High Flying Bird

Q&A with André Holland, Zazie Beetz, and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Steven Soderbergh & cast in person.

During a pro basketball lockout, a sports agent (André Holland) pitches a rookie basketball client (Melvin Gregg) on an intriguing and controversial business proposition. Steven Soderbergh’s new film also features Zazie Beetz, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan, and Bill Duke and was written by Moonlight co-screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney. “With High Flying Bird, Soderbergh discovers yet another profession whose practitioners’ for-hire physiques stand in for the gig-to-gig economics of his own creative hustle: basketball players. His new film ups the metaphorical ante in a couple of ways: High Flying Bird considers hoopsters as content creators in an entertainment industry upended by streaming sites, and as black laborers in a marketplace controlled by white owners … It amounts to a multifaceted consideration of freedom and agency.” —Mark Asch (Jan/Feb 2019 issue) A Netflix release. New York Premiere