PASSING
Narrative Feature | 98 minutes

HIFF 2021

 Spotlight

Directed by
Rebecca Hall

Produced by
Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, Rebecca Hall

Written by
Rebecca Hall

Featuring
Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp

2021 | English | USA

Rebecca Hall’s stunning directorial debut follows two Black women, Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Academy Award® nominee Ruth Negga), who can “pass” as white, but choose to live on opposite sides of the color line during the height of the Harlem Renaissance. When a chance encounter reunites the former childhood friends, Irene reluctantly allows Clare into her home—where she ingratiates herself to Irene’s husband (André Holland) and soon her social circle as well. Gorgeously adapted from Nella Larsen’s celebrated novel, PASSING is a riveting examination of identity, repression, and the lies people tell themselves and others to protect their carefully constructed realities.