Friday, August 1, 2008 at sundown
Love Stories in Black: An Outdoor Film Event
Part of the Weeksville Heritage Center’s “Small, Medium, Large” series
Curated by Michelle Materre and produced by Neyda Martinez
For the second year in a row, the Creatively Speaking film series comes to Weeksville Heritage Center! Since its inception at Harlem Stage (formerly Aaron Davis Hall) twelve years ago, Creatively Speaking presents films that speak to the wide-ranging, collective experiences of people of color across the Diaspora. Now bringing the series to Brooklyn audiences and beyond, the series includes narrative shorts, new documentaries and feature films by both up and coming and more established filmmakers. Curated by Michelle Materre and Produced by Neyda Martinez. Program followed by Q&As with filmmakers, special guests and a wine and cheese reception.
WEEKSVILLE HERITAGE CENTER’s mission is to document, preserve and interpret the history of free African American communities in Weeksville, Brooklyn and beyond and to create and inspire innovative, contemporary uses of African American history through education, the arts, and civic engagement.
WHEN: Friday, August 1, 2008 at sundown – bring your beach chairs and blankets!
WHERE: Weeksville Heritage Center, 1698 Bergen Street, between Rochester and Buffalo Avenues, Brooklyn
Running time: 88 minutes/FREE admission/Adult Audiences
Love Stories in Black
five short narrativesexploring themes of physical love, spiritual love, unrequited love, love almost lost and found.
Program Details:
Know (De) Tales – Directed by kA’RAMUU KUSH – 16 mins
Weekends in Brooklyn – Directed by David Canady – 21 mins
Yellow – Directed by Dominga Martin – 14 mins
Walk - Directed by Shari Carpenter – 10 mins
After Life - Directed by Lana Garland – 27 mins
Film descriptions:
Know (De) Tales – Directed by kA’RAMUU KUSH – 16 mins
When an online connection becomes a real life encounter, sparks begin to fly. The couple finds they have more in common than they ever imagined – something they could only know when finally meeting face to face. It is indeed important to know details!
Weekends in Brooklyn – Directed by David Canady – 21 mins
During a dinner party with friends on a Brooklyn rooftop, a young man and woman meet and fall in love. Their relationship gets put to the test when the inevitable occurs.
Yellow – Directed by Dominga Martin – 20 mins
Listening to the hearts and minds of two people on a first date can reveal all or nothing. Sigh and Crystal are trying to move cautiously despite their extreme attraction to one another and as spectators, we get to hear their intimate and sometimes embarrassing inner-thoughts. In English and Creole with subtitles.
Walk - Directed by Shari Carpenter – 10 mins
With a wedding date imminent, two friends take a long “walk” together “like in the old days.” Along the way however, they realize that the foundation of their friendship is being tested. Or, has their friendship evolved? Will the wedding go on?
After Life - Directed by Lana Garland – 27 mins
Harlem, New York City. The film begins with a beautiful, yet traumatized Nicole Goode (Tamara Tunie) who avoids attending a funeral nearby. Ten years later, lonely and resigned, Nicole devotes much of herself to the church and her mother. Yet, two sequential and unsettling life-changing events test her religious beliefs and convictions. While she deals with a former lover and a murder, Nicole wonders if she must once again forfeit it all to save herself?
Directions to Weeksville:
By subway: A or C to Utica Avenue. Walk down Utica Avenue to Bergen Street. Turn left on Bergen Street. Other directions: www.weeksvillesociety.org
For more information contact: Jennifer Steverson/ Jennifer@weeksvillesociety.org
Weekends in Brooklyn by David Canady
Cast of YELLOW by Dominga Martin
K(no)w (De) Tales by kA’RAMUU Kush - Creatively Speaking at BAM postcard
Dominga Martin on location with YELLOW
For the second year in a row, the Creatively Speaking film series comes to Brooklyn Academy of Music! Since its inception at Harlem Stage (formerly Aaron Davis Hall) twelve years ago, Creatively Speaking presents films that speak to the wide-ranging, collective experiences of people of color across the Diaspora. Now bringing the series to Brooklyn audiences and beyond, the series includes narrative shorts, new documentaries and feature films by both up and coming and more established filmmakers. Curated by Michelle Materre and Produced by Neyda Martinez. All programs followed by Q&As with filmmakers and special guests.
