| Spark | |
| Director: | Garret Williams |
| Producer: | Jim Walton Andrew B. Hurwitz Ruth Charney |
| Starring: | Terrence Howard Nicole Ari Parker Sandra Ellis Lafferty Brendan Sexton III |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. |
| Runtime: | 103 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Spark is a 1998 psychological thriller film directed by Garret Williams in his directorial debut. It stars Terrence Howard, Nicole Ari Parker, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, and Brendan Sexton III. The film centers on a Black couple who become marooned in a backwater desert town after their car breaks down. Williams workshopped the film at the Sundance Filmmaker Labs.[1] [2]
Spark had its world premiere at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and also screened at Berlinale.
Byron and Nina, a young Black couple from Chicago, are driving a BMW en route to Los Angeles, where Nina will be attending college. They are driving through a desert when they experience a car breakdown after accidentally hitting a dog. Mooney, a sullen teenager and son of a local mechanic, befriends the couple and tows them to a small town where they are charged $500 for repairs. When the BMW dies again, Byron and Nina are forced to stay overnight in a motel, but the situation grows increasingly grim as Byron starts spending more time with Mooney, whose true colors start to reveal a disturbing town story.
Spark premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival in the American Spectrum section.[3] It also screened at Berlinale in February 1998.[4] At the 1998 Urbanworld Film Festival, the film was awarded the prize for Best Director for Garret Williams.[5]
Spark was released on DVD by Warner Bros. as part of the American Black Film Festival series on May 15, 2007.[6]