Explore Afro-Uruguyan culture at stop #2 of the Underground Railroad Film Series

Show date: Thursday , October 18, 7:00 p.m. Location: Rainier Community Center
4600 38th Ave. South . Suggested $5 donation at the door.

CANDOMBE
Directed by Rafael Deugenio
16 minutes.Spanish with English subtitles.
More than two hundred years ago, there was an influx into Uruguay of slaves from AfricaPublish Post whom, after being freed, continued to make up the poorest and most marginalized strata in society. Fernado Nunez, a Black man, a musician, and a maker of drums, sees himself as the heir to "Candombe", an important social and cultural legacy from his slave forefathers. The official history and culture of Uruguay, on the other hand, which has never acknowledged this contribution to the degree which it deserves, continues to marginalize expressions of Black culture. Fernando Nunez and his friends from the Barrio Sur back street quarter of Montevideo have decided to fight to keep these important cultural roots alive in the consciousness of the Uruguayan people.

followed by

ADIOS MOMO (Goodbye Momo)
Directed by Leonardo Ricagni. Starring Jorge Esmoris, Mathias Acuna, and Washington Luna.
100 minutes.Spanish with English subtitles.

Obdulio is an 11-year-old Afro-Uruguayan street boy who lives with his grandmother and sells newspapers for a living while he cannot read or write. Obdulio is not interested in going to school until he finds out that the night watchman of the newspaper's office is a charismatic magical "Maestro" who not only introduces him to the world of literacy but also teaches him the real meaning of life through the lyrics of the "Murgas" (Carnival Pierrots) during the mythical nights of the irreverent and provocative Uruguayan carnival.

With a poetic nod to Fellini, Leonardo Ricagni uses the carnival atmosphere to transport the viewer to a magical place where realism and surrealism live side by side in Uruguay—and what a wonderful place to be. With sweeping directorial vision and gorgeously shot with rich, vibrant colors, A DIOS MOMO achieves a rich visual and spiritual sensibility unparalleled today. – Shaz Bennett AFI Fest 2005

The Fall 2007 Underground Railroad Film Series begins with XALA by Ousmane Sembene , September 19

The Underground Railroad Film Series
A Cultural Journey to Freedom through the Lens of Black Cinema

presented by the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival

The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center's African American Film Festival showcases films by filmmakers that explore the rich African American culture across the diaspora. “The Underground Railroad Film Series” uses the metaphor of the Underground Railroad to define the movable feast of provocative films shown in a "safe house" - an intimate place where dialogue can flourish and provide an opportunity for community engagement and self- reflection. Join us each month for an evening of thought-provoking film and discussion.

September Safe House Screening

XALA by Ousmane Sembene

Wednesday, September 19, 7:00 PM at Central Cinema (21st and Union Sts)

Suggested donation: $5.00 at the door

This bitingly funny 1974 satire portrays El Hadji, a prosperous, self-satisfied, politically crooked modern businessman who is struck down by the xala (pronounced 'ha-la') - a curse rendering its victim impotent. While he chases after traditional healers and soothsayers on a frantic, often hilarious search for a cure, his impotence becomes a mirror of the powerlessness of young African nations overdependent on technology. Unable to consummate his third (polygamous) marriage, and neglecting his business affairs and political activities as he seeks a cure, his social stature is stripped away, leaving him shamed and humiliated. And while humorous, there is a sympathy in his downfall at the hands of others who are even more corrupt than he is. Xala is a moving and comical look at a man caught up in the corruption of his country and the tribulations of a changing society. French and Wolof with English subtitles.

Join us for Xala and honor the memory of the great Senegalese filmmaker and author Ousmane Sembene, one of the leading figures in the history of post-colonial African literature and arts,who passed away in June 2007. Sembene is widely regarded as the primary force in the development of African cinema. Many of his novels are not available of English translations, but his films have been seen and acclaimed throughout the world. Sembene's novels and films, from his first, Borrom Sarret (1964) to his last, Moolade (2004), deal with the social and psychological effects of colonialism in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as class tension, the African bourgeoisie, and the lives of African women.

"Xala...is a brilliantly funny, ironic satire about post-colonial Senegal. It upset the government considerably -- 11 cuts were made before it was released in Dakar...No African director has criticised the pretensions and corruption of its rulers more severely than Sembene in Xala, or done it with such quiet hilarity...his most powerful critique of his own society."

~ Derek Malcolm, The Guardian
............
The original Underground Railroad was a person-to- person network. To find out the locations of each Underground Railroad Film Series screening, join our mailing list!
For information & updates, call 206.326.1088 www.langstonblackfilmfest.org

NYC fundraiser for INVISIBLE UNIVERSE documentary, Sept. 14 2007

UPDATE: the September 14 fundraiser has been postponed until further notice. Please visit the Invisible Universe website for more information.

