LHAAFF partners with the NW Film Forum to present two films about African American popular music

WATTSTAX

at the Northwest Film Forum, June 8-June 12. Showtimes at 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM.

1515 12th Ave, Seattle WA 98122
Phone: (206)329-2629
Fax: (206)329-1193
Located on Capitol Hill between Pike and Pine.

http://www.nwfilmforum.org/cinemas/calendar.php#wattstax

Co-presented by the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center African American Film Festival
Sponsored by Easy Street Records
(Mel Stuart, USA, 1973, 35mm, 98 min)

A legendary concert film, WATTSTAX documents the Woodstock of black America. The Stax label, along with Tamala Motown, was one of the greats of American soul, funk and R&B recording. With a lineup that included such greats as Isaac Hayes, Booker T & the MGs, the Emotions and many more, the Stax label oozes cool. WATTSTAX represents both a fantastic timepiece and a prophetic look into the future. Held in 1972 to commemorate the 1965 Watts riots, the concert "drew an overwhelmingly African-American crowd of 100,000 and turned into a memorable black-pride event," according to the BALTIMORE CITY PAPER. Director Mel Stuart not only focuses on the big names on the Coliseum's stage but also takes his camera out into the community, watching and listening to Watts residents talk about everyday life in the inner city.

and
RESPECT YOURSELF: THE STAX RECORDS STORY
June 8-June 12. Showtimes at 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM.

Co-presented by the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center African American Film Festival
Sponsored by Easy Street Records
(Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon, 2007, USA, BETA, 115 min)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stax Records, Morgan Neville (THE COOL SCHOOL) and Robert Gordon (MUDDY WATERS: CAN'T BE SATISFIED) made a chronicle of the rise of the Memphis soul label that changed the world. RESPECT YOURSELF is jammed with amazing archival rarities, live performances, forgotten TV appearances, home movies, news footage and lost recordings of all the legendary Stax artists -- from Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes to Booker T & the MG's, Sam & Dave and The Staples Singers. Their definitive film is also a story of the civil rights movement and how the music created at Stax mirrored the glories and pains of that struggle.