The 5th Annual Black Panther Party Film Festival

The 5th Annual Black Panther Party Film Festival

September 27th-28th, October 3rd-5th

8. WE WANT freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails. Remembering our Political Prisoners    

{Proceeds from our film festival, after expenses is used to supply commissary for Political Prisoners.}  

Thursday, October 3rd, 7:00pm

Political Prisoners Short  (10 min.)

Yesterday Is Not Too Soon (Interview with Assata Shakur)

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, 1997, 16 min.

Assata interviewed by activist Dorsey Nunn.

Mama C. Urban Warrior in the African Bush

Joanne Hershfield, 2012, 60 min.

The film explores Mama C’s decade’s long project of coming to terms with who she is—an African American raised in Kansas City, KS, the “jazz-capital of the world,” who has lived most of her life in Africa, the place from where her ancestors were forced to make the “middle-passage.” When she first arrived in Tanzania she tried as hard as she could to “fit in,” wearing khangas, carrying my babies on my back, basket on my head, chewing sugar cane sticks.” As she writes in one of her published poems, “In my freshly-landed, just-got-off-the-boat enthusiasm of living in Africa, I tried to blend, to melt, homogenize, disappear, erase, the essence of what made me who I am, an African, who grew up in and was molded by the ‘hoods’ of America, and I almost lost myself, self.”

Post-screening Skype Q&A with director Joanne Hershfield.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs5xAjNilmM

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/464967

La Camioneta

Tuesday, October 1st, 7:30pm

La Camioneta

Curated by Christian Chapman

La Camioneta

Mark Kendall, 2012, 72 mins

Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States on a southward migration that carries them to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. Since 2006, nearly 1,000 camioneta drivers and fare-collectors have been murdered for either refusing or being unable to pay the extortion money demanded by local Guatemalan gangs. La Camioneta follows one such bus on its transformative journey: a journey between North and South, between life and death, and through an unfolding collection of moments, people, and places that serve to quietly remind us of the interconnected worlds in which we live.

Post-screening Q&A with director Mark Kendall

This film will be screened in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which recognizes and celebrates the independence days of Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua and Chile, and the rich cultural contributions these countries have brought to the U.S.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/36262677

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/178042249045040/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/460108

 

The 5th Annual Black Panther Film Festival

Saturday, September 28th, 4:00pm

Justifiable Homicide

Jon Osman and Jonathan Stack, 2002, 85 min.

On Jan. 12, 1995, two young Puerto Rican residents of the Bronx, Anthony Rosario and Hilton Vega, were shot to death by detectives of the New York Police Department. The officers said they were acting in self-defense, firing on two men in the act of committing an armed robbery. A grand jury believed them, and no charges were brought against them. The makers of Justifiable Homicide suggest that the subsequent firings of the director of the review board and the investigators assigned to the Rosario-Vega case were a result of the Giuliani administration's desire to make the case go away. Justifiable Homicide is an exploration of the killings and their aftermath.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpy8v9XfgoQ

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/463687

Post-screening panel discussion.

Saturday, September 28th, 7:00pm

The FBI's War on Black America

Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller, 1991, 47 min.

The FBI's War on Black America offers a thought provoking look at a government-sanctioned conspiracy, the FBI's counter intelligence program known as Cointelpro. This documentary establishes historical perspective on the measures initiated by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI which aimed to discredit black political figures and forces of the late 1960's and early 1970's. Combining declassified documents, interviews, rare footage and exhaustive research, it investigates the government's role in the assassinations of Malcolm X, Fred Hampton and Martin Luther King Jr. The film reflects the rigorous research which went into its making, and portrays the nation's unrest during the period it recounts.

Post-screening panel discussion with original members of the Black Panther Party.


BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/463689

Invited Director Melvin Van Peebles

Featured Speakers: Directors Margarita Rosario, Stephen Vittoria, Ojore Lutalo & Joanne L. Hershifield. Attorneys Jill Soffiyah Elijah & Joan Gibbs. Panthers Bullwhip, Cleo Silvers, Pam Hanna, Cisco Torres, Shaba-Om, & Jamal Josephs. Also King Downing, Shaka Shakur and Bonnie Kerness

Produced by the Black Panther Commemoration Committee, in conjunction with Maysles Cinema.

