For filmmaker Tina Gordon, bringing vibrant, compelling characters to the big screen has been her life’s work. Before sitting in the director’s chair for her 2013 debut feature Peeples, Gordon penned cult classics like Drumline and ATL. Now with her third feature film, Praise This, she once again puts music at the center of her story.
The story centers on a young woman named Sam (Chloe Bailey), who is uprooted from her life in Los Angles to go and live with her aunt, uncle, and cousin Jess (Anjelika Washington) in Atlanta. Angry, grieving, and determined to follow her dreams of becoming a professional singer, Sam reluctantly finds herself in the competitive world of Atlanta’s gospel praise team choirs. This new focus might be precisely what she needs to heal her spirit.
Ahead of the film’s debut on Peacock, Gordon spoke with Rotten Tomatoes about her Five Favorite Films, bringing Praise This to life, and why musicals have been the foundation of her journey as a filmmaker. “It’s funny doing a musical, because I realized [they were] my gateway into really loving films,” she explained. “They were mainly musicals. And I can’t sing a lick. The character Jess in this movie is me. I don’t know what piano bar I would be wasting my life away at if I could sing even a note, but that’s where I would be.”
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