Films
To Sleep With Anger. Rated 12a
Sat 20 August 2-5pm
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road SE1
Tube: Waterloo
African Odysseys at the BFI www.bfi.org.uk
Both written and directed by Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep) , this poetic masterpiece has the narrative complexity and rich characterisation of a novel. Danny Glover stars as Harry, an enigmatic and devilish drifter from the South, who visits an old friend in LA. Screening to complement African Remembrance Day (23 August Haitian Revolution), the film’s resonant storytelling raises questions about the abandonment of community and culture and the importance of connecting the past to the present. Film historian Jim Pines will introduce and discuss the film during the Q and A. See video clip here http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4188357/to_sleep_with_anger_movie_trailer/
Sunday 9 October 3pm
Tricycle Cinema Kilburn,
Tube: Kilburn
Tickets in advance or on door £9.00 from
http://www.tricycle.co.uk/current-programme-pages/cinema-program/cinema/the-great-debaters/
Second Ever UK Cinema Screening !! This film was never released in this country despite being produced by Oprah Winfrey and starring two Academy Award actors Denzel Washinton and Forest Whittaker. This is an educatonal and inspirational family film full of history and academic excellence for and by young black people
See video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqAYR7CBriA
Plus Q and A with Neil Mayers author of Gifted at Primary, Failing at Secondary, on inspirational teaching and two 9 year old public speakers !
The Great Debaters is a period drama film directed by and starring two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah Winfrey . Based on a true story, the plot revolves around the efforts of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson (Washington) at historically black Wiley College to place his team on equal footing with whites in the American South during the 1930s, when Jim Crow laws were common and lynch mobs were a pervasive fear for blacks.
The movie also explores Texas during the Great Depression the day-to-day insults African Americans endured and the importance of education,. Also depicted is James L. Farmer, Jr. (Whitaker), who, at 14 years old, was on Wiley's debate team after completing high school (and who later went on to co-found C.O.R.E., the Congress of Racial Equality). Another character depicted on the team, Samantha Booke, is based on the real individual Henrietta Bell Wells, the only female member of the 1930 debate team from Wiley College who participated in the first collegiate interracial debate in the United States. Wells also happened to be a African American poet whose papers are housed at the Library of Congress.
This is a fantastic, educational and inspiring film presented by Images of Black Women and Black History Walks. www.imagesofblackwomen.com www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk
(On 29th October www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk will also be screening Spike Lees Miracle at Santa Anna at the BFI Southbank which came out in 2008 but was never released here...why ? )
The Black Woman who Ran for President in 1972. Plus Q and A
Tuesday 1 November 7.30pm (food and drinks) Film starts 8pm
Open the Gate Cafe, 35 Stoke Newington Road, Dalston N16
Tube: Dalston Junction 10 min from Liverpool Street
Train: Dalston Kingsland 10 min from Stratford
Free Entry: First come, first served
While the media obsessed about Barack Obama before and after his election they forget to mention that the first black person to seriously run for President was Shirley Chisholm way back in 1972. Chisholm was the Garveyite daughter of Guyanese and Barbadian immigrants. After becoming the first black Congresswoman,she ran for the highest office just 4 years after King was gunned down. Her story is incredible but has been suppressed. She spoke out against poverty the Vietnam War, segregation and sexism. Endorsed by the national Black Panther Party (which features in BlackPower Mixtape this Friday 28th Oct ) She was a dynamic African woman who paved the way for the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton but has been deliberately left out of history because of her race and gender. Find out more with this fascinating documentary. Arrive early for drinks and food and or get there bang on time and eat your rice and peas while watching the film
Trouble the Water
Rich Mix Cinema Bethnal Green Road
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Rich Mix Cinema 35 37 Bethnal Green road E16 LA
Tube: Liverpool St/Shoreditch
Entry: £8.50 concs £6.00 www.richmix.org.uk
Academy and Emmy nominated, Winner of Grand Jury Award at Sundance for best documentary but never released here. At the heart of "Trouble the Water" are two amazing survivors, Kimberly and Scott Roberts, who with no car and no means of exit must fend for themselves. No angels these self-described "street hustlers," they nevertheless defy expectation and turn stereotypes on their head. They bring elderly neighbours and children to their attic for shelter, providing food, comfort and a good dose of humour. While the national media was whipping up looting hysteria and criminalizing anyone taking supplies from stores regardless of the need, the Roberts and their neighbours show a different reality, one characterized by sharing and a sense of good citizenship. Their larger-than-life nature and hearts are a stark counterpoint to the government's callous indifference See trailer |
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Rare, Classic Films on Bob Marley and James Baldwin
Saturday 19th March
Bob Marley:Making of a Legend 11am-2pm
James Baldwin: Heard it Through the Grapevine 2pm-5pm
BFI SouthBank, Belvedere Road SE1 Tube: Waterloo.
Tickets £6.40 Box office 0207 928 3232
www.bfi.org.uk www.blackhistorywalks.co.uk
Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend.
Made by co-producer of the Harder They Come and the Three Dumas, Esther Anderson was also the photographer of Bob Marley before and during his rise to international success. Miss Anderson was also part of the production team for Chris Blackwells Island records
Heard it through the Grapevine: James Baldwin
Produced by Dick Fontaine and Pat Hartley, this is a highly personal film essay, written by James Baldwin, about exactly who and what survived the Civil Rights movement. It features Baldwin, his brother David, Chinua Achebe, Fanni Lou Hamer, Amiri Baraka, and other friends Baldwin made 'on that long, long road' through the 60s. On his journey he compares the strategies and tactics used by the black community in the 60's to see what worked and did'nt work with surprising results and revelations