Becoming Sidney: A Light on the Path to Truth

Ken Gregory’s Becoming Sidney is a biopic of legendary actor Sidney Poitier just as he began to become so. Twenty-three minutes long, it mixes documentary with drama to produce a version of a star that leaves space for the viewer to get close to the figure and see the person. All good biopics know that their raison d’etre is showing the detailing of a larger than life painting.

The first third of the runtime is reserved for the documentary mode. Archival footage, interviews, voice-over narration. It packs a live demonstration of Poitier’s singular power with a charged monologue from Pressure Point (1962) so that when Jadon Shamir’s Sidney disastrously fumbles his very first audition another third of the way down the runtime, we can rest easy in the sure fact of the light at the end of the tunnel.  

It is his first hurdle, the first failure after reaching for the moon at the American Negro Theater while slogging away at a dishwashing job. There is Ruby Dee (Regina Williams) in the audience, backlit, poised, attentive. This sequence in the film, set in a theatre, has the most interesting, dramatic lighting. For Sidney it means that he is the centre of attention at the worst time. Sidney’s face falls even before he walks onto that stage, knowing already that he would lose: there is a script and he cannot read very well. There is not even a visible background to which you can shift your gaze. 

Kindness comes in the face of Howard Katz (Ray Xifo), Sidney’s coworker at the restaurant, who offers to help him learn to read—and when the time comes, gifts him a suit jacket that belonged to Howard’s son. Their relationship is consequential, not only because it moves the plot forward, but because it soothes the raw wounds of failure. Xifo delivers a simple, gracious act. Shamir’s casting brings out Sidney’s youth and consequent vulnerability and zest. Together they make a robust mentor-mentee pair that merits a film of its own.

While some of the rockier transitions weigh down the dramatised narrative, the docu portions come together with coherence and a sense of grandeur. It is especially remarkable in the final clip bookending the drama, showcasing the film’s fine dramatic sensibilities.  

The docu and drama of Becoming Sidney undergird each other to efficiently build and renew appreciation for its luminous subject. An absorbing film for both first timers and fans, it shows Poitier attempt and achieve greatness for himself, his predecessors, and for the legions who watched him and discovered in him the very idea of possibilities. 

Watch Becoming Sidney Short Film