Cousin Bobby

“Runneth over with kindness...Pure Demme!”—Rolling Stone

Jonathan Demme’s death shocked the film community last April. Best known for his features (including the Oscar-sweeping The Silence of the Lambs) and concert films (the iconic Stop Making Sense and Neil Young: Heart of Gold), Demme was also deeply committed to making humanist, progressive documentaries.

Ripe for rediscovery, Cousin Bobby ranks among Demme’s finest, most generous documentaries—and the best unknown films of the 1990s. The Reverend Robert “Bobby” W. Castle (Demme’s cousin) is an Episcopalian minister in Harlem who became a controversial figure due to his ties with the Black Panther party and the civil rights movement. What starts off as a portrait film becomes a powerful and incisive look into systemic oppression in America. Ultimately, the film—like many of Demme’s best—offers a glimpse at how true communities are formed. (70 mins., digital video)