Hustle & Flow

After reuniting with an old buddy who's a sound engineer, Djay, an aging pimp (Howard), decides to go after a dream he let slide and use his talent as a wordsmith to make rap songs. The plan includes giving the demo to Skinny Black (Ludacris) a big-time rap star who Djay claims to know. The film's heart is in the second act where they create a makeshift recording studio and enlist a hooker to sing backup, daring to move beyond their current situations into one dreams are made of. Easy to see why this won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, earning Singleton and Allain a hefty distribution deal.