Pan African Film and Arts Festival Celebrates Sexual Diversity For 2006
Mark your calendars now. The 14th Annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival has arrived with a fresh slate of new Black cinema hailing from all over the world.
Dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression, PAFF is the largest Black history month event in the U.S. and will be held from February 9-20, 2006 in Los Angeles at the Magic Johnson Theaters. The PAFF also presents one of America's largest fine art shows featuring prominent and emerging Black artists and fine craftspeople at the annual PAFF Artist Market held at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
One of the reasons this is such a special time in Los Angeles is because this is the only time of year that Black independent cinema is shown at the Magic Johnson Theatre, which for all intent and purpose, is in the “hood.” So not only do we get to see new films from all over the African Diaspora but we also get to see films that mirror our lives as same gender loving people in our own neighborhood.
For six years now I have worked for PAFF as their publicist and also in pushing the showing of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender independent films. This year is no different and I am proud to announce the following films and events for this years festivities.
Congrats to all of the filmmakers that were chosen to screen their films!
----Jasmyne
BLACK LGBT SHORTS PROGRAM
Saturday, February 11, 2006
6:05 p.m.
Hey Jimmy (2004/Taiwan/UK/16min)
Director: Ming-Chieh Sung
“Black Jimmy” is a black Taiwanese drag queen. A contemporary urban narrative, the documentary incorporates animation to create an affectionately comical insight into the socio-cultural complexities of the protagonist's mixed parentage.
Brooklyn's Bridge to Jordan (2005/US/20min)
Director: Tina Mabry
After losing her life partner in a car accident, a woman with a buried secret must not only fight to keep the couple's estranged teenage son from her partner's intolerant brother, but also rebuild her troubled relationship with her son.
In collaboration with the United Lesbians of African Heritage
Coochie (2004/US/21min)
Director: Najaa Young
A young African American artist embarks on a journey to discover the real people behind gay and lesbian images in the media and in the process discovers a part of herself, her family and her friends that she has never known.
In collaboration with the United Lesbians of African Heritage
Saint Martin de 4th Street (2004/US/30min)
Director: Robert Banks Ramirez
What’s tougher than being a thirteen year-old boy with a lesbian mother? Fighting with her hot, high-maintenance girlfriend for your mother’s affection. Young Martin may have the gods on his side when he prays to Peruvian Saint Martin de Porres to intercede on his behalf.
3RD ANNUAL BLACK GAYS IN FILM & TELEVISION PANEL
Sunday, February 12, 2006
11 a.m.
2005 was a great year for Black gays in film and television. With the debut of America’s first Black gay television series Noah’s Arc on MTV’s Logo to the production of several Black gay themed films by Black lesbian and gay filmmakers, the door has been opened wide for the voices and images of the Black gay community to come shining through.
This panel will feature a conversation with some of Hollywood's brightest Black lesbian and gay filmmakers and actors on the current, past, and future conditions of Black gays in the entertainment industry.
Panelists include:
Thomas Allen Harris (That's My Face, Vintage-Families of Value)
Debra Wilson (Jumpin the Broom, Butch Mystique)
Amber Sharp (Triple Minority)
Robert Ramirez (Saint Martin de 4th Street)
Lenice Collins (SOF Films)
and Jazzmun (Saint Martin de 4th Street, PUNKS)
Moderated by journalist Jasmyne A. Cannick.
In collaboration with Outfest Film Festival and FUSION LGBT People of Color Film Festival
Venue:
PAFF Bistro
3971 Santa Rosalia Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90008
Adjacent to the Magic Johnson Theatres; Next door to Fatburgers
$5
VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL BLACK LGBT FILM PROGRAM
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
7:55 p.m.
$9.50 (includes all films)
Brooklyn's Bridge to Jordan (2005/US/20min)
Director: Tina Mabry
After losing her life partner in a car accident, a woman with a buried secret must not only fight to keep the couple's estranged teenage son from her partner's intolerant brother, but also rebuild her troubled relationship with her son.
In collaboration with the United Lesbians of African Heritage
Triple Minority (2005/US/15min)
Director: Amber Sharp
Clair Collins, a gay Black woman, wants to reconcile her relationship with her religious parents without compromising her identity. She is ostracized by her family, her church, and her neighborhood. She finds love with Rebecca Laws, who helps her find the strength to face her parents.
In collaboration with United Lesbians of African Heritage and the Hole in the Wall Social Club for Lesbians
Walk in the Light (2005/US/27min)
Director: M.R. Stiff
An exploration of the lives of people who yearn for a relationship with God but are turned away by the traditional Christian church. Revealing the impact of intolerance and demonstrating the power of self-love, the film explores the lives of three individuals who attend Unity Fellowship Church, a predominantly Black and gay church in South Central Los Angeles.
Jumpin' the Broom (2005/US/29min)
Director: Debra A. Wilson
Black lesbian and gay couples share their personal and heartfelt stories that challenge levels of intimacy. Their commitment redefines and honors love, family values, politics and religion in today's society. Includes an interview with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.
In collaboration with the National Black Justice Coalition and the National Stonewall Democrats
FEATURE FILMS
God's Waiting List*
(2005/US/Feature/94 min)
Dir: Duane Adler
Monday, February 13, 2006
9:00pm
Solomon borrows money from loan sharks to open a music store, but when he doesn't pay, his sister ends up in a wheelchair. Guilt consumes him, while she becomes a stronger person. A drama about love, loss, and faith.
That's My Face (É Minha Cara)
(2001/US/Brazil/Tanzania/Documentary/56 min)
Dir: Thomas Allen Harris
Monday, February 13, 2006
3:15pm
& Sunday, February 19, 2006
11:20am
Beautiful and epic, THAT’S MY FACE offers an entire generation of African Americans new perspectives on maddening diasporic search for a mythic motherland. Thomas learned as a child that Africa was a place that could only be saved by Christian missionaries. But his rebellious mother was part of the 1970s movement that regarded Africa as "home" and migrated the family to Tanzania, East Africa. Dar es Salaam seemed more like Miami than the motherland they imagined. Thomas learned to love Africa for what it was. When he returned to the Bronx, he learned that beneath the patina of conventional Christian iconography is a rich double life of African ancestral spirit worship. In healing his own cultural yearnings, Harris journeys beyond the political movements of his day and into a spiritual realm where he finds much more than he anticipates.
In collaboration with In the Meantime Men Inc.
Vintage-Families of Value
(1995/US/Documentary/72 min)
Dir: Thomas Allen Harris
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
5:55pm
& Saturday, February 18, 2006
11:00am
An intimate look at three black families through the eyes of lesbian and gay male siblings. This lyrical and impressionistic film blends intimate and sometimes painful interviews between family members with dramatic re-creations, verité footage, performance, audiovisual collage and archival photos and films to sketch a provocative tableau of three modern black families negotiating sexuality and identity.
In collaboration with the National Black Justice Coalition
All films will be screened at the Magic Johnson Theatres located at:
3650 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90008
Tickets are $7.50 to $9.50 depending on the time of the film screening.
For more information and to purchase tickets online, please visit www.paff.org.
Thanks for getting the word out about the screenings! I am in one of the films featured on the 14th and my director will be on the panel on the 11th. Hope to meet you there!
Posted by: Ruth | Wednesday, January 25, 2006 at 10:20 AM