''Will'' is a 1981 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Jessie Maple. It was the first independent feature-length film directed by an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

woman. The movie was filmed on location in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

with a budget of $12,000 and featured a then-unknown

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), Gloria Mat ...

in her first film role.

Plot

Will (Obaka Adedunyo) is a girls' basketball coach, who is battling his heroin addiction while raising a 12-year-old adopted boy (called "Little Brother") with his wife (

). The film includes graphic depictions of drug use, including a scene where Little Brother snorts cocaine, and portrays the effect of drugs on individuals, their families, and their communities as well as the positive results of overcoming addiction.

Casting

Obaka Adedunyo earned his first film credit in the lead role of Will.

, an aspiring actress at that time, was rehearsing for the Broadway opening of ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. It is based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, and p ...

'' when she was cast as Will's wife. Devine, in her first film role, was paid $500.

Legacy

''Will'' won an award at the Athens International Film Festival and was used as an educational film at many New York drug rehabilitation centers. In 2013, the film was restored by the New York Women in Film and Television's Women's Film Preservation Fund. In 2024, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

References

External links

* American independent films African-American drama films 1981 films 1981 drama films 1980s American films United States National Film Registry films {{1980s-US-film-stub