KNOW HOW (Drew Taylor & Larry Weinstein, 2014)
Cinema Village
22 East 12th St. between University Pl. & Fifth Ave.
Opens Friday, May 15
212-924-3363
www.cinemavillage.com
www.knowhowmovie.com
At the beginning of Know How, graffiti-style words announce, over shots of the Manhattan skyline at night, “We are a group of foster care youth. We came together to change our lives and communities. We wrote and performed a musical based on our lives. We adapted our musical into this film.” Now, before you stop reading this because you figure this will be a self-serving, melodramatic vanity project made by a bunch of kids extolling a social cause, you need to understand something: Know How is a gripping little gem, a smart portrayal of the based-on-fact real-life problems experienced by underserved minority youth in New York’s foster-care system. The film, written (with the five main actors) and directed by Juan Carlos Piñeiro Escoriaza (Second Skin), follows Addie (Niquana Clark), Marie (Ebonee Simpson), Megan (Claribelle Pagan), Eva (Gabrielle Garcia), and Austin (Gilbert Howard) as they deal with sexual abuse, crime, drugs and alcohol, bullying, death, treatment centers, education, and the Administration for Children’s Services. They have battles with parents, grandparents, teachers, administrators, police, and lovers, facing turning points that will change their futures forever, from choosing to steal to trying to get into college. Made in conjunction with the Possibility Project, which “empowers teenagers to create a better world,” Know How is billed as a musical, but it’s really a gritty drama with hip-hop songs performed by the cast, which also includes Joshua Elijah Adams as Juice, Deshawn Brown as Trey, Michael Kareem Dew as James, Ainsley Brownie Henry as Desi, and Lee Jimenez as Kayla. Know How opens May 15 at Cinema Village, with producer Paul Griffin and various cast members participating in Q&As following the 3:00 and 7:00 shows on Friday and the 7:00 screening on Saturday.