FB:https://www.facebook.com/events/1436105366613787/

Fiction-Non: Lynne Sachs’ Your Day is My Night

Wednesday, September 25th-Thursday, September 26th, 7:00pm

Fiction-Non: Lynne Sachs’ Your Day is My Night

(A documentary series exploring 'hybrid films' that cross the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction traditions.)

Curated by Beyza Boyacioglu

Your Day is My Night

Lynne Sachs, 2013, 65 min.

This provocative hybrid documentary begins with the stories of a Chinatown "shift-bed" apartment, as told through dreams, movement and song. The bed transforms into a stage, revealing the collective history of the Chinese in the United States through conversations, autobiographical monologues, and theatrical improvisations. Shot on 16mm, Super 8 and HD video in the kitchens, bedrooms, wedding halls, and mahjong parlors of Chinatown, Your Day is My Night addresses issues of home and urban life. With each “performance” of their present, the characters illuminate the joys and tragedies of their past, as well as the challenges of contemporary life in New York.

Both evening’s screenings will begin with a short live performance created for Beyza Boyacioglu’s “Fiction-Non” series. Four cast members from the film will perform an experimental movement piece exploring the basic human need for a place to sleep.

Following the performance there will also be a Q&A with director Lynne Sachs, co-producer Sean Hanley and performers Linda Chan, Ellen Ho, Yun Xiu Huang, and Sheut Hing Lee.

“Your Day is My Night is a strikingly handsome, meditative work: a mixture of reportage, dreams, memories and playacting, which immerses you in an entire world that you might unknowingly pass on the corner of Hester Street.” - Stuart Klawans, The Nation

Select Screenings:

World Premiere:  Museum of Modern Art, Documentary Fortnight 2013

Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor MI

Images Festival, Toronto ON, Canada

Athens Film Festival, Athens OH (2nd Prize, Documentary Feature)

Workers Unite! Film Festival (1st Prize Narrative Feature)

Maysles Cinema, New York, NY

Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley CA

BorDocs Tijuana Foro Documental, Mexico

The DocYard, Cambridge MA

Vancouver International Film Festival

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pks0_IRHek

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/560509107336433/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/460102

A Special Community Screening of Estilo Hip-Hop

Sunday, September 22nd, 4:00pm

A Special Community Screening of Estilo Hip-Hop

Estilo Hip-Hop

Loira Limbal, Vee Bravo, 2009, 56 min.

Chronicling the emergence of Hip-Hop in Brazil, Chile and Cuba, Estilo Hip Hop closely examines the development of the culture outside of the social, political and economic models found in the United States through the eyes of three hip-hop artists, Guerrillero Okulto, Eli Efi and Magia. Estilo Hip Hop is an inspirational film on the power of music and revolution.

Q&A with Cuban Hip Hop artist, Obsesion and director Loira Limbal.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNM76ktJD90

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/158095021065325/?context=create

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/470500

Documentary In Bloom: Price of Gold

Monday, September 16th- Sunday, September 22nd, 7:30pm

Documentary in Bloom

Curated by Livia Bloom

U.S. Theatrical Premiere

Price of Gold

Sven Zellner, 2012, 86 min.

Gold: today’s most popular investment product. This astounding film is the first to document the illegal gold-diggers in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert risking their lives for a few grams of the precious mineral. While the speculative market value of gold in the Western world holds little relation to any tangible yardstick, the film describes in very direct and stark images what it means to prospect for gold by hand, in brutal conditions eerily reminiscent of the California Gold Rush during the late 19th- century. In amazingly intimate shots, Sven Zellner shows us the people at the other end of the world who pay the real price of gold.

“The setting is the Gobi Desert, a barren, golden landscape where desperate Mongolian nomads, known as “ninjas,” search for leftover gold veins that the giant international mining companies might have overlooked when they swept through the area years ago. The equipment is crude. The language is foul. They treat women (there is one female cook) like chattel, and each other like dirt. Sven Zellner, an accomplished photographer, spent years earning the trust of this scrappy group, which he follows into the claustrophobic shafts and the cramped quarters of the makeshift tent. His cinematography is breathtaking, and he drives home the inherent dangers of this illegal trade.” —Gayle MacDonald, The Globe and Mail

 

Trailer: http://youtu.be/dOcg2WoU470

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/617180188311189/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/390344

Jazz On Film: Bird of a Nation: Charlie Parker and Clint Eastwood's Biopic

Tuesday, September 10th, 7:00pm

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem Presents:

Jazz on Film

Bird of a Nation: Charlie Parker and Clint Eastwood's Biopic

Clint Eastwood had the best of intentions when he created his Charlie Parker biopic Bird in 1988. Nonetheless, it perpetuated many of the myths that still dog jazz and its musicians. Parker is reduced to a fun-loving, headed for self-destruction man/child, totally devoid of the intelligence and maturity of the real Parker.