SCHEDULE
Friday, April 25 at 2pm - Young at Heart – A series of six short films, both narrative and documentary, appealing to the inquisitive mind and open heart in each of us.
By Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime by Karen Lin and Karin Chien - 5 mins.
Drawing Angel by Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Craig Williams – 18 mins.
Still Standing by Paola Mendoza – 8 mins.
I am Not a Boy by Julie Joyce -– 6 mins.
A Period Piece by Camille Holder Brown – 20 mins.
Black Woman by Joyia Bradley – 9 mins.
Friday April 25 at 4:30pm – 3 Américas by Cristina Kotz Cornejo – 98 mins.
Friday April 25 at 7:15pm - Love Stories – five short narratives exploring themes of physical love, spiritual love, unrequited love, love almost lost and found.
Know (De) Tales – Directed by K’aramuu Kush – 16 mins
Weekends in Brooklyn – Directed by David Canady – 21 mins
Yellow – Directed by Dominga Martin – 20 mins
Walk - Directed by Shari Carpenter – 10 mins
After Life - Directed by Lana Garland – 27 mins
Friday April 25 at 9:15pm – Masizakhe, 70 mins and Hip Hop Revolution, 48 mins
Sat, April 26 at 4:30pm – FESPACO by Kevin Arkadie – 72 mins
Sat, April 26 at 7:15pm – Negroes with Guns, 53 mins and B.L.A.C.K., 26 mins
Sat, April 26 at 9:45pm* - Africa Unite! by Stephanie Black A Palm Pictures Release
Sun, Apr 27 at 2pm - Colored Frames, 53 mins and Take Your Bags, 10 mins
Sun, Apr 27 at 4:00pm – “All Dance, All the Time” or “Dance, Dance, Dance!”
Sun Moon Child by Pierre Bennu – 5 mins
Didn’t We Ramble On? by Billy Jackson – 14 mins
Beyond the Dance by Phil Bertelsen – 54 mins
Sun, Apr 27 at 6:00pm - Blacks without Borders, 56 mins with 10 Days in Africa, 44 mins
Sun, Apr 27 at 8:30pm –Dressed Like Kings, 50 mins with Road to Ingwavuma, 44 mins (Sneak Preview)
Program Descriptions
By Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime by Karen Lin and Karin Chien - 5 mins.
Arts Engine Media That Matters Film Festival 2007
Spoken word artist Kelly Tsai spits the truth and questions positions of power as she raises her voice against war and complacency.
Drawing Angel by Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Craig Williams – 18 mins.
Lonely and new to the city, an eager young journalist, Samantha meets Levi -- a nine year old boy displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Samantha finds a willing and interesting subject in Levi; Levi finds a forbidden meal and a little freedom. This unlikely duo learns that breaking the rules isn’t’ all that it’s cut out to be.
Still Standing by Paola Mendoza – 8 mins.
A grandmother and granddaughter returns to what remains of her Mississippi Gulf home to save what she can in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
I am Not a Boy by Julie Joyce -– 6 mins.
Arts Engine Media That Matters Film Festival 2007
Julie Joyce is not a boy. As a transgendered 15 year old, she just wants what all young people want – to have a positive space to live and grow.
A Period Piece by Camille Holder Brown – 20 mins.
If only Sionne could beam herself away to a world where young girls never got their periods, then she would be so-o happy.! Fat chance -- defying the laws of nature is virtually impossible! Sionne will get her period, it’s just a matter of when, where, and in front of whom?
Black Woman by Joyia Bradley – 9 mins.
“Black Woman” is a humorous social satire that exposes the abuse and disrespect that Black women go through on a day to day basis. “Black Woman” is a stylized homage to the Blaxploitation movies of the 70’s. Black Woman, our super-heroine, saves the day each and every time a situation goes bad.
