ZOOMAN

A modern fable about urban violence, courage, and redemption, this compelling story begins with the death of young Jackie Tate (Alyssa Ashley Nichols), killed by a stray bullet during an exchange between rival gang members in Brooklyn. And nobody in the neighbourhood is willing to identify Zooman (Khalil Kain), the young, tough hoodlum who fired the fatal shot.

The tragedy of Jackie’s death throws her family into shock. In dealing with their grief, her father, Reuben Tate (Louis Gossett, Jr.) and mother, Rachel (Cynthia Martells), are forced to examine the tensions that lead to the disintegration of the family. Also deeply affected are the Tate’s teenage son Victor (Harper Hill), Reuben’s hotheaded cousin Emmet (Charles S. Dutton), and his stubborn cousin Ash (CCH Pounder), each of whom reacts differently to the loss.

But the family is not alone in suffering the consequences of the killing. Neighbours, even as they mouth the standard condolences, feel antagonised by the sign an infuriated Reuben posts on the front porch: “The killer of our Jackie is free on the streets because our neighbours will not identify him.” The conflict eventually attracts media attention as Reuben, a one-time prizefighter and now a city bus driver, deplores the senseless violence, as well as the spinelessness of eyewitnesses to his daughter’s death.

Not even the killer is free from the incident’s repercussions. Zooman has been forced underground by the publicity. The crime ultimately proves cathartic for all the characters involved as Zooman returns, broken and homeless, to face the family behind the sign.