Krin Gabbard, professor of Comparative Literature at SUNY Stony Book, and author of Jammin' At The Margins, a groundbreaking study of jazz and film, will moderate the panel as they and the audience react to segments of the Eastwood film. We are especially honored to have the legendary saxophonist/composer/bandleader Jimmy Heath participating; he knew and played with Charlie Parker. Heath’s presence alone makes this a historic evening.

Panelists include Robert O'Meally, Loren Schoenberg, Jonathan Scheuer and legendary saxophonist/composer/bandleader Robert O'Meally. Moderated by Krin Gabbard.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS0M-GjgEi8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/157576427778562/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/460081

Doc Watchers Presents: Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

Monday, September 9th, 7:00pm

Doc Watchers

Curated by Hellura Lyle

In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington Doc Watchers presents: Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

Nancy Kates & Bennett Singer, 2003, 83 mins.

During his 60-year career as an activist, organizer and "troublemaker," Bayard Rustin formulated many of the strategies that propelled the American civil rights movement. His passionate belief in Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence drew Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders to him in the 1940's and 50's; his practice of those beliefs drew the attention of the FBI and police. In 1963, Rustin brought his unique skills to the crowning glory of his civil rights career: his work organizing the March on Washington, the biggest protest America had ever seen. But his open homosexuality forced him to remain in the background, marking him again and again as a "brother outsider." Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin combines rare archival footage — some of it never before broadcast in the U.S. — with provocative interviews to illuminate the life and work of a forgotten prophet of social change.

Q&A with director Bennett Singer and reception to follow.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFJDlzm5zDM

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/494303700660138/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/460088

Will the Real Terroist Please Stand Up

Friday, July 26th, 7:30pm

(Part of "2 Days of Solidarity with Cuba in New York City”)

Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up

Saul Landau, 2010, 82 min.

Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up chronicles half a century of hostile US relations to Cuba by telling the story of the Cuban Five, intelligence agents sent to penetrate Cuban exile terrorist groups in Miami and now serving long prison sentences. The film highlights decades of assassinations and sabotage at first backed by Washington, then ignored by the very government that launched a "war against terrorism". Renowned documentarian and activist Saul Landau landed interviews with the leading anti-Castro terrorists now in their 80's who recounted their deeds often with the blessing of the CIA as well as interviews with Cuban state security officials explaining why they sent the five agents to infiltrate the violent Miami exile groups. Featuring Danny Glover and Fidel Castro, the film raises and tries to answer the question: What did Cuba do to deserve such hostile treatment? Key events are traced including the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as the numerous attempts on Castro's life.

The film reveals a story of violence that also echoed on the streets of Washington DC, New York and especially Miami where critics of the real terrorists end up beaten, bombed and dead. Saul Landau is an internationally known scholar, author, commentator, and filmmaker on foreign and domestic policy issues. His films include Fidel, the first documentary chronicling Fidel Castro after the Cuban Revolution. He has made more than 40 films and TV programs on social, political, economic and historical issues.

Panel discussion following screening features historian Jane Franklin, author of “Cuban Foreign Relations” and “Cuba and the United States: A Chronological History.” Moderator, Nellie Bailey, Black Agenda Report & the July 26th Committee.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/483196218432622/

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFra1GuBTzo

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/418712

 

The Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival Present: Jazz On A Summer's Day

Thursday, July 25th, 7:30pm

Maysles Cinema's Summer of Music, The African Film Festival's Cinema Under The Stars, The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance and Reel Harlem: The Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival Present:

Jazz On A Summer's Day

@ The Jackie Robinson Park Bandshell

(148th St. & Bradhurst Avenue) Lawnchairs Permitted.