A rough/workshop version of the documentary INVISIBLE UNIVERSE was screened by Director M. Asli Dukan at the 2007 Langston Hughes African American Film Festival.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Please join M. Asli Dukan/The Invisible Universe Foundation and POC Doc Film
Development, Inc. to support the completion of the new documentary film

Invisible Universe: a history of blackness in speculative fiction

Friday, September 14, 2007
6:30 to 8:30pm

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue at 135th Street)
New York, New York 10037

Cocktails * Hors d'oeuvres * Sneak preview of the film with director M. Asli Dukan and
special guests.

Invisible Universe: a history of blackness in speculative fiction explores the relationship between
the Black body and popular fantasy, horror and science fiction literature and film and the
alternative perspectives produced by creators of color. This documentary features
interviews with major writers, scholars, artists and filmmakers and explores comics,
television, film and literature by deconstructing stereotyped images of Black people in the
genres. The Invisible Universe documentary ultimately reveals how Black creators have
been consciously creating their own universe.

Invisible Universe needs your help! In order to continue this important work, we will need
to secure considerable financial support. Your contribution of any size will help make this
groundbreaking documentary a reality. Since 2003, the filmmakers have been traveling to
conduct interviews nationwide and have been incurring mounting expenses for travel,
equipment and supplies to finish this project, most of it coming out of the filmmakers'
pockets. We have already accumulated hours of footage and believe with your help, we can
bring this feature length documentary to life!

HONORARY COMMITTEE

Linda Addison
Author, Space & Time

Steven Barnes
Author, Lion's Blood & Zulu Heart

Angel L. Brown
Founder, Our Stories Productions

Allison Caviness
Founder, Lesida Film Center

Pete Chatmon
Ceo, Double 7 Film Productions

Sandi Dubowski
Director, Trembling Before G-d

Frances Gateward
Professor of Cinema Studies
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

William & Louise Greaves
William Greaves Productions

Eileen Gunn
Board member, Clarion West Writers Workshop
Editor & Publisher, The Infinite Matrix (infinitematrix. net)

Dr. Charles Johnson
Professor, University of Washington

Imagenation Film & Music Festival
Moikgantsi Kgama, Founder & Executive Director
Greg Gates, Executive Producer

Edna Lima
ABADA-Capoeira

Zola Mumford
Curator, Langston Hughes African American Film Festival

Sheree R. Thomas
Editor, The Dark Matter anthologies

Cecil Washington
Writer, Cecilwashington. com

Yumy Odom
Founder, 1st World Komix, Inc. ECBACC

William H. Foster III
Professor, Historian, Looking For a Face Like Mine

HOST COMMITTEE

Shenelle Easton-Foster

Rachel Kadushin
BestFriendsProducti ons.com

If you can not attend the fundraiser and would still like to donate via credit card, please
visit the Invisible Universe Foundation webpage at our fiscal sponsor's website at Invisible
Universe donation page at https://www. fracturedatlas. org/donate/ 596

Invisible Universe is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service
organization. Contributions in behalf of Invisible Universe may be made payable to
Fractured Atlas. The value of admittance is $50.00. Any contribution above that amount is
tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

For more information and to purchase tickets, contact Shay Sellars at Poc Doc Film
Development, Inc. at (917) 776-5022 or by e-mail at pocdocinstitute@ yahoo.com.

Check out our website at http://www.invisibleuniversedoc. com

Check out our blog and trailer at http://www.invisibleuniverse. blogspot. com

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

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.

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.

AFROPUNK director James Spooner returns to Seattle tonight, April 28!

Don't miss tonight's rare opportunity! The LHAAFF welcomes back AFROPUNK director, James Spooner, with this special presentation of a festival version of his forthcoming feature, WHITE LIES, BLACK SHEEP about a young Black man and his struggles with identity and integration in Manhattan's club/punk scene. Post-screening Q&A with director James Spooner. Admission is $7.

UPDATE: Sunday, April 29 closing event

Due to insurance coverage restrictions, we regret that we are unable to have live horses at the April 29 closing reception at 5:00 p.m. April 29. However, we DO have our special guests, members of the Northwest Black Horsemen, who are traveling from around Washington State to join us at 4:00 PM for the screening of the inspiring documentary, THE FEDERATION OF BLACK COWBOYS. The Horsemen will demonstrate bullwhip and lasso techniques, all skills that were part of daily life in cattle drives and ranch work in the old West. Many of the horsemen have performed in rodeos and all have been involved with horseback riding for many years. Ask questions, see the demonstrations, and learn more about the historic role of African Americans in the West!

The film start time has changed from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM. A festive reception with delicious food from Seattle's own Jones Barbeque follows. Admission: $10 (includes food).