Award-winning British/Nigerian drama opens nationwide this Friday

Arena Theater has joined theaters across the country in a virtual screening of “The Last Tree,” by Shola Amoo, this Friday, June 26. Released by New York based ArtMattan Films, the film will be available until Thursday, July 9, via the Arena Theater website.
“An elliptical look at hard changes in a young man’s life” (John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter), “The Last Tree” is the semi-autobiographical story of Femi (as a child played by newcomer Tai Golding), a British boy of Nigerian heritage who, after being fostered in rural Lincolnshire, moves to inner-city London to live with his birth mother. In his teens, Femi (Sam Adewunmi) is struggling with the culture and values of his new environment. Femi must decide which path to adulthood he wants to take, and what it means to be a young black man in London during the early 2000s. Going back home to Nigeria with his mum to find his Nigerian roots will help adolescent Femi find grounding and hope for a better future.
“The Last Tree” is Amoo’s second feature length film after his 2017 “A Moving Image.” and scooped two wins for Best Supporting Actress and Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Award. Its Sundance 2019 World Premiere screening was followed by multiple festival screenings in the USA and Canada. The film’s virtual theatrical run will be followed by a digital and home-video release
“As with his debut feature ‘A Moving Image’, a spikily insightful look at gentrification in Brixton, Amoo is always looking to subvert lazy cultural assumptions,” wrote Philip De Semlyen in Time Out.

This year, ArtMattan Films celebrates 28 years of exposing US audiences to a large variety of films about the human experience of people of color in many parts of the world. Films released by ArtMattan Films include “Kirikou and the Sorceress,” “The Tracker,” “Gospel Hill,” “Scheherazade,” “Tell Me a Story,” “The Pirogue,” “Tango Negro: The African Roots of Tango,” “White Lies,” “The Man Who Mends Women,” and most recently, “The Citizen,” and “Mama Africa: Miriam Makeba.” More information is available at www.AfricanFilm.com

“Compelled by the ongoing demonstrations for justice and equality, and against racism, Arena Theater Cinema has selected several movies we hope will spark a discussion about race, discrimination, and injustice,” said projectionist Phil Marrinan.
The current films available for streaming on the Arena Theater website include “I Am Not Your Negro,” a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter; “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” an artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner; and “Whose Streets?” a documentary taking a look at the Ferguson uprising and told by activists and leaders of the movement. These films were made available by Magnolia Films, and once purchased, the streaming links for these three movies will never expire. For more information visit arenatheater.org.

Arena Theater is located at 214 Main Street, Point Arena, California. Arena Theater is a member-supported community theater owned and operated by the Arena Theater Association, a 501 (c) (3) not for profit corporation.