Harlem Homegrown and LJ Entertainment Present: “The Best of Master Rob”

Dir. Lamont Jackson & Elvis Blount (unreleased, 60 min).

“Master” Rob Hockett was a notorious legend at Rucker Park from the late 80s all the way through the mid 90s. He has been described as a basketball DJ, because of his signature move where he would put the spin on various defenders by placing his left hand above their head and then dribbling the ball around their back with the other hand, inevitably tripping them up. Master Rob was also dangerous with his mid-range shots and reverse layups making it no wonder that half of Harlem would flock to see him during his prime years on the playground. “The Best of Master Rob,” an action packed highlight dvd, is premiering at the Maysles Cinema, and shows you what this playground legend is made of.

Q&A with dir. Lamont Jackson and “Master” Rob Hockett and Reception sponsored by Sugar Hill Ale!

Harlem Homegrown: Films for Harlem, by Harlem or about Harlem

Hosted by Michael Henry Adams, Harlem Historian and co-curator of our annual Homo-Harlem film series.

The Polymath, or, the Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman

Dir. Fred Barney Taylor, 2007, 75 min.

Throughout this sprawling portrait of prolific novelist, professor and literary critic, Samuel R. Delany, one can’t help but wonder how Delany found the time -- between grooming his prodigious beard, his amorous dalliances and being highly dyslexic -- to write over twenty works of fiction, eleven works of non-fiction, and two memoirs, finding his way into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Using a range of experimental techniques and borrowed footage from Delany’s home movies, Fred Barney Taylor document’s Delany’s life growing up in a prominent Harlem household, his coming of age in the East Village where he enthusiastically sampled the radical sexual, cultural, and artistic freedom of the early sixties, and his reception as a major figure in American literature.

After the Movie:

Conversation with Samuel Delany and filmmaker Fred Barney Taylor, with Michael Henry Adams, moderator.

Harlem Homegrown: P-Star Rising

Dir. Gabriel Noble (2009) 104 min.

A documentary film about a single-father who is determined that his 9-year old daughter become a rap star and thus redeem his deferred dream. We follow the father-daughter duo through the grit and glamour of the music industry, the struggles of being a single dad with no means, and the sacrifices a child makes in order to make her father proud. 

Harlem Homegrown

(Films for Harlem, by Harlem)

The Harlem Children’s Zone Presents:

The Photovoice Project

More than disease or genetic disorder, firearms rob young African Americans of their lives. In the spring of 2010, seven students at the Harlem Children’s Zone and eight adult community members took a stand against this crisis. The group photographed their community, documenting causes of gun violence and solutions to the epidemic. The members of this inter-generational group met to discuss their work and to craft concrete steps for action. This documentary follows the participants as they take photographs of their community, discuss the meaning of their work, and present their photographs to elected officials in Albany.

The screening will serve as a platform for future action against gun violence in Harlem, as the group’s concrete steps for action will be presented. A photo exhibit will accompany the screening.

100 Percent Free!!!!!!!