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Ya’Ke Smith returned to his old church with a tough request. A film professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, he needed a place of worship to shoot his first feature, Wolf. And he had reason to be nervous: His film, which shows this week at the Dallas International Film Festival, is about a sex abuse scandal that rocks a family’s faith and turns them against the bishop they once revered.

Administrators at the New Creation Christian Fellowship Church, in Smith’s hometown of San Antonio, were hesitant. As so many news stories have shown the past few years, it’s easier to sweep sexual abuse under the rug than weed it out of the pulpit. It didn’t help that sexual allegations against Georgia bishop Eddie Long were all over the news.

But when Smith got through to his bishop, David Michael Copeland, he received the good word.

“He basically said whatever you need, you can have,” Smith recalled. “He stood up in church one Sunday and said, ‘I don’t have an issue with anything Ya’Ke is shooting. What he’s doing is going to be powerful. Although it may be controversial, it’s going to help people.’”

Smith hopes that’s the case. It’s why he made the film in the first place.

He credits the church for helping him escape the projects of east San Antonio and guiding him toward his passion for film. But he’s also smart enough to know no one is without sin.

“I love the black church, but growing up there I saw the good and the bad,” he says. “That was my whole point in making this film. In order for us to change, we have to see. We have to face, and a lot of times we don’t want to face. We’d rather be silent about some issues. But if you see this on the screen, you can’t be silent anymore.”

Now a lean, energetic 31, Smith exudes a sense of purpose. That’s admirable, but it wouldn’t mean much without this: Wolf is the calling card of someone destined to make a great film.

You can sense it in the intensity of the performances, from 16-year-old Jordan Cooper, who plays Carl, the emotionally tormented abuse victim, to 76-year-old Dallas theater and film veteran Irma P. Hall, who plays Carl’s grandmother. “If there’s one thing I don’t tolerate, it’s lazy acting,” Smith told the audience at Wolf’s world premiere last month at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin.

“I enjoyed working with him because he knew what he wanted,” says Hall by phone. “He wanted his characters to be real, and to show whatever the emotion called for at the time, whether it was happiness or confusion. I had a lot of confidence in him.”

You can also see Smith’s talent it in searing, isolated images. The predatory bishop, played by Eugene Lee, kneels alone in his pulpit, looks out at the pews and sees a smattering of the children he has victimized over the years. It’s a blood-curdling, Shakespearean moment that drew gasps last month from that same SXSW audience.

Shot in 15 days in the San Antonio area, Wolf is a little rough around the edges. But only a little. With many festival films, you watch and endure the long rough patches. With Wolf, you mostly just think about the promise within.

Which doesn’t make it an easy sell. The subject matter is tough for any audience. Then factor in the marketplace challenges of any black film that portrays the church community as potentially threatening. Wolf is about as far away from the Tyler Perry money-printing factory as a movie can get.

“My mother probably wouldn’t want to see it,” says Dallas International Film Festival artistic director James Faust. “The black community holds the church really near and dear as a sacred place of protection and worship. To say that this actually happens is an affront to the belief that this doesn’t happen. In this world where black filmmakers aren’t often given leeway to do these kinds of films because you have to adhere to the possibility of making money, he’s taking a risk, and I’m glad he took it.”

Smith is well aware that Wolf won’t be breaking box-office records. “I have a friend in LA who’s always saying I need to write something more commercial, and then make these passion projects,” he says. “But for me, film is more than just entertainment. It’s life-changing. I knew going in this would be a tough sell, because nobody really wants to face this.”

That sense of personal mission rubs off on Smith’s students, many of whom interned on Wolf and Smith’s short films, according to Bart Weiss, who teaches film with Smith at UTA.

“He’s not making films about zombies and hit men that just have references to stuff on TV,” Weiss says. “His films have true emotional impact. That makes students think to look inside of them for stories that have a deeper sense of resonance.”

The stories that hit closest to home can be the hardest to tell. As Smith discovered, sometimes it takes a leap of faith.

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Chris Vognar of the Dallas Morning News said in his review/article: “You can also see Smith’s talent in searing, isolated images. The predatory bishop, played by Eugene Lee, kneels alone in his pulpit, looks out at the pews and sees a smattering of the children he has victimized over the years. It’s a blood-curdling, Shakespearean moment that drew gasps…”

Stay tuned, because there’s so much more to come!!

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Hope to see you there!

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Just the headline alone is surreal!  I’m so honored that the Shadow and Act team dug the work. They can be hard…LOL.

This review is amazing. Thanks Tambay! So glad you saw the film. Dug the film. And reviewed the film. Here’s a snippet of what he said:

“Director Smith attacks the film’s themes with an unflinching, non-exploitative honesty; it’s raw, gritty, tragic, but also oddly beautiful material, thanks in part to cinematographer Yuta Yamaguchi’s striking visual work here, director Smith’s visual metaphors (especially how he chose to represent the ideas suggested by the film’s title – as in, a wolf in sheep’s clothing), and the vulnerability the actors, we could say, celebrate in their wonderful performances.”

I also want to say that I am a huge Spike Lee fan and having my name mentioned in the same sentence as his is truly an honor. Haven’t seen Red Hook, don’t know how good it is, but Spike has influenced my work from the beginning. His past work was bold, daring and timely…so I’ll leave it at that.

Click here to read the rest of the review of WOLF

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Every reviewer didn’t dig every frame or every story point, but they were all immensely affected by the film, evident in what they wrote. Check out some snippets and click on the links to read the reviews in their entirety.

“The cinematic punch in the gut I so desperately needed before leaving SXSW and Austin, TX tomorrow morning,Ya’ke Smith’s feature film directorial debut Wolf is an audacious, potent drama that will likely elicit extreme reactions from viewers when it’s eventually in general release – reactions that will undoubtedly lead to fiery discussion centered around the central themes the film tackles.”
–Tambay Obenson, Indiewire: Shadow and Act

” Beautifully shot and heavy with incredible, intense performances, Wolf is a triumphant narrative, absolutely harrowing, and unflinching even at its most uncomfortable moments. Even the secondary performances, such as Carl’s grandmother (Hall), are so perfectly cast and bring their best until you are unable to look away from the screen. The film’s script is tight and fraught with tension, particularly during the religiously poignant moments— a heartwrenching scene of Jaymund struggling to come to terms with his son’s situation by asking if it could be punishment from God for his own infidelities is one example, and it is difficult to watch Nona’s unwavering and unrelenting love for her son war with her innate desire to do the right thing and bring his molester to light.”
–Amanda Rebholz, Planet Fury

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They’ll be screening Shoppin‘, Hope’s War, The Second Coming and Katrina’s Son. If you’re in Arkansas please come and check it out.

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Sunday, March 11th
7:30PM – 8:56PM
Canon Screening Room

Tuesday, March 13th
2:15PM – 3:41PM
Venue: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar: Theater C

Friday, March 16th
4:30PM – 5:56PM
Venue: Stateside Theatre

If you are in Austin for the festival please come to our screenings so we can pack the house out!!!

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