Zola Jumped In

So here's what I've been working on. I just finished a new draft of the script and am now seeking collaborators (including musicians and dancers this time) and financial supporters.

Zola Jumped In is a contemplative, ritualistic experience of a 15-year-old girl turning to a gang, a neighborhood church, and pregnancy for a sense of belonging and purpose.

The main action takes place at a mysterious nighttime fire ritual. Zola is anxious that her boyfriend hasn't yet shown up. As the ritual proceeds to storytelling then water and oil rituals, the African American Zola remembers the year's events leading to this night: her little brother is killed by Latino gang members, a little girl is killed in retaliation, she is raped by her mother's boyfriend, she is initiated into a gang and into a faith community, and she becomes involved with a Latino boy from the church. The nighttime ritual is the completion of her initiation into the church.

Or is it really just the beginning? As the night concludes with a ritual meal, we see Zola's life during the months after the ritual: she learns why her boyfriend never showed up to the ritual, in response she tries to get rid of her unborn baby, and she struggles to live out the life of hope she's embraced.

The film refuses to condemn gang members or even gang life. It also resists any temptation to hold up religion as an easy answer. The rituals and relationships of both ways of life are touched with fear and grace.