James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket

An emotional portrait, a social critique and a passionate plea for human equality, this 1989 film is a vérité feast. In archival excerpts from over one hundred sources and nine different countries, Baldwin shares his message with first-person urgency: exploring what it means to be born black, impoverished, gay and gifted – in a world that has yet to understand that “all men are brothers.”

Baldwin’s eloquence is illuminated by intimate interviews and original footage: scenes from his extraordinary funeral service; explorations of his homes on three continents, including France, Switzerland, Turkey and Harlem; insights from family, friends, colleagues and critics. Witnesses include his brother David Baldwin; biographer David Leeming; writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, William Styron, Ishmael Reed and Yashar Kemal; painter Lucien Happersberger and entertainer Bobby Short.

The original 16mm film has been restored and re-mastered by the James Baldwin Project.