Rain Location: Jackie Robinson Park Recreation Center 85 Bradhurst Avenue at 146th Street

100% Free

7:30pm

DJ Blade With Live Drumming

(Jazz, Fusion, Soul)

8:30pm

Shape of a Broken Heart

Andrew Dosunmu, Cuba, 2012, 16min.

Hauntingly beautifully, this video-film was shot for singer Imany’s debut album, “Shape Of A Broken Heart”. Directed by Andrew Dosunmu (Restless City), with photography by Bradford Young (Pariah), this film leaves audiences enchanted and embraced by timeless music, style, and grace.

Jazz On A Summer's Day

Bert Stern, 1960, 85 min.

In 1958, celebrated photographer Bert Stern was inspired by a friend to "take some pictures" of the Newport Jazz Festival. Following a turn of events, Stern decided to produce a full-fledged motion picture. It would become his only film. By breaking many cinematic taboos, Stern recreated the look of his still photography into motion with a dazzling display of rich human observation and some of the most remarkable scenes of live jazz ever brought to the screen.  Although the principle emphasis is on the performances of such legendary artists as Louis Armstrong, Anita O'Day, Dinah Washington, Chuck Berry, Mahalia Jackson and Thelonious Monk, Stern's camera also fills us with illuminating images of America at its best. Whether it's a bird’s eye view of the rich in their yachts or young lovers from Brooklyn on a tour of Newport's picturesque streets and beaches, this is more than just a jazz film, it's the film of an era.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMLtnskACQg

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/188610434637763/

Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

Wednesday, July 24th, 7:30pm

Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger, 2013, 90 min.

Before entire networks were built on populist personalities; before reality morphed into a TV genre; the masses fixated on a single, sociopathic star: controversial talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr. In the late ‘80s, Downey tore apart the traditional talk format by turning debate of current issues into a gladiator pit. His blow-smoke-in-your-face style drew a rabid cult following, but also the title “Father of Trash Television.” Was his show a platform for the working man or an incubator for Snooki and The Situation? Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie dissects the mind and motivation of television’s most notorious agitator.

Lower the safety bar for a rollercoaster ride through Downey’s euphoric ascent to fame and nauseating plummet to infamy. Évocateur features interviews with Herman Cain, Pat Buchanan, Chris Elliott, Gloria Allred, Sally Jessy Raphael, Alan Dershowitz, Curtis Sliwa, Richard Bey, Michele Bachmann and Glenn Beck and never-before-seen footage reveals Downey’s behind-the-scenes fistfights and foibles. Animation recreates the legends of Downey that bounce between executive nightmare and schoolboy fantasy. A significant portion of  Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie explores the brawl that took place between Roy Innis and Al Sharpton during a taping of “The Morton Downey Jr. Show” at the Apollo Theater in August 1988. The subject of the show was Tawana Brawley. This screening and Q&A at the Maysles Cinema will mark the 25th anniversary of the Apollo Theater taping.  Touré (co-hosts MSNBC's "The Cycle" and is the author of "Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness? What It Means To Be Black Now,") and Roy Innis (CORE) will participate in a discussion afterwards about race and media with director Jeremy Newberger. Al Sharpton has also been invited to attend. In light of Trayvon Martin coverage, the potential reunion and debate guarantees to be fascinating.

Post-screening Q&A with Touré, Roy Innis and director Jeremy Newberger.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw0cbBQrnDk
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/504872066248589/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/418706

The Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival Present: I Remember Harlem

Thursday, July 18th, 7:30pm

Maysles Cinema's Summer of Music, The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance and Reel Harlem: The Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival Present:

I Remember Harlem

(In Tribute to the late, great Harlem-born filmmaker Bill Miles, and director of I Remember Harlem. April 18, 1931 - May 12, 2013, R.I.P.)

@ St. Nicholas Park

135th St. Plaza & St. Nicholas Ave

Lawn Chairs Permitted

Rain Location: TBA

100% Free

7:30pm

Harlem World DJ Set with DJ Blade

(The Music of Harlem)

8:30pm

I Remember Harlem

Dir. William Miles, 1980, 120 min.

This seminal series traces Harlem's 350-year history, evoking one of America's most vibrant communities. As a visual counterpart to the oral histories in the film, Miles unearthed old photographs and motion picture films and newsreel footage, much of it rare and never before. In early 1982, one year after it was broadcast, I Remember Harlem won an Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia University Citation and an American Film Festival Award.

