Black Art/Independent Films

[Sane]

That trailer for Memphis look pretty damn good

 

[Birnin Zana]

Great thread brehs, will check out the films mentioned!

 

[loyola llothta]

'Death Metal Angola'

The short story, goes... Following nearly 40 years of unrelenting war, peace and reconstruction are slowly arriving to Angola. Damaged first by the war for independence from Portugal, Angola was then ripped apart by a devastating civil war that orphaned thousands of children. Huambo, Angola’s second largest city, finds 55 of these children in the Okutiuka orphanage under the care of Sonia Ferreira. Sonia’s boyfriend, Wilker Flores, is a death metal guitarist who uses sounds and rhythms of this hardcore music as a path to healing. Or, as Sonia says, “to clear out the debris from all these years of war.”

The feature documentary follows Wilker and Sonia’s attempts to stage Angola’s first-ever national rock concert, bringing together members from different strands of the Angolan hardcore scene from different provinces, as it all unfolds in fits and starts, against the bombed out and mined backdrop of the formerly stately Huambo.

 

[loyola llothta]

Billed as the first feature film shot in Equatorial Guinea, "Where The Road Runs Out" is will have its world premiere on September 26 at the San Diego Film Festival.

The international drama stars Isaach De Bankolé as Professor George Mensa, who "suddenly finds himself back in the jungles of Africa when an old friend unexpectedly passes away. Inheriting a field station in the mosquito infested jungle, George soon learns that challenges come in all sizes when a local orphan boy, Jimmy shows up at his doorstep. George acquaints Jimmy with the joys of chocolate and Jimmy in turn plays matchmaker between George and Corina (Juliet Landau) head of the local orphanage. But all is jeopardized with the sudden arrival of Martin (Stelio Savante) as they discover that life often leads you astray, where the road runs out."

 

[loyola llothta]

Darius Clark Monroe's Acclaimed Documentary 'Evolution of a Criminal'


Darius Clark Monroe's "Evolution of a Criminal," will soon receive a theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles.

The feature documentary, which opened at this year's SXSW Film Festival and went on to win awards at festivals across the country, chronicles Monroe's choice to rob a bank as a teen and how that decision forever impacted his life and the lives of those around him.

The movie will screen at New York's IFC Center starting October 10 and LA's Laemmle Music Hall Beverly Hills beginning October 17.

 

[loyola llothta]

'Mirage'

"Mirage," a film described as a western, which tells the story of an African (we aren't told what specific country) football player in a small Hungarian town, who commits a crime and has to flee. He finds refuge on a farm deep in the Hungarian flatland. Soon he realizes that the farm is a modern slave camp where he is forced to fight for his freedom and ultimately his life.

S&A actor fave Isaach De Bankolé (an actor who works internationally, and seemingly isn't limited by any boundaries) stars in the film, which is written and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Szabolcs Hajdu.

The project hails from Mirage Film Studio, is executive produced by De Bankolé, and produced by Andrea Taschler, Gábor Kovács.

Will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this month.

 

[loyola llothta]

'Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photogarphers and the Emergence of a People' Is Playing at a Theater Near You for 2 Weeks. You Should See It!

The documentary begins with a memory. It’s the kind of memory that most black people, in one way or another, can recall: the moment when we realized we were black, and that, somehow, being black was something to be ashamed of. For director Thomas Allen Harris, that moment came early in his boyhood, when his father snapped at him for having too much Vaseline on his face. His father’s words, seemingly innocuous, stung. “Do you want people out there to think you’re a greasy monkey?”

It’s that memory and the residual pain it caused for Harris that serves as the catalyst for "Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People." Juxtaposing his own family history with that of the history of the black image in photography, Harris weaves a tale all at once personal and political that examines how the representation (and lackthereof) of black people in America has affected, and even shaped the black identity.

The film calls on an a wide array of historians and photographers to help tell the story of black photography, people like Deborah Willis, Clarissa Sligh, Lyle Ashton Harris, Anthony Barboza, and Carrie Mae Weems (who this year became the first black artist to get a retrospective at the Guggenheim). Their insights into the importance of black people authoring their own identities are fascinating, particularly the discussions about black female photographers, colorism, and the role gay and trans black people have played in the making of the great American photo album.

