Quest (2017)

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Quest Movie Poster

Quest is a American documentary film, directed by Jonathan Olshefski who released on January 21, 2017 (Sundance Film Festival). The film tells the story of the life of the African-American family ,Christopher and Christine’a (known as "Ma Quest) in Philadelphia during the Obama years, and shows that being Black in the US means facing uphill challenges every day while balancing not to lose tenderness.

Quest received several nominee including Best Documentary and Outstanding Social Issue Documentary in 2019 News and Documentary Emmys and Winner of Outstanding Achievement in Editing in 2018 Cinema Eye Honors.[1]

Plot

Filmed with truthful intimacy for nearly a decade, Quest is a moving portrait of an American family living in North Philadelphia. Starting at the dawn of Obama's presidency, parents Christopher "Quest" Rainey and his wife, Christine's "Ma Quest" Rainey, are raising a family as they navigate poverty and conflict in their neighborhood. In their basement home music studio, they develop a community of artists, but even this creative sanctuary can't always keep them safe. Quest is a living illumination of race and class in America and a testament to love, commitment, healing and hope.

Controversy

Christopher Rainey and Christine’a Rainey

It depicts how most of white people never faces the violence, racial stigma and deprivation, "Sadly, the average Afro-American family faces problems, to which many white people are either alien or oblivious". There is also ryhme from the rapper in the film who says “Racism still lives in the days, just in different ways”.

"There is a tacit belief that Black people are always to blame for whatever happens to them." : A scene when PJ is hit by a stray bullet in the eye, and she apologizes to her father for something that's clearly not her fault, revealing a toxic reversal of values in American society.

Another one, in the film many black people are confronted by police, they handle the situation with tremendous calm and casualty, suggesting that they are used to racial profiling. It shows that they used to dealing with issues about police violence against Blacks and is obviously not confined to Philadelphia.[2]

Pro

From left: Patricia (P. J.) Rainey, Christine’a Rainey, Christopher Rainey

This movie shows the beauty and complexity of life in a community that has been neglected as an African-American. Despite the challenges that the community faces, the love that people have for each other can still be defined.[3] : There's a lovely scene when the neighborhood is throwing a party for P.J. On her way back home. People are eating food, they are doing back-flips down the street. Kids are running around. Hip Hop artists from Everquest, including Price, do home raps for P.J. Music blasts, and all the ladies jump up to do a line-up dance in the middle of the street. The mood is pure joy and humility.[4]

Reference