The Coldest Winter Ever

Author(s): Ricky

Location: Maryland

"The Coldest Winter Ever"

Directed by John Hughes
Written by Sister Souljah

Main Cast

Lisa Tucker as Winter Santiago
Sanaa Lathan as Lisa Santiago
Giancarlo Esposito as Ricky Santiago
Tristan Wilds as Bullet

Tagline: "She was sexy. She was sassy. She was Winter"

Synopsis: Money, sex, music, drugs, and fashion defines the life of an aggressive project girl from Brooklyn named Winter. Fear runs through the blood of all who step into her family's presence. Why? Because her “pops” Ricky Santiago runs the largest drug game in their part of town and her “moms” Lisa Santiago is one of the most talented hairdressers in all of Brooklyn.

Long hair, smooth skin and the envy of the neighborhood describes Winter. She gets her hair in the hottest styles every week and only wears the newest Fendi, Prada, and Donna Karyn. At the age of 15 years old, Winter was more explicit in the bedroom than Lil' Kim. She gets what she wants by any means necessary. Winter, like her name, can be as fierce as a storm or as beautiful as peaceful winter day.

Everything is fine and dandy until an extensive wind starts to blow her in the wrong direction. Winter starts to face dilemmas and hardships as her father's empire crumbles resulting in the loss of everything as she had known it. Winter goes through the most frightening period trying to figure out how to survive without support from her father. She barely notices her gaunt, rawboned mother strung out on drugs and her deceptive friends and family. This ghetto fabulous lifestyle flips upside down and turns into a twisted struggle that only Winter can extract herself from.

Winter’s problems range from being homeless, filmed in sexual acts against her will, abortions, the loss of family and friends, an abusive relationship with Bullet – a drug dealer, to being set up by those she loved, and to finally ending up in a prison cell for the next decade and a half.

What the Press would say:

The original book by Sister Souljah was a graphic description of how life can treat you when the right moves are made and how it can stab you in the back and twist the knife when you make the wrong ones. The film follows the same premise. The viewer follows the main character of this unflinching saga into the intimate details of the hip-hop culture, known first-hand by many of today's urban youth.

Winter is born into the upper class of a marginalized world. She proudly proclaims a heritage that is indeed destined to become a sob story temporarily camouflaged in glitter, gold and fashion. She is overindulged and superficially protected by a father who runs a successful drug empire. His wife Lisa is the beautiful queen and Winter is the princess of ghetto royalty. But when the Santiago Empire crumbles, Winter becomes a princess without a king, a queen, a kingdom, her once loyal subjects.

Casting former American Idol contestant Lisa Tucker as Winter Santiago was a very difficult choice since she her acting talent had never been showcased to a public audience before. However, after the first few scenes, Lisa amazed everyone with her ability to grasp our attention. My personal favorite scene with Lisa was her reaction to all of her families assets being taken up by the state, leaving her homeless. She showed so much drive and her performance was so realistic. Giancarlo Esposito as Ricky Santiago was an easy choice. His past experiences in Fresh and Usual Suspects really shined through as he was able to play the role of the cocky and arrogant drug king Ricky Santiago with ease. Sanaa Lathan was another simple choice. She’s sassy and beautiful, two things that define Lisa Santiago. Her sense of humor and attitude are guaranteed to make the audience love her. Last but not least, we cast Tristan Wilds who was most recently seen opposite of Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson and can be seen on the HBO drama The Wire. The two characters he portrays in his two previous works helped him build an amazing personality for Bullet, the young, foul-mouth drug dealer boyfriend of Winter. Academy Award nominee John Hughes was able to use the same tactics from Boyz 'N The Hood (which garnished him his first Academy Award nomination) to the screen in this film. He definitely deserves critical acclaim for his role in piecing this film together.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Best Picture
Best Director - John Hughes
Best Actress - Lisa Tucker
Best Actor - Giancarlo Esposito
Best Supporting Actress - Sanaa Lathan
Best Supporting Actor - Tristan Wilds
Best Adapted Screenplay - Sister Souljah