Screening Includes:

Toward Freedom (1940-1965)

Toward a New Day (1965-1980)

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlJzeHERf1E

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/592233230820935/

Venus and Serena

Friday, July 12th -Thursday, July 18th, 7:30pm

Venus and Serena

Maiken Baird and Michelle Major, 2013, 99 min.

Ever since Venus and Serena Williams started playing in tennis tournaments, they've provoked strong reactions - from awe and admiration to suspicion and resentment. They've been winning championships for over a decade, pushing the limits of longevity in such a demanding sport. How long can they last? In Venus & Serena, we gain unprecedented access into their lives during the most intimidating year of their career. Over the course of 2011, Venus grappled with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease while Serena battled back from a life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Neither Venus nor Serena let their adversities hold them back. They drew their greatest strength from each other.

"That was a tough year for us because we both got injuries and so many issues. So seeing that is just motivating to see how much we’ve overcome and to make us stronger." -Serena Williams

"Unprecedented access"

-Sports Illustrated

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lzg9tJwItI

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/195211177302668/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/405575

Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice

Thursday, July 11th, 6:00pm

Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice

Sponsored by CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, Brought to You by Women Make Movies

6:00pm

Dinner and reception

6:30pm

Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice

Pat Saunders and Rea Tajiri, 1994, 57 min.

Yuri Kochiyama is a Japanese American woman who has lived in Harlem for more than 40 years with a long history of activism on a wide range of issues. Through extensive interviews with family and friends, archival footage, music and photographs, Yuri Kochiyama chronicles this remarkable woman’s contribution to social change through some of the most significant events of the 20th century, including the Black Liberation movement, the struggle for Puerto Rican independence, and the Japanese American Redress movement. In an era of divided communities and racial conflict, Kochiyama offers an outstanding example of an equitable and compassionate multiculturalist vision.

Following the film will be a panel discussion on the legacy of Kochiyama for API activism and organizing today.  

Suggested donation: $10. All proceeds will go towards supporting CAAAV programs.

Tickets: tinyurl.com/caaav-yuri

(please make sure to write "Yuri Kochiyama screening" in the ""designate the program for your donation")

Facebook Invite:https://www.facebook.com/events/670095309672637

The Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival, Tedsmooth's Old School Jam and Harlem Hip-Hop Tours Present: I Want My Name Back

Wednesday, July 10th, 5:30pm

Maysles Cinema's Summer of Music, The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, Reel Harlem: The Historic Harlem Parks Film Festival, Tedsmooth's Old School Jam and Harlem Hip-Hop Tours Present:

I Want My Name Back

@ Marcus Garvey Park

(Lawn A, Mount Morris Park West between 122nd and 124th Street)

Rain Location: The Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church

16-20 Mount Morris Park West (Southwest corner of West 122nd Street)

100% Free

LAWN CHAIRS PERMITTED!

5:30pm

Tedsmooth's Old School Jam

(with surprise guests and dance contests!)

7:30pm

"Rapper's Delight" Performance Featuring Legendary MCs Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Grandmaster Caz (The Cold Crush Brothers) and special guests Melle Mel (Grandmaster Flash), Dana Dane, DJ Wiz (Kid N’ Play) and Grandmaster Dee (Whodini), Corey Glover, Keith LeBlanc, Vernon Reid and Doug Winbish (Living Colour) and Captain Kirk Douglas (the Roots). With “Rapper’s Delight” audience rendition contest!

8:30pm

I Want My Name Back

Roger Paradiso, 2012, 90 min.

If you know your old-school rap history, then you know that the legendary Sugarhill Gang introduced Hip Hop to the world with the Top 40 Hit "Rapper's Delight." But the story you haven't heard is the shocking truth about how a con game and identity theft led to the band's breakup. Master Gee and Wonder Mike waged a thirty plus year battle against Sugarhill Records to reclaim their names and legacy. In this documentary we hear the true story of two of the original members of The Sugarhill Gang, Michael Wright (Wonder Mike) and Guy O'Brien (Master Gee). The film also features Grandmaster Caz (The Cold Crush Brothers), Melle Mel (Grandmaster Flash), and Vinnie and Treach (Naughty by Nature).