3 Américas by Cristina Kotz Cornejo – 98 mins.
It’s the end of spring in Boston, Massachusetts and 16 year old América Hart Campos (Kristen Gonzalez) is looking forward to the end of school. With summer approaching, America has two issues, or so she thinks – she hates school and her Aunt Carolina’s alcoholic husband. But after a life-changing event, América, is sent to live with her reclusive and anti-American grandmothers in Argentina. There she struggles to balance her new life in a Spanish-speaking country, and her very American upbringing.
Know (De) Tales – Directed by K’aramuu Kush – 16 mins
When an online connection becomes a real life encounter, sparks begin to fly. The couple finds they have more in common than they ever imagined – something they could only know when finally meeting face to face. It is indeed important to know details!
Weekends in Brooklyn – Directed by David Canady – 21 mins
During an outdoor dinner party with friends on a Brooklyn rooftop, a young man and woman meet and find love. Their love gets put to the test when an unexpected event sheds a different light on the relationship.
Yellow – Directed by Dominga Martin – 20 mins
Sigh and Crystal are trying to move cautiously despite their extreme attraction to one another. We hear their inner, most intimate and sometimes embarrassing thoughts which contradict what they’re saying aloud. Listening to the hearts and minds of two people on a first date can reveal all or nothing. In English and Creole with subtitles.
Walk - Directed by Shari Carpenter – 10 mins
With a wedding eminent, two long term friends are reunited and take a long “walk” together just like they used to. Along the way, they find their friendship has in fact turned to love and wedding plans just may have changed.
After Life - Directed by Lana Garland – 27 mins
Harlem, New York City. The film begins with a beautiful, yet traumatized Nicole Goode (Tamara Tunie) avoiding a funeral, which is taking place just steps away. Ten years later, lonely and resigned, Nicole now devotes much of herself to the church. However, her religious beliefs and convictions are tested after two events change her world - the arrival of an old lover and a murder. Must she again lose the love of her life in order to get herself out of harm’s way?
Masizakhe: Building Each Other - Director Scott Macklin/Music Producer Rushay Booysen – 70 mins
A feature-length documentary -- filmed in South Africa's Port Elizabeth area and the surrounding townships -- that focuses on a new generation of activists who are playing in shaping the future of South African society. The film centers around the stories of everyday heroes whose work led to the end of systematic government oppression -- woven with the stories of young activists using popular culture to create positive change for South Africa. (WORLD PREMIERE!)
Hip Hop Revolution – directed by Weaam Williams – 48 mins.
In "Hip-Hop Revolution" South African filmmaker Weaam Williams takes a nostalgic and energetic look at the hip hop culture and its influences on South African youth on the edge of a new post-apartheid South Africa. This film, a favorite at this year's AFI Silverdocs Festival, has been praised because it gives "voice to South Africa's hip-hop subculture, and reminds Western viewers of the complexity of black experience, at home and worldwide."
FESPACO by Kevin Arkadie – 72 mins
Narrated by Danny Glover, “FESPACO” (Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou), delivers a “behind the scenes” look at one of the world’s largest and most unique film festivals. It reveals the huge effort it takes to successfully execute such an event, while creating awareness about the growth of the black independent cinema movement around the world. The story follows the experiences of six filmmakers, all from the African Diaspora, who are competing in the largest, oldest and grandest Pan African film festival in the world to win the greatest prize FESPACO bestows on its Diaspora participants —The Paul Robeson Award.. The six filmmakers include: Lisa Gaye Hamilton, Stanley Nelson, Michael Schultz, Shola Lynch, screenwriter Trevor Rhone and Rigoberto Lopez. Through their eyes, the audience becomes part of the festival and the triumphs and failures they encounter along the way. By the films’ end, we are left with an exclusive insight into the filmmaking process and engaging images of Africa and the African Diaspora – two cultures that began as one.
Blacks without Borders: Chasing the American Dream on Foreign Soil by Stafford and Judy Bailey – 56 mins – (WORLD PREMIERE!)
