Get Schooled By the Dear White People

Directed and written by gay filmmaker Justin Simien, Dear White People was a favorite at Sundance and has now released its first official trailer.

The film follows a group of African American students, among them a gay student struggling with his identity played by Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris), as they navigate social life at an elite university, which is also predominantly a white institution of higher learning.

A.O. Scott of the New York Timeswrote: "Seeming to draw equal measures of inspiration from Whit Stillman and Spike Lee, but with his own tart, elegant sensibility very much in control, Mr. Simien evokes familiar campus stereotypes only to smash them and rearrange the pieces. ... Needless to say, the film's political implications ripple far beyond the redbrick hothouse of higher learning where it takes place. "

The film is scheduled for an October 17 release and features Tessa Thompson (For Colored Girls), Courtney Sauls (Twenties), Teyonah Parris (Mad Men), Brandon P. Bell (Hollywood Heights), Kyle Gallner (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Malcolm Barrett (The Hurt Locker), Marque Richardson (The Newsroom), Brittany Curran (Chicago Fire), and Dennis Haysbert (24).

Watch the trailer below: