Written and directed by Merawi Gerima
Starring Obinna Nwachukwu, Dennis Lindsey, Melody A. Tally and Ramon Thompson
Not rated - language, violent situations
Running Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

by Audrey Callerstrom

A year after The Last Black Man in San Francisco took viewers on the journey of a black man reclaiming his childhood Victorian-era house comes another film about gentrification, this time on the opposite coast. Residue is about the gentrification of Washington D.C., specifically in Eckington, where filmmaker Jay (Obinna Nwachukwu) grew up. Jay has since left D.C. for Los Angeles to be a filmmaker. “Mr. University,” an old neighbor calls him. Jay’s childhood friends and neighbors are resentful that Jay left D.C., and the reunion comes with complications. Jay’s parents continue to get eviction notices and offers to sell their house; Jay’s friend Delonte (Dennis Lindsey) is resentful that Jay left; Jay’s friend Dion (Jamal Graham) is in jail; and Jay’s friend Demetrius is nowhere to be found.