The film chronicles 12 modern day globetrotters who have uprooted their lives in pursuit of their dreams and are finding that America is not the only land of opportunity. U.S. born citizens such as Cora Vaughn, a Chicago attorney who walked away from over a million dollar a year law practice to open up a bed & breakfast down the street from Nelson Mandela; James Prevost who came to South Africa with nothing and revolutionized the comedy industry; and Charles Henderson, a heroin addict at age 16 who became a Harvard graduate and now owns one of the most successful businesses in South Africa. BLACKS WITHOUT BORDERS takes an eye-opening look at what it is like to live, work and play in a different country. This documentary features interviews with these worldly go-getters to hear their stories of sorrow, pain, joy, failure and success all the while trying to figure their way around in a foreign land. This film documents a day in the life of these Americans, examines what they are doing and how they have adjusted to a third world country as well as how they are giving back to a country that has given them so much.
10 Days in Africa – directed by Regi Allen – 40 mins.
African American filmmaker Regi Allen journeys to Ghana, Senegal and Cote d' Ivoire in "10 Days In Africa" with a group of other African Americans. For Regi the trip becomes one of exploring myths about black identity, experiencing another culture firsthand and learning a lot about himself in the process of this 8mm textured journey.
AFRICA UNITE by Stephanie Black – 90 mins
AFRICA UNITE is a singular and masterfully executed film by Stephanie Black that is at once concert tribute, Marley family travelogue, and humanitarian documentary, igniting the screen with the spirit of world-renowned reggae icon BOB MARLEY in its every frame. In commemoration of Bob’s 60th birthday, Africa Unite is centered on the Marleys’ first-time-ever family trip to Ethiopia in 2005. Includes rare footage of world-renowned reggae icon Bob Marley. The film features an exuberant soundtrack brimming with Bob Marley studio classics. Includes appearances by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador / actor Danny Glover, world music sensation and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo, Bob Marley’s mother Mrs. Booker, and Princess Mary, granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie. Producer and directed by Stephanie Black (Life & Debt, H-2 Worker), Associate Produced by Ras Bobby Morgan, and Executive Produced by Rita Marley, Cedella Marley, Danny Glover and Joslyn Barnes.
Colored Frames by Nonso Christian Ugbode -56 mins
This beautifully shot and edited documentary functions as both a survey of and testament to the contemporary African American art scene. Hearing first hand from some of the most well recognized artists in our community working today, we learn about the racism and discrimination they have faced when trying to gain access to the established, elite gallery world of the visual arts. Benny Andrews, Ed Clark, Howardina Pindell and Nanette Carter are just a few of the top artists interviewed who reveal what it’s really like from the inside.
Take Your Bags by Camille Billops - 11 mins, 1998
“My take on slavery: When the Africans boarded the ships bound for America, they carried in their bags all their memories of home. When they arrived in the New World, their bags had been switched, and in them they found “nigger”, “beast”, “slave”. Many generations later, the children of these Africans toured the Museum of Modern Art to see the sculptures and art of Picasso, Braque and Matisse. Lo! There were the beautiful icons of their ancestors, the images that had been stolen from their bags...”Camille Billops
Beyond the Steps: The Alvin Ailey Dance Company by Phil Bertlesen – 54 mins
During a pivotal period in its history, the Alvin Ailey company ventured abroad and established new roots at home. This documentary marks a moment of both growth and reflection: the company travels to Russia after an absence of 15 years; moves into a state-of-the-art custom facility, called by THE NEW YORK TIMES "the largest in the country devoted exclusively to dance"; and creates a new ballet entitled "Love Stories," choreographed by longtime AAADT Artistic Director Judith Jamison in collaboration with hip-hop pioneer Rennie Harris and modern dance maverick Robert Battle. Under Jamison's steadfast leadership, the making of a new dance and a new home serve as symbols of the remarkable foundation that Ailey built and of the vibrancy that defines the company today. Directed by filmmaker Phil Bertelsen, BEYOND THE STEPS tells the story of what it takes to keep dance modern, art relevant, and a legacy alive.
