Don’t Be Nice

Directed by Max Powers
1h 35min | Documentary | 2018

The upstart Bowery Slam Poetry Team, made up of five African-American, Afro-Hispanic and queer poets in their 20s, prepares for the national championships. Mentored by a demanding coach who encourages them to push past their personal boundaries and write from a place of vulnerability, pain and honesty, the poets break down, break through and compose their best work ever. Timely and difficult, their spoken word slays—but will these soul-searching pieces about police violence and the whitewashing of Black culture be able to compete against choreographed crowd-pleasers for the title? Will opting to make a statement instead of a show spell their defeat?

An emotional and inspiring film that gives insightful commentary on race, gender, identity and sexual politics in America today, Don’t Be Nice is both an absorbing competition doc and a vital writer’s workshop that proves once and for all that winning hearts and minds is the ultimate prize.

A Bowery Poetry Studios Production

PRODUCERS
Nikhil Melnechuk, Cora Atkinson

STORY PRODUCER 
David Lieberman

AWARDS
Jim Ewing Young Director Award
Port Townsend Film Festival
Winner
Atlanta Docufest
Winner Documentary
Macon Film Festival