Get the latest gossip

“Sinners”: Director Ryan Coogler on His Latest Hit, Delta Blues, His Mississippi Roots & Vampires

We begin our Memorial Day special with acclaimed director Ryan Coogler about his latest film Sinners, which is set to be one of the biggest box office hits of the year. Starring Michael B. Jordan, the genre-bending horror film is set in the Mississippi Delta during Jim Crow and is a “cinematic gumbo” of various influences and themes, Coogler tells Democracy Now! “I wanted to make a film that was kind of raging against the concept of genre and making the audience constantly question it, even while they were watching it,” he says. In particular, the film celebrates Delta blues, music made by Black artists “living under a back-breaking form of American apartheid,” and what Coogler describes as “our country’s most important contribution to global popular culture.” Coogler also discusses his family connection to Mississippi, producing the film with his wife Zinzi Coogler, his highly publicized contract with Warner Bros. and more. Coogler’s previous films include Black Panther, Creed and Fruitvale Station.

In particular, the film celebrates Delta blues, music made by Black artists “living under a back-breaking form of American apartheid,” and what Coogler describes as “our country’s most important contribution to global popular culture.” Set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta during Jim Crow, the film has two stars, Smoke and Stack — they’re both played by actor Michael B. Jordan — identical twin brothers who have just returned to their hometown after years living in Chicago working for gangster Al Capone. And it was such a profound discovery, that this music made by people who were, you know, for all intents and purposes, living under a back-breaking form of American apartheid, you know, denied their humanity on a daily basis, would create something so artistically excellent that it would affect global culture from that time forward.

Get the Android app