UF Theatre Professor Dr. Mikell Pinkney performed in the international film “Out Of My Hand,” while on sabbatical from 2012 to 2013. The film is centered on a rubber-plantation worker from Liberia in search of a better life when he moves to New York City and becomes a cab driver. In this current take on the quintessential immigrant story, Pinkney fulfills the role of a Liberian leader within the community who aids African refugees as they acclimate into the US culture.
The diverse crew that brought this film to life include Japanese director Takeshi Fukunaga and a team of workers from America, Britain, Asia and Liberia. “Out Of My Hand” is uniquebecasue it is the “only the second foreign-production narrative feature film ever shot in Liberia and the first to be made in association with Liberia Movie Union, an affiliate of the Liberian government,” according to Pinkney.
“Out Of My Hand” achieved mass success through its debut in the Panorama segment at the Berlin International Film Festival, won the Best U.S. Fiction Feature Grand Jury Prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2015 and was announced at the Canadian International Film Festival. Pinkney also said the film was nominated for a 2016 Film Independent Spirit Award in the John Cassavetes Award category, given to the best feature made for under $500,000, demonstrating the importance of exhibiting talent even with limited resources.
Pinkney’s compelling performance in “Out of My Hand” can be viewed on iTunes and Netflix.
