Directed by Jovan Todorovic
Directed by Jovan Todorovic
You're Dead, America
Poem by Danez Smith

i fed your body to the fish
traded it at lunch for milk

i know where they buried you
'cause it’s my mouth

they tell me bootstraps
& i spit up a little leather

they tell me Christ
but you don’t have black friends

during the anthem
i hum "Niggas in Paris"

i cha cha slide over the flag
C-walk on occasion

i put a spell on you
it called for 3/5s of my blood

apple pie, red
bones & a full moon

but instead i did it
in the daylight, wanting you

to see me ending you
stupid stupid me

i know better than to fuck
with a recipe

i don’t make chicken
when I don’t have eggs

look at what i did: on the TV
the man from TV

is gonna be president
he has no words

& hair beyond simile
you’re dead, America

& where you died
grew something worse –

crop white as the smile
of a man with his country on his side

a gun on his other

//

tomorrow, i’ll have hope.
tomorrow i can shift the wreckage
& find a seed.
i don’t know what will grow

i’ve lost my faith in this garden
the bees are dying
the water poisons whole cities
but my honeyed kin
those brown folks who make
up the nation of my heart
only allegiance i stand for
realer than any god
for them i bury whatever
this country thought it was

Credits

A FILM BY

Jovan Todorovic

POEM BY

Danez Smith

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Todd Boss
Egg Creative
Claire McGirr

PRODUCED BY

Stink Films
All:Expanded

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Jeff Baron
Blake Powell
Daniel Bergmann
Jovan Todorovic

PRODUCER

Emi Stewart

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Albert Salas

EDITOR

Milena Z. Petrovic

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Jose Cavazos

COSTUME DESIGNER

Akua Murray Adoboe

HAIR & MAKEUP ARTIST

Allie Smith

MUSIC BY

Nenmanja Mosurović

COLORIST

Mikey Rossiter

STARRING

Leal Zielińska
Waheedah Shaheed
Malcom Boyd
Sebastian Abarbanell
Misa Kinno Lucyshyn
Yana Bovenistier
Gys De Villers
Rokiatou "Rocky" Kaba
Alina Carson
Tom Martone
Wesley B. Volcy
Rew Starr

MOVEMENT ADVISORS

Sidra Bell
David Flores Productions

VOICE OVER

Elton E. Jones

VOCAL

Draganna Jovanović

CASTING BY

Emily Fleischer
Jovan Todorović
Emi Stewart

PRODUCTION CORDINATOR

Ivan Lafayette

LOCATION MANAGER

Katy Hallowell
Andrew Samaha

CREATIVE CONSULTANT

Orly Anan

SET DRESSOR

Jordan Abrams

FIRST ASSISTANT CAMERA

Megaera Stephens

FILM LOADER

Jonathon Henry
Helen Cassell

STEADICAM OPERATOR

Axel Ebermann

GAFFER

Geoff Taylor

KEY GRIPS

Hamilton Yu
Mark Solomon

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS

Brana Živković
Carly Krim
Max Jablonsky
Magnus Diehl
Matt Egan
Jordan Abrams
Jordan Alleman

VISUAL EFFECTS

Framestore NYC

ANIMATION

Georgios Cherouvim
Phil Robinson

COMPOSITING

Gigi NG
Liz Yang

DATA SERVICES

Stuart Clark

TELECINE

The Mill NYC

COLOR PRODUCER

Evan Baur

SOUND DESIGN & MIX

Taylorsound.com

SPECIAL THANKS

Kodak Motion Picture Film
Framestore
The Mill
Sidra Bell Dance New York
Stink
SMUGGLER
Kodak
Kaya Williams
Bear Schmidt
Handheld Films
Below The Line

"You're Dead, America" poem by Danez Smith ©2015 Danez Smith
Used by permission.
Originally appeared on Buzzfeed. From Don't Call Us Dead (Grayworld Press, 2017).
Screenings

2018

Motionpoems New York City Premiere 
Motionpoems LA Premiere


2019

Motionpoems Dublin Premiere

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Every Day