For Ahkeem

Name: For Ahkeem
Genre: Documentary
Released: October 13, 2017
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Daje Shelton

2017

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Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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For Ahkeem

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Movie Details & Credits

Transient Pictures | Release Date: October 13, 2017 | Not Rated

Starring: Daje Shelton

Summary: After a school fight lands 17-year old Daje Shelton in a court-supervised alternative high school, she's determined to turn things around and make a better future for herself in her rough St. Louis neighborhood. But focusing on school is tough as she loses multiple friends to gun violence, falls in love for the first time, and becomesAfter a school fight lands 17-year old Daje Shelton in a court-supervised alternative high school, she's determined to turn things around and make a better future for herself in her rough St. Louis neighborhood. But focusing on school is tough as she loses multiple friends to gun violence, falls in love for the first time, and becomes pregnant with a boy, Ahkeem, just as Ferguson erupts a few miles down the road. Through Daje's intimate coming-of-age story, For Ahkeem illuminates challenges that many Black teenagers face in America today, and witnesses the strength, resilience, and determination it takes to survive.… Expand

Director: Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

RogerEbert.com Nick Allen

Oct 13, 2017

There is a fascinating impulsiveness to the production of this story, especially as it essentially drops viewers into the world of Daje, and then has us follow her for months. Read full review

Barry Hertz

Oct 12, 2017

It’s a sort of bad-luck situation most documentarians secretly dream of, but to their credit, For Ahkeem’s co-directors don’t exploit the situation, merely letting their cameras continue to capture Daje’s ever-dire situation. Read full review

Michael Rechtshaffen

Oct 19, 2017

A tenderly intimate, affecting documentary portrait. Read full review

The Film Stage John Fink

Oct 12, 2017

An illuminating film about poverty that one hopes can be a call for action even if the film itself doesn’t directly encourage advocacy, it’s clear that hashtags and temporary fixes aren’t enough to change Ahkeem’s life. Read full review

Christopher Kompanek

Oct 18, 2017

The vicious-cycle narrative is familiar, but For Ahkeem comes uncomfortably close at times to crossing the line between shining a light on a problem and exploiting one, despite the filmmakers’ good intentions. Read full review

Danny King

Oct 12, 2017

Levine and Van Soest (who are both white) deserve credit for eliding or treating obliquely a number of seemingly obvious narrative beats. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Oct 12, 2017

While the film ends at a logical stopping point, it feels incomplete. It probably could have used a few more years of filming. Read full review

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