Nickel Boys achieves Pulitzer-winning relevance with its two Academy Award nominations that highlight one of America’s darkest historical periods. The powerful story of the film has reached major success through its Best Picture nomination and its Best Adapted Screenplay nomination which RaMell Ross directed.
A Story Rooted in Reality
During the Jim Crow period, the stage of Nickel Reform school was established in Florida’s fictional world although the entire project was based on the true story of Dozier School for Nickel Boys. This institution functioned for more than 100 years until earning recognition as a place where children sent there suffered through systematic abuse before significantly harming or even killing some of them.
During the time from 1940 to 1975 hundreds of male students suffered abuse of both a physical and sexual nature alongside mental torment at Dozier alongside Okeechobee School. The tragic stories of those children who died were buried beneath decades of silence. Survivors from Dozier School joined together to fight for compensation resulting in Florida’s approval of $20 million last year to honor the abuses survivors suffered.
The distinct approach in Nickel Boys stands out as its defining feature. Through its almost completely boy-focused camera perspective, the film lets viewers feel what the reform school students felt while watching their lives unfold. By allowing this approach to give floor space to survivors who spent centuries being silenced it provides an unavoidable view of their endured suffering and victorious resistance.
Bringing the Film to Tallahassee
Ross conducted a visit to Tallahassee this past month to hold a Florida A&M University special screening of Nickel Boys followed by a conversation about the film’s impact. He revealed the necessity to represent the Nickel Boys both as victims and as characters who endured wrongful termination of their lives. Through compelling storytelling combined with its critical historical value, Nickel Boys captures attention in the film world. Audiences can view this uneven yet essential true-to-life story in theaters right now.
