After a Friday night screening of Black Panther, Marvel’s new film that celebrates African culture and pride, a group of South African moviegoers ecstatically danced outside of the theater.
That celebratory vibe was felt here in California too.
My daughter and I saw the movie in Alameda at its first showing Thursday evening and the energy in the room was wild! The theater was packed and there was lots of cheering and clapping all throughout the film.
Also here in the Bay Area, the film’s director and co-writer Ryan Coogler surprised the audience before Friday night’s show at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater (where lines wrapped around the block):
Surprise! #BlackPanther director/co-writer and #Oakland native shows up at screening! Tells a great story about going to movies w/his Dad pic.twitter.com/GTERwhMaJg
— Kate Larsen (@KateABC7) February 16, 2018
Born and raised in Oakland, Coogler delighted more local fans by making surprise appearances at select movie premieres in San Francisco and Emeryville.
(reddit)