Elijah’s Liquor Store is set in Koreatown circa 1999. It’s the story of Elijah
Gooden, a 43-year-old African-American man from Atlanta, Georgia. He
graduated from Georgia Tech University and worked in corporate America
before moving his family to Los Angeles to start his own business. He and
his family experience culture shock and adversity as they struggle to build
their livelihood in an area dominated by Asian-American business owners.
Although Elijah is the main narrator of the story, the different cast of
patrons he interacts with, provides a broad insight into society as a
whole. His customers are white, black, Asian and Latino. He employs a
Korean and Latino worker. His neighbor next door is Korean. It‘s worlds
apart from what he knew in Atlanta, and despite the varying degrees of
suspicion, contempt, resentment and prejudice that he faces, Gooden tries
to overlook racial lines and instead, focus on the humanity of every person
and the frailties of their condition.
In the end, relationships are re-examined and ideologies are challenged.
Communities that have long been separated by language and cultural
barriers as well as painful histories and even media propaganda find that
change begins with one person. When one person shifts, everything
shifts. When one person is committed to change, that person can
powerfully bring about change. If our society needs a wake up call, then
Elijah’s Liquor Store is the alarm clock.
Only available via TigerStream.
"Unrated. This film is not yet rated."
