tobi
Will Power
Malik
Channel Schaffer
Gloria, Pica’s mom
Salim Akil
Mr. Yamada
Stacey Marbrey
Meagan
Keith Williams
Mohamed
Earl Ford
Tide
Keilan Matthews
Tyson
Patrick Pulliam
Kev
Timothy Braggs
Jefferson
Tammy Washington
Woman
Credits
Director
Cauleen Smith
Executive producer
Cauleen Smith
Editor
Cauleen Smith
Writer
Salim Akil
Writer
Cauleen Smith
Producer
Salim Akil
Associate producer
Christine Gant
Composer
Curt Harpel
Composer
Pat Thomi
Cinematographer
Andrew Black
Casting
Monica R. Cooper
Production designer
Richard Bracho
Production designer
Gabrielle Stover
Costume designer
Rulette Mapp
Production manager
Stacey Marbrey
Sound designer
Kerry Carmean
Digital restoration and remastering
Wilson Tang
First assistant camera
Robert Hubbard
Second assistant camera
Alan Gravlee
Second assistant camera
Jason Wolos
Gaffer
Kurt Nagle-Taylor
Key grip
Monroe Cummings
Postproduction
Alan Welch
Production assistant
Ri-Karlo Handy
Title designer
Samrod Shenassa

Current

Drylongso: A Refuge of Their Own
Drylongso: A Refuge of Their Own

Cauleen Smith’s debut feature celebrates the bond between two young Black women and the ways that they imaginatively, collaboratively choreograph their lives in the face of their common vulnerabilities.

By Yasmina Price

Miryam Charles’s Top 10
Miryam Charles’s Top 10

The director of Cette maison chooses a group of favorite films that defy her attempts to explain and describe them, including works by Claire Denis, Charles Burnett, and Frank Borzage.