Didn’t We Ramble On? Directed by Billy Jackson, 1991, 14 mins.
This classic short documentary portrays how the spirit and soul of the West African people has been passed along the generations through the black marching band. Music and movement are an ancient celebration of the passage of the spirit into the next world. With Dizzy Gillespie as narrator, we learn that this contemporary band is a direct descendant of an ageless ancestral idea.
Sun Moon Child by Pierre Bennu – 5 mins
This amazing music video is a short history of black dance as well as a vibrant celebration and well deserved tribute. Set to an amazing song by Imani Uzuri, the editing genius of Pierrre Bennu shines and along with Uzuri’s lyrics, tells the whole story.
Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power - 53 minutes, 2005
Writer/Co-Director: Sandra Dickson; Co-Director: Churchill Roberts
Robert F. Williams was the forefather of the Black Power movement and broke dramatic new ground by internationalizing the African American struggle. Negroes with Guns is not only an electrifying look at an historically erased leader, but also provides a thought-provoking examination of Black radicalism and resistance and serves as a launching pad for the study of Black liberation philosophies. Insightful interviews with historian Clayborne Carson, biographer Timothy Tyson, Julian Bond, and a first person account by Mabel Williams, Robert’s wife, bring the story to life.
B.L.A.C.K. -- An Aboriginal Song of Hip Hop by Grant Leigh Saunders – 26 minutes
This musical documentary exposes an authentic and empowering voice existing underneath the bling hype of Hip Hop. B.L.A.C.K. is an acronym scribed by Indigenous Hip Hop artist, William Jarret aka Wire MC, the main character of the film. His track, B.L.A.CK. (Born Long Ago Creation’s Keeper), is visually and dialectically deconstructed to explore contemporary issues of Aboriginal blackness, politics and culture. The debut film by Australian video artist, Grant Saunders unravels B.L.A.C.K to also speak about spiritual and cultural loss, levels of racism, layers of identity and the empowerment gained by re-establishing the B.L.A.C.K voice in Hip Hop.
Dressed Like Kings by Stacy Holman – 50 mins (WORLD PREMIERE)
The film looks at the exuberant pageantry of South African township men representing vivid symbols of elegant modernity. The men compete in “best dressed” pageants satisfying their desire to feel important and powerful. The uplifting occasion reveals yet another complex layer of South Africa’s rich and varied culture.
Road to Ingwavuma (ing-wah-VOOM-ah) by Barbara Rick – 44 mins – (SNEAK PREVIEW!)
This film explores the extraordinary journey to the heart of post-apartheid South Africa by a delegation of some of America’s most respected stage, screen and music artists and their families. With Deborah and Carlos Santana, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Alfre Woodard, CCH Pounder and Jurnee Smollett, members of Artists for a New South Africa, a philanthropic organization devoted to combating the war on HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty. Special appearances by Former President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
2008 Pen & Brush invite you to participate in their annual Celebration of African American History with the Exhibition of works by Women Artists of African Descent and other programs.
OPENING ARTISTS RECEPTION: Saturday, 9th February 4:00-7:00
PEN & BRUSH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Sunday 10th February 4:00-7:00
Recipients:
*Camille Billops: visual artist, archivist/collector co-owner of Hatch-Billops Collection, educator and filmmaker
*Elizabeth Catlett: activist, artist, educator and major force in modern American art (accepted by her son, Francisco Mora, Jr.)
*Eloise Anderson Hill: former Katherine Dunham student and major dancer, international dance legend
*Michelle Materre: Assistant Professor of Media Studies and Film at the New School University, President of Materre Media Consulting, and Media and Film Critic
*Julie Dash: media artist and award winning filmmaker
Three Way Conversation:
Aesthetics, Experience and the Independent
Black Film Movement. Thursday, 14th February 6:30-9:30
Filmmaker Julie Dash will be engaged in conversation with the esteemed film historian Pearl Bowser and professor/media specialist Michelle Materre. Co-sponsored by New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT).
