Slip of the Tongue

Slip of the Tongue Synopsis

"What's your ethnic make up?" A young man makes a pass at a beautiful stranger and gets an eye-opening schooling on race and gender.

More About Slip Of The Tongue from Director Karen Lum

I shot and edited Slip of the Tongue last summer (2005) in various locations in downtown Oakland, CA, and in my own house. I used Final Cut Pro and other editing equipment at the youth media organization where I belong, Youth Sounds Factory.

Slip of the Tongue originated when I was asked to participate in a filmmakers conference in Connecticut in 2005. In order to go, I had to produce a one minute PSA that incorporated the theme of how youth are making a difference. Being a lover of spoken word, I wrote out a vague treatment about how many youth utilize poetry to change the world through self-expression. The organizers of the conference immediately rejected my treatment and told me that I needed to have a solid story line. Then one day, the idea suddenly came to: I would take a poetry recording and apply images to it. The slam poem "Slip of the Tongue" by my friend Adriel Luis stood out to me since it actually told a story and was structured just like a film with an introduction, conflict, climax and resolution. And so after 2 weeks, I finished my 1 minute PSA, and eventually, it turned into a complete 4 minute short.