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.

THE TRIALS OF DARYL HUNT

JULY 27 - AUGUST 2, Fri - Thurs at 7 & 9:15 PM (plus Sat & Sun at 3 &
5 PM)
The Northwest film Forum & The Langston Hughes African American Film
Festival present in partnership:
THE TRIALS OF DARYL HUNT
*Sponsored by the ACLU of Washington and the Langston Hughes African
American Film Festival

DARYL HUNT'S ATTORNEY MARK RABIL IN ATTENDANCE FRI July 28 & SAT July 29!

(Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, USA, 2006,35mm, 106 min)

NW FILM FORUM
1515 12th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
www.nwfilmforum.org
General $8.50 senior $6.00 member $5.00
Tickets available at the box office or on the NW Film Forum website
===============

THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT documents a brutal rape/murder case in the

American South. It offers a deeply personal story of a wrongfully

convicted man, Darryl Hunt, who spent twenty years in prison for a crime

he did not commit. In 1984, a young white newspaper reporter, Deborah

Sykes, was raped, sodomized and stabbed to death just blocks from where

she worked in Winston-Salem, NC. Based on an identification made by a

former Ku Klux Klan member, a 19-year-old black man, Darryl Hunt, was

charged. Although no physical evidence linked him to the crime, Hunt was

convicted by an all white jury, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The

film chronicles this capital case from 1984 through 2004. With personal

narratives and exclusive footage from two decades, the directors frame

the judicial and emotional responses to this chilling crime -- and the

implications surrounding Hunt's conviction -- against a backdrop of

class and racial bias in America. This unique look at one man's loss and

redemption challenges the assumption that all Americans have the right

to unbiased justice.

KILLER OF SHEEP special theatrical run - partnership with the NW Film Forum

The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival is pleased to partner with the Northwest Film Forum for a special anniversary presentation of African American filmmaker Charles Burnett's classic film, KILLER OF SHEEP.

Special thanks to our June 23rd guest panelists, who conducted a lively and interesting post-screening discussion:

• Dr. Angela Gilliam - anthropologist, author, and professor at Evergreen State College
• Eddie Hill - filmmaker and producer
• Sandra D. Jackson-Dumont - Deputy Director of Education and Public Programs, Seattle Art Museum

JUNE 29-JULY 1, Fri - Sun at 9:15 PM and JULY 2, 3, 5 (Mon, Tues, Thurs) at 7 & 9:15 PM

30th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING / NEW 35MM PRINT

NWFF and Langston Hughes African American Film Festival present

KILLER OF SHEEP

(Charles Burnett, USA, 1977, 35mm, 96min)

At last, one of the most important independent and African-American films of the 20th Century has found a distributor. This underground gem, by director Charles Burnett, was placed among the first fifty films entered in the National Film Registry and declared a national treasure. In 2002, the National Society of Film Critics selected the film as one of the "100 Essential Films" of all time. Due to music licensing complications, the film was rarely screened and even then on worn 16mm prints. KILLER OF SHEEP has now been fully restored for its 30th anniversary. Witness its frank, neo-realistic depiction of black life in Los Angeles' Watts neighborhood in the mid-70s as the film follows Stan from his job at a slaughterhouse to his life at home. Constantly frustrated by money troubles, he manages to find solace in simple pleasures fixing up an old car, slow dancing with his wife in the kitchen, or quietly holding his daughter.

"The highest example of contemporary black life put on cinema." -Armond White, Film Comment

"The film of the season, if not the year, is a Southern California slice-of-life from 1977 that hasn't aged a day... A stirring and sophisticated evocation of working-class Watts." -Nathan Lee, The Village Voice

"Free of ghetto cliches that fill the movies made by people who have never lived in one, KILLER OF SHEEP is a strongly individual portrait of black, working class America." -Seattle P-I

"Burnett uses the film language of experimental documentaries for his urban pastoral--an episodic series of scenes that are sweet, sardonic, deeply sad, and very funny." -Seattle Weekly

You may watch a video of the discussion panel here. Special thanks to Paul Jackson, videographer for this event!

On another note...our belated, but deeply sincere, thanks to everyone who attended this year's LHAAFF! We appreciate our audiences and look forward to welcoming you in 2008 for our 5th anniversary. We're planning more workshops for aspiring and experienced filmmakers, more repeat screenings of hard-to-find films, and a special 5th anniversary opening night event. Ticket and pass prices will remain affordable. We want the LHAAFF to remain an accessible, welcoming community events. Thank you, audiences and friends, for your support and enthusiasm!

Join us again at the the NW Film Forum in August 2007 for THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT, a gripping documentary about the death penalty, justice, and perceptions of race and crime in America.