Restless City

Djibril, a young Senegalese immigrant, has been trying to make a life for himself in the streets of Harlem in New York. An aspiring musician, he hopes to one day score a record deal, but after four years in the United States he still scrapes together a living by selling CDs on the street and taking on gigs as a courier with the help of his moped. To raise enough money to make an album, Djibril agrees to work for Bekay, a pimp and loan shark. Djilbri's mission to fulfill his dream is interrupted when he meets Trini, a prostitute who works for Bekay. Djibril risks everything to save Trini from her squalid life.

{{Cast listing|

• Sy Alassane as Djibril
• Sky Nicole Grey as Trini
• Tony Okungbowa as Bekay
• Danai Gurira as Sisi
• Babs Olusanmokun as Cravate
• Hervé Diese as Lido
• Ger Duany as Rocky
• Momo Dione as Pesher
• Osas Ighodaro as Adinike
• Lenore Thomas Douglas as Candy
• Maduka Steady as Ten Step
• Aspen Steib as Letta
• Stephen Tyrone Williams as Kareem

}}

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|45|6|11|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}}{{cite web |title=Restless City |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/restless_city |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=26 April 2023}}

In a positive review, Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe wrote, "'Restless City' is tumescent with atmosphere", and "there’s a dreamy immediacy to life in [Dosunmu’s] Harlem as opposed to the drugginess of life" of other films.{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Wesley |title='Restless City' is a Harlem with dreamy, vivid backdrop |url=https://www.boston.com/ae/movies/2012/08/16/movie-review-restless-city-wesley-morris/g7FyqMW9yYU83zf0ieERJK/story.html |access-date=26 April 2023 |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820103002/https://www.boston.com/ae/movies/2012/08/16/movie-review-restless-city-wesley-morris/g7FyqMW9yYU83zf0ieERJK/story.html |archive-date=August 20, 2012}} Ernest Hardy of The Village Voice said, "Told in an elliptical style with a pacing and jagged rhythms that take some getting used to, the thrust and power of the film lies in its poetic imagery, in the way Dosunmu and cinematographer Bradford Young use light and composition to make almost every frame (breathtaking profiles; close-ups on faces and feet; slo-mo moped rides down city streets) stunning. The cumulative effect of their visual handiwork brings an unexpected impact when tragedy finally strikes."{{cite news |last1=Hardy |first1=Ernest |title=Restless City |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2012-04-25/film/restless-city-film-review/ |access-date=26 April 2023 |work=The Village Voice |date=April 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501070101/https://www.villagevoice.com/2012-04-25/film/restless-city-film-review/ |archive-date=May 1, 2012}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20120613182948/http://www.affrm.com/restless-city/}}
• {{IMDb title|1545464}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

{{Andrew Dosunmu}}

Category:2011 films

Category:2011 drama films

Category:2011 independent films

Category:2011 multilingual films

Category:2010s American films

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:2010s French-language films

Category:American drama films

Category:Films about immigration to the United States

Category:Films about prostitution in the United States

Category:Films directed by Andrew Dosunmu

Category:Films set in Harlem

Category:Films shot in New York City

Category:English-language independent films

{{2010s-US-drama-film-stub}}