We’re reminded, of course, that for a long time, black people were ostensibly excluded from that metaphorical album to make room for the lily-white nuclear families who represented “real” Americans. Indeed, there were no black artists even included in the history books of photography. There were of course photographs of black subjects, but these were taken by white people and, as photographer Weems once eloquently explained, often presented black subjects as “scientific profiles” and “anthropological debates.”

The images did not reflect those that Harris saw in his family photo albums as a child, pictures taken by his grandfather (who gave him his first camera) that showed black people with dignity, and with joy. Instead, early images of black folk in America often sought to dehumanize the black subject. Black people were the minstrel and the mammy, Black Sambo, watermelon-eating babies as alligator bait, and (on postcards) deformed bodies hanging from trees as smiling white crowds looked on with the casualness of a Sunday morning at the park.

Harris’s deeply personal and poetic narration, his battles to accept the color of his skin, his hair, his lips, his nose, anchor the documentary. It’s not often that we see this level of sheer honesty that, ultimately, is incredibly universal. Because this is a documentary that seeks to spark a conversation as much as it seeks to teach and enlighten. Late in the film, Harris excerpts an old interview of the seminal black artist and photographer, Roy DeCarava. DeCarava explains the power of images thusly: “When you look at a photograph, it’s happening now. It’s not then.”

And therein lies perhaps the biggest strength of "Through A Lens Darkly." It shows us the disturbing lynch photographs and minstrel illustrations in all their startling, horrific detail. But it also counterbalances them with countless photos of black people by black people, pictures from family albums all the way to the professional work of some of the most seminal black photographers in America. There’s an understanding that the lynch photos, the regal pictures of Booker T. Washington and Sojourner Truth, the images of Weems staring straight into the camera in her Kitchen Table Series, all lie on a continuum. They’re happening now. And its through these images we’re privy to a secret history of the black photographer and the black subject, a history reaching far back into the past and shining a light on those who paved the way for everyone, all of us, to affirm our own identities through the images we take of ourselves and each other.

Sundance Film Festival 2014 selection, made its US theatrical premiere on Wednesday, August 27, presented by Film Forum (NYC), where it'll enjoy a 2-week engagement.

 

[loyola llothta]

A Boy Discovers a Secret About the Older Brother He Thought He Knew Well In
'The Return' ("Le Retour")

"The Return" ("Le Retour"), an acclaimed 20-minute film from French director Yohann Kouam , with a synopsis that reads: When the older brother he idolizes comes back home, Willy realizes that he doesn’t know him as well as he thought.

The short description is just as terse as the 30-second trailer

It stars Adama Procida, Yann-gaël Elleouet, Ernest Pokossy, Ismaël Alexandrine, Régis Anguiar, Sileymane Dramé, Augustin Ruhabara, and Christopher Monpango.

The film is part of 2 Short Film programs, with 13 films represented by 14 countries, programmed by Florence Almozini (Senior Programmer, Film Society Lincoln Center - FSLC), Isa Cucinotta (Programmer, FSLC), and Laura Kern (Managing Editor, Film Comment).

The 17-day New York Film Festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring top films from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent.

Tickets for the upcoming New York Film Festival range in price from $15 & $25 for most screenings to $50 & $100 for Gala evenings. Film Society members receive a discount on tickets as well as the benefit of a pre-sale opportunity.





Edit:

 

[loyola llothta]

'United' - Short Doc About Impact of Michael Brown Execution

Atlanta-based filmmaker Artemus Jenkins new short documentary, which is entitled "United," chronicles how the Atlanta community has responded to the crisis in Ferguson and, in effect, reflects what is happening all across the country.

But Jenkins has much more on his mind which he hopes to communicate to viewers of his video: the impact of the visual medium as a change agent to make a difference and to get people to act.

“Upon learning that elements of this murder were not getting covered properly, it dawned on us to ensure our story was properly documented. As this piece was being put together and the news footage was being compiled, ironically not only was video footage from Ferguson hard to come by, but I didn't find much online from other cities either… it's likely that someone who is less aware of the events would find anything."

