''Constellation'' is a drama film that was released by

Codeblack Entertainment Codeblack Films is an American entertainment company. Codeblack focuses on films targeting African-American audiences. History Codeblack Enterprises was founded by Jeff Clanagan in 2005, who became CEO of the company. Originally focused on dire ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in 2007. It had its French premiere in Cannes, and in Britain premiered as a special screening at the American embassy in London.

Plot

Returning to

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...

—a town that once held back their opportunities but now glistens as a modern, technology-based city—the Boxer family and its extended members discover in the memory of a loved one what binds them together. When the beloved Carmel Boxer passes away, her entire family returns to the Deep South to celebrate her life and legacy. As the Boxer family comes together for the first time in many years, revelations of Carmel's painful past begin to force each person to address their pent-up emotions and true feelings for one another. The story chronicles the lives and loves of this African-American family as its members are forced to come to terms with a tumultuous past marked by an unrequited interracial affair. The film explores the way in which the family patriarch, Helms Boxer, must confront his demons amid the changing racial fabric of society and his own family.

Cast

Production

''Constellation'' was filmed entirely on location in Huntsville, Alabama.

Reception

, the film holds a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews with an average rating of 3.27/10. The site's critics consensus states "Though earnestly directed, ''Constellation'' lacks dramatic fireworks and eventually falls into TV-movie sentimentality." However, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' said in its review that the film was "highly entertaining and emotional," and that "Walker-Pearlman is adept at revealing the effect these people and others have on each other, especially on Helms, played with depth and restraint by Williams." The film won Best Independent Film of the Year at the

Black Reel Awards The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...

from the Foundation for the Advancement of African-Americans in Film, made up largely of African-American film critics.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Constellation (Film) 2005 films 2005 romantic drama films African-American films American romantic drama films Culture of Huntsville, Alabama Films set in Alabama Films shot in Alabama Films about interracial romance 2000s English-language films 2000s American films