Tickets for this event are required and are available through New York Women in Film and Television. Please RSVP at www.nywift.org - Free for NYWIFT and Pen and Brush members, $10 for non-members, includes reception.
CELEBRATION AND CLOSING OF THE MONTH: Sunday 24th February 4:00-7:00
Songs, dances and poems with a variety of performers and guests.
All events are held at the Pen and Brush location: 16 East 10th Street.
All Art Work Exhibited is For Sale
Creatively Speaking at Harlem Stage
March 14th – 16th 2008
FINAL Program Schedule
and Description(revised 1/31/08)
Program 1 – Friday Night – 7:30pm – OPENING NIGHT PREMIERE!
6 Things I Never Told You – by Ed Durante, Rod Gailes, Caran Hartsfield, Stacey L. Holman, Cinque Northern and James Richards – 97 mins
Creatively Speaking™ kicks-off with a unique anthology of short films by “6 Leagues,” a New York based underground film collective who came together as alums of NYU’s Graduate Film Program. Exploring the different stages of romantic relationships, the shorts delve into different facets of love, loss, domination and control.
Program 2 -Saturday – 2pm – YOUNG AT HEART
By Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime by Karen Lin and Karin Chien - 5 mins.
Arts Engine Media That Matters Film Festival 2007
Spoken word artist Kelly Tsai spits the truth and questions positions of power as she raises her voice against war and complacency.
Drawing Angel by Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Craig Williams – 18 mins.
Lonely and new to the city, an eager young journalist, Samantha meets Levi -- a nine year old boy displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Samantha finds a willing and interesting subject in Levi; Levi finds a forbidden meal and a little freedom. Both learn that breaking the rules isn’t’ all that it’s cut out to be.
Still Standing by Paola Mendoza – 8 mins.
In this intergenerational story, a granddaughter joins her grandmother’s return to see what remains of her Mississippi Gulf home and to save personal remnants of family objects in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
I am Not a Boy by Julie Joyce -– 6 mins.
Arts Engine Media That Matters Film Festival 2007
Julie Joyce is not a boy. As a transgendered 15-year old, Julie just wants what all young people want –a positive space to live and grow.
A Period Piece by Camille Holder Brown – 20 mins.
If only Sionne could beam herself away to a world where young girls never got their periods . Fat chance! Defying the laws of nature is virtually impossible. Sionne will get her period; it’s just a matter of when, where, and in front of whom? What will she do?
Black Woman by Joyia Bradley – 9 mins.
A stylized homage to the Blaxploitation movies of the 70’s, “Black Woman” is a humorous social satire examining the different ways in which Black woman are abused, taken for granted and disrespected on a day-to -day basis. We Got Yo Back Services, Inc. deploys super-heroine, Black Woman, to help you cope with everyday pressures or to validate your life.
Program 3 – Saturday – 4pm – Feature Film Presentation
Antonia by Tata Amaral – 90 mins
Four young and fiercely independent Brazilian vocalists - Preta (Negra Li), Lena (Cindy), Barbarah (Leilah Moreno) and Mayah (Quelynah) collectively name themselves, Antonia, in this coming of age story. Tired of singing backup to male rap stars, the ladies write their own lyrics and perform in their own voice. As the story unfolds a dubious promotional agent eyes their talent as his meal ticket. Members of Antonia fall prey to the brutal violence and precariousness of Sao Paulo life, and learn that the realization of their dreams will require a renewed commitment and strength far deeper than the inspirational songs they sing.
Program 4 – Saturday – 6:30pm – NYWIFT Program - Feature Film Presentation
3 Américas by Cristina Kotz Cornejo – 98 mins.
It’s the end of spring in Boston, Massachusetts and 16-year old América Hart Campos (Kristen Gonzalez) is looking forward to the end of school. With summer approaching, America has two issues, or so she thinks – she hates school and her Aunt Carolina’s alcoholic husband. After a life-changing event, América, is sent to live with her reclusive and anti-American grandmother in Argentina. There she struggles to balance her new life in a Spanish-speaking country, and her very American upbringing.