There needs to be as much VIDEO footage out there as possible for all cities doing anything around these events. Moving images controlled by the people as opposed to mass media provide a broader opportunity to draw real conclusions. I encourage every and anyone who is able to film and upload what is happening in your city. Everyone, specifically the residents of Ferguson need to see the support we all have for them and a large amount of that support is not letting the momentum subside as the news cycle moves on to another story”"

Out of sight, out of mind is the age old saying, so remain vigilant and visible as we continue fighting to attain justice for all who have become victims of police brutality and murder."

 

[loyola llothta]

'Project Catalyst' - the First Multicultural Film App - Now Available for Mobile Devices

 

[SCORCH]

Looks great, def gonna check for that.

Any more like this one?

Seen Newlyweeds? Thought that was decent enough, nothing special tho.

 

[Dwolf]

Looks great, def gonna check for that.



Seen Newlyweeds? Thought that was decent enough, nothing special tho.

Seen it. It was ok.

 

[loyola llothta]

Papa Machete: A Short Film About Haitian Machete Fencing

The 39th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival is underway, running through September 14, with another year of an always impressive slate of high-profile films making their world premieres at the festival - a few that we've been tracking on this blog, including "Papa Machete," which will premiere at the festival as part of its first ever slate of international shorts.


"Papa Machete" highlights Alfred Avril, an aging farmer in Haiti who also happens to be a master of Haitian machete fencing - a form of martial arts that doesn't exactly get much coverage (outside of Haiti, anyway). Ideas like "fencing" and "martial arts" aren't often spoken of in an Afrocentric context, Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art, is likely one of the most popular and widely-known. There are of course others, often variations of each other; some include weapons; others do not - like Dambe, which is a form of boxing, popular in parts of West Africa, including areas in northern Nigeria, and Cameroon.

"Our team recently completed filming of Papa Machete, a character-driven short film that explores the noble, esoteric, and slowly vanishing martial art of Haitian machete fencing, and the practice of one man, master fencer Alfred Avril, one of the few remaining masters who is working to keep it alive.

Mr. Avril is a subsistence farmer living in Haiti, who garners an extremely modest side income teaching traditional Haitian fencing. Despite the respect his martial-arts mastery earns him in his small community, he and his family continue to live under conditions of acute poverty."

"Our footage captures an aspect of Haitian life and culture rarely seen, showing the deeply spiritual significance of an art-form too easily cast in a negative light. Through this project, we’ve been able to document an elegant yet functional martial-arts system that is largely unknown to the world at large, and the broader social context within which it serves to foster continuity with the past."




In Haiti, the traditional art of machete fencing goes by many names, among them Tire Machèt(“Pulling Machetes”).Tire Machèt has roots in the Haitian Revolution, when the revolutionaries were often forced to fight with fewer guns than soldiers. Its combination of African stick-fighting techniques and European fencing proved highly effective both in battle and as a means of individual self-defense. Since that time, a multitude of styles and training methods have proliferated. Though many of these practices remain shrouded in secrecy, Haitian master fencer Alfred Avril has extended an invitation to foreigners who are serious about learning this martial art to come to Haiti to train with him. To that end, the Haitian Machete Fencing Project facilitates annual training programs by providing in-country transportation, accommodation and cultural excursions, in addition to a four-hour daily training.


Papa Machete tells the story of Alfred Avril, an aging farmer who is also a master of the esoteric art of Haitian machete fencing.

Documenting the mysterious martial art of Haitian machete fencing through the story and practice of one man.

 

[NobodyReally]

What an awesome thread. All of these look interesting. I really want to check this one out too, even though the director is white:

 

[loyola llothta]

The acclaimed feature, shot in East Africa with Kenyan actors of Somali descent, Hodierne's "Fishing Without Nets" tells the story of a young Somali lured into the world of piracy to support his family, tackling the very well publicized "Somali Pirates" phenomenon, but specifically from the Somali point of view - something that other films on the subject rarely make an effort to acknowledge, let alone conscientiously incorporate - making this one that much more worth paying attention to.

"Fishing Without Nets" will open on September 26 at The Cinefamily in Los Angeles, and on October 3 at the Cinema Village in New York. The film will also be available on VOD from October 28 if it doesn't play at a theater near you.