
Watch trailer here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oqH7Dqpx0I
Plus Q and A with Spirit of the Pharoahs producer Terry Jervis
Great Films at Cottons
Sunday 25 March 3pm to 6pm
Cottons Caribbean Restaurant, 70 Exmouth Market, Islington EC1
Tube: Angel
Pay on the door. £8.00 First come, first served.
Black History Walks is happy to work with Cottons Caribbean Restaurant to showcase excellent African/Caribbean films and excellent African/Caribbean food. We will be having regular screenings at this luxurious and intimate venue so not only can you enjoy the best in black cinema but you can also sample the delicious weekend buffet
Whether you’re in the mood for their famous Curried Goat, delicious Jerk Chicken or a mouthwatering piece of fish, their head chef, Andrew McIntosh, winner of the Caribbean Masterchef Award 2001, serves up an exquisite mix of traditional and fushion meals showcasing the wonders of the Caribbean at their finest.
This months film (March)
WHITE SCRIPTS AND BLACK SUPERMEN: BLACK MASCULINITIES IN AMERICAN COMIC BOOKs
As a young boy, the filmmaker, Johnathon Gayle loved comic books and the escape that they provided. However, as a young BLACK boy, his ability to truly escape was limited by the fact that many of the heroes were White. This documentary critically examines the earliest representations (1965-1977) of Black masculinity in comic books and the troubling influence of race on these representations. Within the last several years, many scholars have critically engaged comic books as a legitimate source of scholarly interest and critique. Indeed, comic books represent a genre within popular culture that is older than the television. Thinking critically about the manner in which Black men were first portrayed in hero serials provides insight into broader societal conceptions of the Black man as character, archetype and symbol. Through interviews with prominent artists, scholars and cultural critics along with images from the comic books themselves, it becomes clear that the Black superheroes that did eventually emerge are generally constrained by stereotypical understandings of Black people and Black men in particular. From the humorous, to the offensive, to the tragic, early Black superheroes never strayed too far from common stereotypes about Black men.
The documentary addresses more than forty years of representation of Black men in comic books. It addresses the following topics within the broader theme
• A general history of early Black male superheroes
• The manner in which these characters are generally constrained to the “ghetto”
• Evidence of the “Black Buck” stereotype
• The manner in which their powers are limited and qualified in comparison to White heroes
• The influence of Blaxploitation films on these representations
• The impact of racism, racial thinking on the publishing and distribution of titles featuring Black heroes
• The influence of ethnicity on the creation of superhero characters
• The distinction between African and African-American representations of Black superheroes
Cast (Interviewees)
Jeffrey Brown (Bowling Green State University),
Stanford W. Carpenter (School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Julian Chambliss (Rollins College)
Jelani Cobb (Spelman College)
Christian Davenport (University of Notre Dame)
Bill Foster (Comic Book Historian)
Reginald Hudlin (Film Producer)
Tony Isabella (Comic Book Writer)
John Jennings (State University of New York at Buffalo)
Korby Marks (Comic Book Writer)
Elise McCutchen (Undergraduate Student)
Dwayne McDuffie (Comic Book Writer
Adilifu Nama (Loyal Marymount University)
Mark Anthony Neal (Duke University)
Yumy Odom (Comic Book Writer/ Founder of the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention)
Michael Sales (Comic Book Writer)
Guy Sims (Comic Book Writer)
Marc Singer (Howard University)
Anthony Tallarico (Comic Book Artist)
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