Flaming Classics and O Cinema present “Warm Greetings from Florida: ZOLA” with performances by Opal Am Rah and Persephone Von Lips.
Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O Harris’ cinematic adaptation of a Twitter thread introduces us to this story by starting in an ethereal space; a hall of mirrors ready to reflect our protagonist Zola and her newfound best friend/worst enemy Stefani upon each other. The story of ZOLA is a queer tale as old as time: meeting someone who understands you in an unexpected space, developing a meaningful connection based on mutual attraction and traits, and crashing and burning as soon as you realize who the other person really is outside of the bubble you’ve created.
“Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.” Thus began the odyssey of one A’Ziah King, aka ZOLA. From acclaimed writer/director Janicza Bravo, Zola’s stranger than fiction saga, which she first told in a now iconic series of viral, uproarious tweets, comes to dazzling cinematic life. Zola (Taylour Paige), a Detroit waitress, strikes up a new friendship with a customer, Stefani (Riley Keough), who seduces her to join a weekend of dancing and partying in Florida. What at first seems like a glamorous trip full of “hoeism” rapidly transforms into a 48-hour journey involving a nameless pimp, an idiot boyfriend, some Tampa gangsters and other unexpected adventures in this wild, see-it-to-believe-it tale.