Oct. 13 Underground Railroad Film & Discussion Series: October 2010

The Underground Railroad, a project of the annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, is a fall - through -winter film and discussion series. Using the metaphor of a series of strategically located “Safe Houses” in Seattle neighborhoods, the Underground Railroad is a series of intimate screenings designed to build community across the aisle and across neighborhoods. Each Safe House along the trail brings forth a different provocative work about African American life, leading to ‘freedom’ at the annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival in April. We are pleased to attract diverse audiences every year. All are welcome.

Dates and locations for all screenings are not yet confirmed; please visit our website, www.langstonblackfilmfest.org or our blog, http://lhaaffbside.blogspot.com/, or call 206-326-1088 to listen to schedule updates.

October 13, 2009 at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center: MY FATHER THE LUO (USA/Kenya)
Tomasz Magierski, Dir

Suggested donation: $5/pay what you can

Synopsis: My Father the Luo is a film about finding one’s identity. The main character is Roma Ndolo, a young woman who grew up in Germany with parents from Poland and Kenya. She had always longed to find out more about her “African side” so she travels to her late father’s homeland. While there she recognizes the parallels between her own life and that of President Barack Obama. Each of their fathers were from the Luo tribe and Obama’s half sister is Roma’s family friend. This film was shot during the Democratic Convention in Denver 2008. Not surprisingly there is also historic footage of Senator Obama’s trip to Kenya in 2006.

12/18 FILM RESCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 29

Due to the current heavy snowfall and uncertain travel conditions in Central Seattle, tonight's 7:00 p.m. screening of the film TROUBLE THE WATER has been postponed.

The film will be shown at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 - 17th Avenue South, on Monday December 29th at 7:00 p.m. Admission is a sliding scale if $5-$7.

Please inform any friends who may have been planning to attend that there is a new show date. The LHAAFF looks forward to showing the film and we hope that everyone will be able to join us on December 29th!

THANK YOU for your support!

2008 Festival: A Community Success
The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center's Fifth Annual African American Film Festival was an amazing gathering of films, artists and community. We were all transformed in each others' company and moved by the power of cinema to bring us all closer together.

Art defines a person and a people. It effects all who participate. In 9 days, Langston's Film Festival ran the gamut from serious to funny, from fiction to reality, from short to long, from local to international, from first efforts to epics from seasoned masters. And the collective effect: we talked, we laughed, we cried, we cheered, we questioned, and we were together as a community.

A big thank you to all who made this event possible.
See you in September for the Underground Railroad Film Series.

AUDIENCE AWARD
1st prize - TIE: THIS IS THE LIFE, Ava DuVernay and PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL, Gini Reticker
Honorable mention - TIE: DEATH OF TWO SONS Directed by Micah Shaffer and produced by Alrick Brown and I’M THROUGH WITH WHITE GIRLS by Jennifer Sharp

JURY AWARD
1st prize: MORNING DUE by Barbara Allen
Honorable mention: SOMETHING IS KILLING TATE by Leon Lozano
Honorable mention: LALIBELA by Sentayahu Mengesha

LOCAL FILMMAKER AWARD
1st place: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by Eddie Smith
Honorable mention: WOMEN TOGETHER AS ONE by Gilda Sheppard
Honorable mention: YOKES AND CHAINS by Michael Lienau

Festival Schedule and Ticket Sales are now live!

Please visit our website, http://www.langstonblackfilmfest.org/, for a full festival schedule and online ticket sales. You may also purchase tickets at the box office an hour before each screening or workshop begins. THe box office is on the ground floor of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 - 17th Avenue South. The phone number is (206)386-1177.
Bookmark this blog -- schedule changes, updates, and news will appear here. Two Metro bus lines will bring you close to the building. Take the #27 or the #14.

We look forward to seeing you at this year's festival, and hope that you will enjoy the wide variety of films!

2008 LHAAFF begins April 12!

Festival Runs: April 12 – April 20, 2008
Opening Reception & Special Guest: Donnie L. Betts (4/12; 7:00)
Closing Reception & Special Guest: Charles Burnett (4/20; 7:00)

SEATTLE –Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (LHPAC) will host its Fifth Annual African American Film Festival, featuring a powerful lineup of documentaries, narratives, film shorts and animation. The festival is thrilled to announce that Honeydripper , a film by John Sayles will be featured on Opening Night April 12th. Audience members will get the rare opportunity to see behind the scenes footage of the film and filmmaker Donnie L. Betts will be on hand to share a "making of" insight into the film. On April 20th the festival will wrap with a special showing of Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation and the film’s director, Charles Burnett will be on hand to discuss his work.

