In collaboration with Vassar College’s conference “Quiet as It’s Kept: Passing Subjects, Contested Identities” and Professor Mia Mask, we present a short series of films exploring themes around racial fluidity, impersonation, and assimilation.

“A fluid, persuasive piece of movie-making graced with the considerable visual sophistication.” (Kenneth Turan, LA Times)

Easy Rawlins (Denzel Washington), a decorated WWII hero, is trying to get by in segregated America. After losing his job, he ends up working as a detective on the trail of a missing white woman (Jennifer Beals) who is thought to be hiding somewhere in LA’s black community. Before long, trouble is around every corner. This richly atmospheric hard-boiled whodunit, which also stars a trigger-happy Don Cheadle in a scene-stealing performance, is based on Walter Mosley’s novel of the same name.