Morris from America Information

Morris from America is a 2016 American-German coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Chad Hartigan, and produced by Martin Heisler, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski, and Gabriele Simon. It stars Craig Robinson, Markees Christmas, Carla Juri, Lina Keller and Jakub Giersza?. It is about a 13-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a rapper in an EDM-dominated culture.

It was shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, where Hartigan won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The film was released on July 7, 2016, through DirecTV Cinema prior to opening in a limited release on August 19, 2016, by A24.

Plot

A coming-of-age adventure story of a 13-year-old American boy Morris who is currently living in Germany with his father Curtis, a soccer coach. Mo faces rejection from his peer group, finds himself impinged on boundaries of trust with his language tutor, romantic infatuation and drug use, finds niche in his rapping skills, learns to accept unexpected and odd experiences without taxing himself. His father also struggles to fit in with German culture and tries to be a stand up man for his son while grieving for his recently dead wife. He does what can be done best at the given time for making a better environment for Mo to grow up.

Cast

• Craig Robinson as Curtis Gentry
• Carla Juri as Inka
• Lina Keller as Katrin
• Markees Christmas as Morris Gentry/ Mo
• Jakub Giersza? as Pier
• Levin Henning as Bastian
• Patrick Gldenberg as Sven
• Eva Lbau as Katrin's Mother

Production

In July 2015, it was announced that Chad Hartigan would be directing a film from a screenplay he wrote. It was also announced that Craig Robinson, Carla Juri, and Markees Christmas, Lina Keller, Jakub Gierszal, Eva Lbau and Levin Henning had all been cast in the film, with Christmas portraying the role of an American boy moving to Germany, with Robinson portraying his father, and Juri portraying the role of his tutor. It was also announced that Lichtblick Media GMBH and Beachside Films would be co-producing the film, which is being produced by Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski, Martin Heisler and Gabriele Simon, executive producing are Michael B. Clark and Alex Turtletaub.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2016. Shortly after, A24 acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. The film was released on DirecTV Cinema on July 7, 2016, prior to opening in a limited release on August 19, 2016.

Reception

Critical response

Morris From America received positive reviews from film critics. It holds an 87% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Morris from America adds some novel narrative twists to its father-son story -- and gains added resonance thanks to a powerful performance from Craig Robinson." On Metacritic the film has a score of 75 out of 100 score, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Justin Chang of Variety.com gave the film a positive review writing "Set to the pulsing hip-hop music that fuels Morris"? dreams and offers him refuge in a place that can seem friendly and threatening by turns, this coming-of-age dramedy explores how the challenges of being young, black and misunderstood can be compounded in a foreign environment, but goes about it in a grounded, character-driven way that never smacks of manipulation or special pleading." Eric Kohn of Indiewire.com gave the film a B+ writing : "Morris From America excels at conveying the inherent power of companionship in a largely indifferent world. When Curtis asserts that he and his son are 'the only two brothers in Heidelberg,' it's the movie's coziest moment."

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male	Markees Christmas
	Outstanding Independent Film	Morris from America
Cleveland International Film Festival	Best American Independent Feature Film	Chad Hartigan
Gotham Awards	Best Actor	Craig Robinson
Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Male	Craig Robinson
Seattle International Film Festival	Futurewave Youth Jury Award	Chad Hartigan
Sundance Film Festival	Special Jury Prize	Craig Robinson
	Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award	Chad Hartigan
	Grand Jury Prize	Chad Hartigan