The African American Film Festival runs nine consecutive nights from April 12th – 20th and all the showings will take place at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. The festival includes a record number of entries from emerging and established filmmakers from around the world. The selection of powerful, diverse, intelligent and evocative films will include a robust shorts program designed to give rise to the emergent filmmaking voice, and a wide array of talkbacks, panels and receptions provide a much needed bridge for artists and community patrons to engage in meaningful dialogue.

This annual event is expected to draw over 1000 people who are passionate about creating and appreciating films by and about Black people in the world . The Festival spotlights over 40 feature-length and short films by independent filmmakers, and includes panel discussions, readings, special screenings for senior & youth and the rare opportunity to chat face-to-face with prominent filmmakers, industry professionals and community leaders.

“Our goal for each year’ is to present as wide, and as honest, a variety of portrayals of Black life as possible.’ said Zola Mumford, the festival’s curator. “People of African descent are doing all sorts of interesting things all over the world; and this little gem of a festival invites audiences to learn and expand their view of the African experience.”

A few of the films & workshops currently scheduled include:
• Honeydripper is a Rock n’ Roll fable about Guitar Sam set in 1950’s Alabama. It is directed by John Sayles, stars Danny Glover and features music by Keb Mo
• The Seattle premiere of Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation. An epic tale by legendary director Charles Burnett about the rise of Sam Nujoma, the first President of Namibia. Burnett will be on hand to discuss his work
• Seattle filmmaker Eddie Smith premieres two films, Man to Man, a psychological drama; and Behind Closed Doors, a courtroom drama exploring racial identity.
• Women Together as One by Gilda Sheppard is a documentary about Liberian women refugees and child soldiers
• Seattle poet and filmmaker Stacey Tolbert premieres Got Breast?
• Pariah is a coming-of-age drama about a lesbian teenager who unsuccessfully juggles multiple identities to avoid rejection from her friends and family.
• Adopted by Aliens Animators Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs will be in town to host an animation workshop
• Alonzo Crawford, Howard University Cinematography Professor and filmmaker will also host a film workshop

Photos and background info on these, and other films are available upon request. A complete list of films and schedules will be released in early April.

All festival activities take place at the historic Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center on 17th & Yesler (104 17th Ave. S). The opening night event, Honeydripper begins at 7 pm. The closing night event, Namibia also begins at 7 pm. All evening showtimes are 7:00 pm. Matinees are at 4:00 M-F and 2:00 pm Sat. & Sun. Tickets are $ 7 for adults $5 for seniors and $2 for youth. An all-access “Langston Pass” is $75. Film details and ticketing information are available at www.langstonblackfilmfest.org or by calling 206-326-1088.

The African American Film Festival is supported by The Lucky 7 Foundation, Seattle Parks and Recreation, 4 Culture, the Washington State Arts Commission, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and a host of local businesses and organizations. The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival gives Northwest audiences a chance to view a diverse array of irreverent, poignant, provocative documentary films on topics such as youth, politics, history, social justice and relationships.
About the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival: The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival supports community building by providing opportunities for artists and audiences to connect using the medium of film as a catalyst for dialogue that leads to social change. The festival creates year round opportunities to enhance media literacy, self reflection, and community discussion. By creating the shared experience of films that are by and about black people, the festival is a creative and collaborative opportunity to build cultural competency across the aisle and across neighborhoods in greater Seattle. www.langstonblackfilmfest.org

About Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center: Established in 1969 as a dynamic and creative cultural arts center under the Model Cities, Urban Renewal program the Center provides a cultural institution in Seattle’s Central Area, where arts specific to the African American experience could be taught, explored, expressed, and enjoyed by all. LHPAC has been at the core of experimental, cutting edge, traditional, and emerging art forms for more than 35 years. LHPAC became a program of Seattle Parks and Recreation in 1972. It has been a core gathering place for an African American cannon of work in a neighborhood that has seen numerous demographic changes over the past three decades. The Center remains committed to championing that voice and building powerful connections with the diverse cultures in our community. This is accomplished through the creation of dynamic performing arts experiences for all. LHPAC partners with organizations such as: The Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, Seattle Public Schools, the Paramount Theater, Book-It-Repertory Theater, ReAct Theater, the Seattle Symphony, Earshot Jazz and many more organizations that share our commitment to quality programming for a diverse audience. www.seattle.gov/parks/Centers/langston.htm

