Drylongso

With her 16mm debut, Cauleen Smith made a lasting mark on American independent cinema. DRYLONGSO is both a sharp indictment of racial injustice and structural violence and an intimate elegy for a generation of African American men lost too soon. A rediscovered gem from the 1990s DIY film culture, the work blends political urgency with the immediacy of a handmade buddy film, murder mystery, and love story.

At its center is Pica (Toby Smith), an outspoken art student in Oakland who witnesses young Black men around her dying at an alarming rate. Determined not to let their presence vanish unnoticed, she photographs them with her Polaroid camera, creating a personal archive against erasure. What begins as an artistic gesture gradually becomes a quiet act of resistance.

Meanwhile, Pica forms a close bond with Tobi (April Barnett), who is trapped in an abusive relationship. Love, friendship, and heartbreak unfold against the constant backdrop of everyday violence, intensified by a serial killer terrorizing the neighborhood. DRYLONGSO—street slang for “ordinary” or “common”—captures the energy and communal spirit of 1990s Oakland while foregrounding the resilience and solidarity within a Black community. The film was recently restored in 4K from the original 16mm materials.