Black and White (PG RATING)
Genre: coming of age drama/Travel adventure

LOG LINE: A teenage girl lies about her age in order to win a photography competition and is forced to grow up fast when she is sent on assignment to war-torn Africa.

SIMILAR FILMS:

Girlfight
Gas, Food, Lodging
White Oleander

CAST/TYPES:

Andi: Judy Marte, Jurnee Smollett
Marchez: Gabriel Byrne, Javier Bardem, Benicio Del Toro


STATUS: First Draft Sceenplay
SETTING: Washington DC/Rwanda, Africa
BUDGET: under $5 Million

SYNOPSIS:
Andi Gower is a16 year old girl living in suburban Washington DC. Her guidance counselor senses her lack of interest in school and tries to guide her towards something that she feels passionate about. He loans her an old 35mm camera and challenges her to apply for a national photography competition.

She takes to the photography and creates a photo essay about a local homeless woman that is remarkably moving and she is a finalist in the competition, which is sponsored by a national magazine. The only problem is that she lied about her age on the application, which was only open to applicants 18 and older. As a finalist in the competition, she is invited on a month-long, expense-paid trip to serve as an assistant for seasoned war photographer, Pierre Marchez as he tours Rwanda, site of the genocide in 1994.

She lies to her parents and to her counselor. She buys a fake passport and runs away for her adventure. She confides her real plans to only one friend and swears her to secrecy.

She arrives in New York, in preparation for her trip and everyone simply assumes she has the experience listed on her falsified resume. Terrified, but exhilarated at being treated like an adult, she plays along and gets deeper and deeper over her head. At the end of the week-long preparation, she boards the plane with Marchez and heads towards Kigali.

Andi is overwhelmed by everything about Africa; the weather, the people, the horror of the history of the place and her own confusion about race and prejudice. Marchez agreed to the deal assuming he was getting some free labor and he’s pleased that she’s attractive and young, but he’s not a very good mentor and is not very sensitive to her difficulties in adjusting to Africa.

As the month progresses, she contends with the expectations of a demanding job in a difficult environment. Finally she connects with Marchez and by the time she returns to the U.S. She has grown in ways she can hardly explain to her parents and peers.