August 2nd post-show discussion: legal issues raised in the film THE TRIALS OF DARYL HUNT

Join the LHAAFF at the NW Film Forum on Thursday, August 2nd for a post-screening discussion with the following panelists:

JEFF ELLIS
Jeff Ellis is a criminal defense attorney, law professor, and the president of the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

JEFFERY P. ROBINSON
Jeff Robinson, a shareholder at Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender, is a criminal defense attorney in Seattle, Washington. After graduation from Harvard Law School in 1981, he worked as a Seattle-King County Public Defender and Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington before joining Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender in 1988. He teaches Trial Advocacy at the UW Law School, and is also a member of the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Jeff is also a past president of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.


SILJA TALVI
Silja Talvi is an investigative journalist and essayist, and a senior editor for the political monthly magazine, In These Times. Her book, Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System, will be out November 1, 2007, reflecting hundreds of interviews and nearly two years of national and international travel to women's jails and prisons.

Talvi's articles on social issues--with a particular emphasis on criminal justice, ethnicity and gender--have garnered 12 Society of Professional Journalists regional awards in the Pacific Northwest, as well as four consecutive PASS awards from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency for excellence in magazine journalism, and a 2006 national New American Media award for immigration-related reporting. Her work appears in numerous book anthologies including: Body Outlaws, The W Effect: Bush's War on Women, Prison Nation, as well as the forthcoming books, Prison Profiteers and It's So You, celebrating the intersection of feminism and fashion.

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 & SAT!

(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

April 29 UPDATE: the Federation of Black Cowboys

Dear LHAAFF friends,

The screening of the inspiring documentary THE FEDERATION OF BLACK COWBOYS , directed by Eric Martz, will go ahead as planned with a start time of 4:00 PM. Unfortunately, we were notified late yesterday that the Northwest Black Horsemen will not attend.

We had originally hoped that they would join us to enjoy the film and exhibit bullwhip and lasso tricks, but unfortunately, this is not possible .

However, please do join us for the screening of a wonderful film and the BBQ lunch and dessert, catered by Seattle's own Jones Barbeque, following the film. Your $10 entry ticket includes the movie and food.

Our sincere thanks to everyone for your support.

SYNOPSIS
East New York, Brooklyn - the city’s most notorious gangland has more than its fair share of the bad and the ugly. On this urban frontier, the good guys are The Federation of Black Cowboys. Seven days a week these modern-day wranglers can be found at the Cedar Lane Stables, fulfilling their mission to pass down the legacy of the black cowboys to inner city youth. The documentary leads us to a world on the other side of the fence where respect for life is taught through horsemanship. The stories of these cowboys - ranging from 16-year-old Mikey, whose delinquent life has been transformed through his discovery of the stables, to 90-year-old Ben, a former rodeo champion who rode with Will Rogers - reveal how the code of the West flourishes in a tough Eastern urban environment.

UPDATE: Corrected bio for S. Pearl Sharp, April 29 guest filmmaker

The LHAAFF regrets that an incorrect bio was published in the print version of the program book. Guest filmmaker S. Pearl Sharp will present her acclaimed documentary THE HEALING PASSAGE: VOICES FROM THE WATER on Sunday, April 29 at 1:00 PM. Admission is $7.00. A correct version of the bio follows:

S. Pearl Sharp's work focuses on cultural arts, health and Black history. An
independent filmmaker, she created the semi-animated film short Picking Tribes, with watercolors by artist Carlos Spivey; Life Is A Saxophone, on poet Kamau Daa'ood; a controversial women's health video, It's O.K. To Peek, produced with Arabella Chavers-Julien; and Back Inside Herself, a poetic short. S. Pearl wrote and directed numerous arts documentaries for the City of Los Angeles' CH 35, with Exec. Producer Rosie Lee Hooks, including Central Avenue Live!, L.A. to L.A., Spirits of the Ancestors and Fertile Ground: Stories From the Watts Towers Arts Center. She is Supervising Producer for five new short films addressing gang violence, sponsored by the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC). Sharp’s most recent work is The Healing Passage/Voices From The Water, an award-winning, feature length documentary that addresses the present-day residuals of the trans-Atlantic slave trade through the work of cultural artists.

S. Pearl writes "soft songs, hard poems and 3rd eye music." Her essays and
commentaries are heard on NPR radio, and she is the current Poet Laureate
of the Watts Towers Arts Center. Her published literary works include Black Women For Beginners (Writers and Readers), the plays Dearly Beloved and The Sistuhs, four volumes of poetry and a spoken word CD, On The Sharp Side. She worked with esteemed actress Beah Richards on There's A Brown Girl In The Ring, a collection of the actress' essays, later adapting them to stage.

