Part of our Noir-vember Film Talk Series!

Partner up with our guest speakers all November long as they take you through the classic world of film noir, cinema’s home to all things existential and hard-boiled, and three of the most impactful pictures this genre has to offer!

The bone-deep disillusionment of postwar film noir becomes a powerful vehicle to explore America’s racial injustices in Carl Franklin’s richly atmospheric Devil in a Blue Dress, an adaptation of the hard-boiled novel by Walter Mosley. Denzel Washington has charisma to burn as the jobless ex-GI Easy Rawlins, who sees a chance to make some quick cash when he’s recruited to find the missing lover (Jennifer Beals) of a wealthy mayoral candidate in late-1940s Los Angeles—only to find himself embroiled in murder, political intrigue, and a scandal that crosses the treacherous color lines of a segregated society. Featuring breakout work by Don Cheadle as Rawlins’s cheerfully trigger-happy sidekick, this stylish mystery both channels and subverts classic noir tropes as it exposes the bitter racial realities underlying the American dream.

Hyacinthe M. Miller

Hyacinthe M. Miller is an award-winning author of short stories, magazine and newspaper articles, contemporary women's fiction and non-fiction. She's been published in Borealis magazine and in Herotica 7, Whispered Words, and Allucinor, The Elements of Romance anthologies.

Her debut novel, Kenora Reinvented, (Investigations, Mystery and Seasoned Romance) was published in 2019. Her current works-in-progress include The Fifth Man, book two of the Kenora & Jake series, a family memoir and a general interest text based on interviews with over seventy current and retired police officers around the world about challenges, rewards, and leadership in their chosen profession.

Hyacinthe is Chair of Crime Writers of Canada and belongs to professional organizations including the Alliance of Independent Authors, The Writers Union of Canada, Toronto Romance Writers, and Sisters in Crime. She is a founding member and Past President of the Writers Community of York Region, a qualified critique group leader, script advisor and writing mentor.