Origin @ The Cinematheque

Origin is a sprawling, ambitious exploration of racial inequality in contemporary America and its interconnection with global systems of oppression throughout history. Ava DuVernay was told that Pulitzer Prize-winner Isabel Wilkerson’s book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, was far too complicated to adapt; but the urgency of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the lead-up to the 2024 election impelled her to persevere in interpreting the book’s ideas for the screen. Origin humanizes Wilkerson’s argument not only by dramatizing the book’s contents—which makes connections between Jim Crow laws, Nazi social hierarchies, and Indian caste systems—but also its creation. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys) plays Wilkerson’s onscreen counterpart as she writes Caste in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s murder. Part biopic, part historical drama, and part political indictment, Origin is an emotionally resonant call for collective responsibility in recognizing universal human dignity.

This free screening is presented as part of ​“Cinema Thinks the World,” a partnership project between The University of British Columbia and The Cinematheque. After the film, there will be a short reception followed by a one-hour panel talk with audience discussion.

Panellists: Moussa Magassa, Gaurav Pathania, Asma Sayed
Moderator: William Brown