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-W1muPO8rg

Harlem Hip Hop Tours Website: www.h3tours.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/250282005114703/

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/397306

Jazz On Film

Tuesday, July 9th, 7:00pm

Jazz On Film

Curated by the National Jazz Museum in Harlem

New Jerusalem Orchestra - Eternal Love ("Ahavat Olamim”)

Hosted by Nadav Remez

The New Jerusalem Orchestra (NJO) is a world-class musical ensemble dedicated to creating new music that draws on African and Middle Eastern musical traditions, including Middle Eastern piyyut (Jewish traditions of sacred music), and is informed by a sophisticated and joyous jazz sensibility. The film, Eternal Love, documents a spirited and moving live performance from the 2010 Israel Festival, featuring the virtuoso musician, gifted bandleader and founding member of the NJO, the bassist Omer Avital, together with the celebrated saxophonist, Greg Tardy, and the master of Moroccan piyyut, Rabbi Haim Louk.

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/414571

FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/476215899133978/?context=create

Docwatchers

Monday, July 1st, 7:00pm

DocWatchers

Curated by Hellura Lyle

Nora

Alla Kovgan and David Hinton, 2008, 35 min.

Based on the life of Zimbabwean-born dancer Nora Chipaumire, this film is part biopic, part fable, part dramatic cinema and part dance film. In the film, she returns to the landscape of her childhood and takes a journey through some vivid memories of her youth. Using performance and dance, she brings her history to life in a swiftly ­moving poem of sound and image. Shot entirely on location in Southern Africa, NORA includes a multitude of local performers and dancers of all ages, from young schoolchildren to ancient grandmothers, and much of the music is specially composed by a legend of Zimbabwean music Thomas Mapfumo.

Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty

Jeffrey Ruoff, 2012, 38 min.

At Dartmouth College in the 1970s, four male athletes joined a dance class, improvising vigorous creations from scratch. Their collaborative work led to the formation of Pilobolus and the transformation of modern dance. Eschewing the bright lights of Manhattan, and naming themselves after a microscopic fungus, Pilobolus. The troupe honed a movement philosophy to teach dancers and non-dancers alike. Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty focuses on the company's lifecycle--including a founder's death--its evolution, transformation, and regeneration. On the eve of its fortieth anniversary, the troupe returns to New Hampshire for a Dartmouth-commissioned world premiere of an innovative collaboration with cartoonist Art Spiegelman. At their studio, on the road, in community workshops, and on stage, Pilobolus thrives as an arts organism.

Q&A with directors Alla Kovgan & Jeffrey Rouff.

BPT: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/395981

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/141130906090965/

The Get Down's Campaigns: No More Stigma Film Series

Thursday, June 27th, 6:30pm

The Get Down Campaign’s

No More Stigma Film Series

Curated by Kim J. Ford

Celebrating Ballroom History. An evening of pushing the conversation forward in honor of New York Pride Week and National Testing Day Awareness Event. In partnership with Global Network of Black Pride, GMAD, SWERV, Anti Violence Project and Until There's A Cure

6:30pm

Reception

7:30pm

T.V. Tranvestite

Dir. Simone di Bagno and Michele Capozzi, 1982, 60 min.

Before Paris is Burning, there was T.V. Transvestite. Shot in 1982 by filmmakers Simone di Bagno and Michele Capozzi, the documentary captures a fierce House of LaBeija ball thrown at a Harlem Bingo hall. "Lost" and not screened in public for over two decades, this rare film shows such legends as Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey and Sugar in a period before voguing and at the advent of AIDS.

The Show Must Go On: The Story of Snooke Lanore

Dir. Zachary Kussin, 2011, 3 min.

Snookie Lanore (née Lawrence Taylor) 18, chose to name himself after the “Jersey Shore” star for her spunk and fun-loving personality. And with these same personal attributes, Snookie enlivens his own audience at the balls that he hosts. But instead of traditional ballroom events, Snookie’s feature drag runway battles, vogue dance-offs, and beauty contests.

These types of balls aren’t new. They’ve been held by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities of color for almost 50 years to provide a safe, judgment-free space for self expression—even a safe space for conflict resolution. They’ve also been made popular by several documentaries—Paris Is Burning, a 1990 film, stands out as an example. But those are the major leagues, meant for older followers. Snookie represents the “Kiki” scene—a ballroom subculture that traditionally caters to participants under the age of 18—whose events have recently grown in frequency and popularity, even among older fans from the major leagues.

