Film

Slam

1998 · 1h 44m · Drama

Words make sense of a world that won't.

IMDb

7.0

Rotten Tomatoes

60%

Metacritic

73

Raymond Joshua, a young black performance poet, is arrested and imprisoned for a petty marijuana charge in a Washington, D.C. jail. Although the confining prison walls do little to shield him from danger, it is within those walls that Raymond establishes his identity, strength, and voice and meets a prison gang leader and a prison writing teacher, Lauren Bell. Bell inspires Raymond to use the power of creative expression to free himself from the struggles and demise of the Black male as another victim of the judicial system.

Saul Williams

Ray Joshua

Sonja Sohn

Lauren Bell

Bonz Malone

Hopha

Lawrence Wilson

Big Mike

Beau Sia

Jimmy Huang

Andre Taylor

China

Momolu Stewart

Bay (Jail Rapper)

Ron Jones

Do Wop Cop

Reamer Shedrick

Do Wop Cop

Allan E. Lucas

Chief C.O.

Dominic Chianese Jr.

Officer Dom

Jerome Goldman

Jail Class Poet 'Why'

DJ Renegade

Party Poet 'Diminuendo in Blue'

Liza Jessie Peterson

Slam Poet 'Ice Cream'

Taylor Mali

Slam Poet 'Like'

Bob Holman

Slam MC

• Marc LevinDirector · Story · Screenplay · Producer
• Saul WilliamsScreenplay
• Richard StrattonScreenplay · Story · Producer
• Bonz MaloneScreenplay
• Sonja SohnScreenplay
• Henri M. KesslerProducer
• David PeipersExecutive Producer
• Mark BenjaminDirector of Photography
• DJ SpookyOriginal Music Composer
• Emir LewisEditor

Official Re-Release Trailer

Release date

October 7, 1998

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

1h 44m

Rated

R

Genres

Drama

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