Yelling to the Sky is a 2011 American drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Victoria Mahoney. The film premiered In Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival

61st Berlin International Film Festival

The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 10 to February 20, 2011, with actress Isabella Rossellini as the President of the Jury. The Coen Brothers film True Grit opened the festival. 300,000 tickets were sold in total during the event, to 20,000 attendees from 116...

 and was nominated for the Golden Bear

Golden Bear

According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....

.

Cast

• Zoë Kravitz
  Zoe Kravitz
  Zoë Isabella Kravitz is an American actress, singer and model. She is the daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet. She has appeared in the films The Brave One with Jodie Foster, and No Reservations with Catherine Zeta-Jones...
  
   as Sweetness O'Hara
• Gabourey Sidibe
  Gabourey Sidibe
  Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe is an American actress who made her acting debut in the 2009 film Precious, a role that brought her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.-Early life:...
  
   as Latonya Williams
• Tim Blake Nelson
  Tim Blake Nelson
  Tim Blake Nelson is an American director, writer, singer, and actor.-Early life:Nelson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Ruth Kaiser Nelson, who is a noted social activist and philanthropist in Tulsa, and a geologist father...
  
   as Coleman
• Jason Clarke
  Jason Clarke (actor)
  Jason Clarke is an Australian actor.-Life and career:Clarke has made many television appearances, including Murder Call, Wildside, Home and Away, Blue Heelers, All Saints, Farscape, White Collar Blue and Stingers...
  
   as Gordon O'Hara
• Antonique Smith
  Antonique Smith
  Antonique Smith is an American Broadway, film actress and singer.-Life and career:Smith was born in East Orange, New Jersey. Smith is best known for her starring roles as Maureen and Mimi in Jonathan Larson's Broadway production of Rent. She was also the poster girl for Rent, displayed on taxi...
  
   as Ola O'Hara
• Tariq Trotter as Roland
• Shareeka Epps
  Shareeka Epps
  Shareeka Epps is an American actress. She starred in the 2006 film Half Nelson, alongside Ryan Gosling.- Life and career :...
  
   as Fatima Harris
• Yolonda Ross as Lorene O'Hara
• Adam Tomei as Cal
• Billy Kay
  Billy Kay
  Billy Kay is a writer, broadcaster and language activist. Born in Galston, East Ayrshire, Scotland in 1951, he studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh...
  
   as Dobbs
• Gio Perez as Shorty
• Peter Anthony Tambakis as Drew
• E. J. Bonilla as Rob
• Sonequa Martin as Jojo Parker
• Hassan Manning as Bohanen
• Marc John Jefferies
  Marc John Jefferies
  Marc John Jefferies is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Derrick Mitchell on the NBC sitcom The Tracy Morgan Show, and as Darius on Treme, the HBO drama series set in post-Katrina New Orleans.-Career:Jefferies debuted as the title character "Isaiah",...
  
  as Lil' Man

Reception

The leading US industry trade paper, Variety, said of the film, ""Yelling to the Sky" boasts a strong directorial voice. [Victoria] Mahoney was clearly driven by a genuine creative gift, and escaped such restraints to unleash this affecting cri du coeur."

Filmmaker Magazine named Mahoney one of the 2010 "25 New Faces of Independent Film", saying of the film, "A powerful, emotionally nuanced debut. Mahoney, who has drawn fine performances from her actors, has a sophisticated and empathetic understanding of the characters they play."