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Najarra Townsend Movies

Raven-haired performer Najarra Townsend was born and raised in Santa Barbara, CA, and entered showbusiness as a toddler via extensive child modeling; soon after, she appeared in a lengthy succession of stage productions. Townsend made her feature film debut at the age of 10 in director Amir Mann's horror shocker Menace (2001). Meanwhile, she also studied at the Musicians' Institute (where she performed with the L.A. Hip Kids and with her own group, Flavor) and enrolled at the prestigious and exclusive L.A. Talent Academy. Townsend achieved something of a career breakthrough by accepting a small supporting role in director Miranda July's acclaimed debut indie feature Me and You and Everyone We Know (2004), and followed this up several years later with a turn as the teenage daughter of two lesbians who finds herself caught up in the throes of a friendship with a closeted gay teen in the drama Tru Loved (2007). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
2007  
R  
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Uprooted from her comfortable San Francisco home and transplanted to a generic Southern California suburb by her two well-meaning moms, open-minded high-school sophomore Tru despairs at being surrounded by close-minded football players and air-headed Paris Hilton wannabes until she gets the idea to combat small-town intolerance by co-founding a local chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance. Life in her new town isn't easy, so in order to fend off boredom, Tru frequently escapes into fantasy. But whether she's retreating into a picture-perfect, Leave It to Beaver-style household with two mothers and two fathers or dancing in the streets West Side Story-style, Tru's depressive new surroundings always remain the same once she's snapped back to reality. When the star quarterback at her new high school begins paying special attention to Tru, her initial elation is soon tempered by the revelation that he's actually just another closet case in search of a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Though Tru is at first frustrated by the prospect of putting on a false front in order to protect the athlete's true sexuality, she decides to address the homophobic attitudes of her new classmates directly by opening a local chapter of the Gay-Straight Alliance. As the movement begins to gain steam, however, Tru is forced to reconcile her unguarded position on sexual orientation with the private pledge she has made to her closeted classmate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Najarra TownsendBruce Vilanch, (more)
 
2004  
R  
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A handful of disparate characters, both adults and children, find themselves navigating the tricky waters of intimacy in this award-winning independent comedy drama. Richard (John Hawkes) is a recent divorcé who is alternately exhilarated and terrified with his life and the world around him. While he believes great things are in store for him, he's also become so despondent about his wife's departure that he attempts to set his hand on fire. Richard meets Christine (Miranda July) at the shoe store where he works; Christine likes to paint a picture of herself as a stylish and confident video artist, but in truth she supports herself as a driver with a car service for the elderly, and she'd very much like to meet someone special. As Richard and Christine fumble their way into a relationship, Richard's two sons have issues of their own. Seven-year-old Robby (Brandon Ratcliff) has met someone in an Internet chat room who responds to his naïve and scatological perceptions of sex, while 14-year-old Peter (Miles Thompson) finds himself on the receiving end of unusual and unexpected attention from two girls in his class. Me and You and Everyone We Know was the first feature film written and directed by noted performance artist Miranda July; the picture won prizes in 2005 at the Cannes Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
John HawkesMiranda July, (more)