Filmmaker Panel and Reception – 8:15pm
Program 5 – Sunday – 2pm - Tribute to St. Clair Bourne
Let the Church Say Amen – written, directed and produced by St. Clair Bourne, 1974 - 67 mins
With this film, St. Clair Bourne successfully crosses the genre from broadcast journalism to narrative documentary, much in the style of Ricky Leacock and The Maysles. At the film’s center, a young seminarian becomes a minister. It also illustrates the role of the black church and the stability it lends to the black community in periods of dissension and unrest. (Edited by Kathleen Collins.)
“Especially because the camera never seems to be intrusive, the film yields a strong sense of the varieties of religious experience that one young man has been exposed to, and the breadth of choice that confronts him. Since the different roles of the contemporary church are so sensitively explored, the documentary should be equally enlightening for those who do or don't belong to the church itself.” From the New York Times review of the film screening at The Whitney Museum by Nora Sayre, published November 14, 1974.
Excerpts from “Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks”
Produced by St. Clair Bourne
This film, which aired on HBO in 2000 and was nominated for three Emmy Awards, is often regarded as the most comprehensive and insightful chronicle of the life and work of Gordon Parks. A true Renaissance man, Parks defied categorization. He was a photographer, filmmaker, and writer of poetry and fiction who inspired a new generation of artists. The film covers Parks’ life from early childhood in Fort Scott, Kansas, through his personal and professional journeys and his ascendancy as one of the 20th century's most influential artists.
Making “Do the Right Thing “- Written, directed and produced by St. Clair Bourne, 1983 – 58 mins
In Saint’s signature style, he followed “the making of” this controversial, landmark film and contributed to the contemporary discourse of Black images and narratives. According to St. Clair, one of the main factors responsible for the changing landscape of black film was the success of Do the Right Thing: "In my generation, people would come to see my films because a documentary carried with it a kind of noble mission. In commercial terms, it would be called 'street credibility' today. But Spike [Lee] came along and changed everything. He said 'I'm gonna give you real life--the real thing.'” From The Independent Magazine, by Richard Bainbridge, March 1, 1999.
5:00pm – Panel and reception
A Short History of Sweet Potato Pie by Nina Gilden Seavey – 2006/17 mins
Pearl Mallory's sweet potato pie has a magical effect the residents who reside at St. Mary's Court Retirement Community. This 17 minute off-beat documentary was directed by an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, and is a co-production of The Documentary Center, George Washington University. The film was won an Audience Award at the DC Shorts Film Festival and has screened at SILVERDOCS Film festival among many others.
Mother’s Nature by Dale Pierce Nielsen – 2006/24mins
This “coming of age” story is from the perspective of a Black woman and mother experiencing her own daughter’s budding adolescence. The powerful passions of nature, love and reason tell a story that underscores her philosophy about knowing and respecting oneself, one’s choices, and the universe.
The Birthday Girl by Angela Tucker – 2005/16mins
Mia, an introverted beauty, gathers her college friends together on a night that she is sure will change her life. As cosmos flow, secrets are revealed and the true nature of friendship is tested. Surrounded by slick "beautiful people", Mia ultimately learns that she must be careful what she wishes for as “The Birthday Girl”.
Two Months to Home by Janice Ahn – 2006/13 minutes
In months prior to 9-11, Samira is an Afghan woman who narrowly escapes from the Taliban, losing her family. After settling down in Long Island and starting a new family, Samira is awakened in the middle of the night by Immigration and torn from her young children. She is taken to a New Jersey detention center and told she will be deported to Afghanistan.
Flat by Nanobah Becker – 2006/8 mins
A mother and daughter prepare for a special celebration. Not even a flat tire and complicated circumstances can dampen their spirits and their bittersweet reunion.
Girls Night Out by Sarah Duran – 2006/5 mins
Three best girlfriends, two of them in relationships, hit the town for a “girls’ night out” after one of them believes she has been “stood up” by her intended. When they arrive at their favorite hang out, they are stunned by an unexpected threesome, but are even more bowled over when checking voicemail later that night!