Here in New York, these Kiki balls generally take place twice monthly, which makes Snookie a very busy teen. Since starting two years ago, Snookie has hosted over 40 of these events, and he sees many more on the horizon. He first got his start when a friend asked him to host a ball that he threw. At first, Snookie said, he didn’t think he could, but then this life-long Church singer found a new way to show his talents. Snookie shares how hosting makes him feel in The Show Must Go On.

Evening includes:

Poetry By Sephology, The Lyrical Prodigy

Q&A with filmmakers to immediately following the screening.

Followed by a post-screening Mini-Ball featuring The Paragon House of GianMarco Lorenzi.

Commentator & Host: Iconic Father Kamari Lorenzi – Miyake Mugler.

Special fundraising partnership with Until There’s A Cure®

Get Down is partnered with Until There’s A Cure®.  Until There’s A Cure® is a national organization dedicated to eradicating HIV/AIDS by raising awareness and funds to combat this pandemic. Fueled by concerns about the effects of HIV/AIDS on the lives of their children, two California mothers were inspired to create the non-profit organization Until There’s A Cure® Foundation in 1993.  The Foundation was the first non-profit organization to create and sell a bracelet to raise funds for a cause.

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Documentary In Bloom Presents: Homecomings

Monday-Sunday, June 24th-30th, 7:30pm

(Thursday, June 27th, 4:00pm Showing Only)

Documentary in Bloom Presents Homegoings

Curated by Livia Bloom

U.S. Theatrical Premiere

Christine Turner, 2013, 58 min.

Harlem's own Isaiah Owens, proprietor of the Owens Funeral Home--just a few blocks away from the Maysles Cinema on Malcolm X Blvd--and his family are the focus of this thoughtful cinematic portrait by New York filmmaker Turner. Growing up, Owens felt like an outcast for the interest in death and its rituals that led him to design elaborate ceremonies for the burial of neighborhood pets. Today, however, he is a pillar of his community, beloved for a gentle, practical approach to "homegoings" at a time when discussions of death are taboo and the undertaking field is dominated by impersonal big business. Venturing behind the scenes of a much feared and misunderstood profession, this thoughtful film examines the rituals of African American funerals and the approach that Owens takes to his craft, one of the few that black Americans could enter into freely after slavery. Combining cinéma vérité with personal interviews, Homegoings paints a portrait of Harlem's the dearly departed and the man who serves them.

Tuesday, June 25 and Friday, June 28: Post-film Q&As with director Christine Turner and the Homegoings cast!

Reception will follow the program on Friday, June 28!

"9/10 Stars! [A sense of justice and continuity makes the lovely documentary] Homegoings makes especially vibrant." —Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters

"A string of memorable moments in filmmaker Christine Turner’s moving documentary, Homegoings, [refuse] to leave my mind’s eye." —Clem Richardson, New York Daily News

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/53607653

Preceded by

StoryCorps Shorts: A 10th Anniversary Program

The Rauch Brothers, 2010-2013, approximately 20 min.

Over 45,000 oral histories have been recorded by the NYC-based organization StoryCorps since they opened their doors in 2003. Archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the stories document the lives of Americans of all ages and beliefs in their own voices. In honor of their tenth anniversary, Documentary in Bloom at the Maysles Cinema is proud to present this program of StoryCorps short films, featuring the audio from selected oral histories brought beautifully to life with animation.

This program is made possible by P.O.V. Special thanks to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). For more information on StoryCorps, visit: http://storycorps.org/

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Staunch! A Grey Gardens Celebration V: Tarnation

Sunday, June 9th, 7:30pm

Tarnation

Jonathan Caouette, 2004, 100 min.

In the making since the director was 11-years-old and completed on a reported budget of about 200 dollars, Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation is an experimental and self-reflective mix of documentary and fiction. Bringing together a collection of home movies, family photos, answering machine messages, reenactments and Caouette's video diary, the film attempts to delve into the filmmaker's experiences growing up queer with a schizophrenic mother. Jonathan also directed his third film, the critically acclaimed Walk Away Renée in 2011. A follow up of sorts to Tarnation, Walk Away Renée documents Caouette's cross-country journey with his mother, Renée Leblanc, to an assisted living facility close to Caouette's home, necessitating a move from Houston to New York.

Q&A with dir. Jonathan Caouette.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLDQL23nutw

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