Based in Los Angeles, S. Pearl is both a practitioner and student of holistic healing. www.aSharpShow.com

...

About the film:

How do we heal from the residuals of The Middle Passage?Cultural artists, along with historians and healers, look at present day behavior that is connected to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. For more than 300 years Africans were carried from their homeland, across the Atlantic Ocean ("The Middle Passage"), into chattel slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean. The residual impact of this African Holocaust still reverberates in the world today through psychological trauma, genetic memory, personal and community consciousness. The artists use music, dolls, dance, altars, spoken word, visual art and ritual to create paths to healing.
With commentary by historian Dr. Yosef A. A. ben-Jochannan (Dr. Ben), Goree Island curator Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye, health professionals Lola Kemp and Dr. Olivia Cousins, and Maafa Conference founder Rev. Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood. And the artistry of actress CCH Pounder, Brother Yusef the Bluesman, bassist Nedra Wheeler, writer/singer Shonda Buchannan (Nyesha Khalfani), doll maker Angela Briggs, visual artists Ra6 and Abbey Onikoyi and others.

ADOPTED BY ALIENS Intro to Animation workshop with guest animators, the Gibbs Twins!

FRIDAY, APRIL 27

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM: ADOPTED BY ALIENS with guest filmmakers Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs.
Youth and audiences of all ages will have the opportunity to engage with two delightful storytelling sisters, Shawnelle and Shawnee Gibbs and their award winning animated series Adopted by Aliens. Adopted tells the story of Whitney Ward, an orphan who never expected that the love and acceptance she seeks would come from outer space. Filmmakers Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs will discuss filmmaking and Flash animation. Admission: $2 for kids and adults.

This workshop will be repeated on Saturday, April 28 , 1:00 – 2:00 PM. Workshop fee: $2 age 12 and under, all others $7.
…
www.langstonblackfilmfest.org
http://lhaaffbside.blogspot.com/

Music is My Life, Politics

Tonight: MUSIC IS MY LIFE…THE OSCAR BROWN, JR. STORY at the LHAAFF


Come to the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center tonight, April 26, at 7:30 PM for this wonderful documentary on life and work of Oscar Brown, Jr., the great jazz musician, union leader, political candidate, and social commentator. Director Donnie L. Betts will be present for a special post-show Q&A. Don’t miss this rare opportunity and inspiring film experience! General admission: $7. Children age 12 and under: $2.

The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival continues tomorrow with great matinee films and an evening Blaxploitation presentation.

Guest filmmaker Donnie L. Betts on KCPQ-13 (Seattle)

Seattle area residents - tune in to Fox affiliate KCPQ-13 for the Thursday, April 26 local morning news broadcast between 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. to see an interview with documentary filmmaker Donnie L. Betts!
Mr. Betts will present his documentary, MUSIC IS MY LIFE, POLITICS MY MISTRESS: THE STORY of OSCAR BROWN, JR. at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival on April 26 at 7:30 p.m. Stay for the post-screening Q&A session.

Late breaking news: guest filmmakers at "Falling Together in New Orleans" screening

We're pleased to announce that Farrah Hoffmire (director) and Mitchell Davis (producer) , the makers of FALLING TOGETHER IN NEW ORLEANS will make a special surprise appearance at the screening of their film on Thursday, April 26 at 12:30 p.m. We're pleased to welcome them to the LHAAFF. The documentary sensitively tells the inspiring true story of how individual people joined together to attempt to rebuild the lives of New Orleanians affected by Hurricane Katrina. The film is preceded by two shorts, Brigid Maher's AWOL, the story of an African American female soldier who goes AWOL in Iraq, becomes lost in the desert, and is rescued by Iraqi children; and FINDING A JOB IN HOUSTON, an information video produced by the Community Settlement Network of Houston, featuring actual Katrina survivors in a short film intended to aid in resettlement efforts. Admission to the program is $7. Please join us for this thought-provoking selection of independent films addressing contemporary concerns in American life.

Invisible Universe: a history of blackness in speculative fiction, April 24 (rough cut)

A clarification and correction: the version of M. Asli Dukan's documentary film, INVISIBLE UNIVERSE, is a rough cut. Dukan will be present to introduce the film and discuss it during an in-depth filmmaker talkback following the screening.