*From Black Liberation to Hip-Hop: * A Film Festival Celebrating the Past, Moving Forward to the Future You are invited to a free film festival that explores the culture and politics of the Black Liberation Movement and the Hip-Hop Generation. View films and participate in unique inter-generational discussion with panelists from both the Civil Rights and Hip-Hop Generations.
See the long anticipated movie on George Jackson: Black August. Also, View & Discuss Screenings of: Letter to the President, HipHop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, The Spook Who Sat By the Door, Eyes of the Rainbowand many more. When: Saturday, Feburary 16th - Noon to 10pm Where: COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, 511 DODGE HALL, BET 116TH & B'WAY Directions: Take the 1/9 train to 116th StreetVoicemail & Text: 347.262-6385 & 917.224.3493 eMail: nyhiphop3000@yahoo.com Sponsored by FOCUS-Filmmakers of Color United in Spirit-Columbia University, School ofthe Arts, The Safiya Bukhari- Albert Nuh Washington Foundation & The National Hip-Hop Political Convention (NY)
<
http://www.columbia.edu/> For More Info:
http://www.safiyanuhfoundation.org/ or
http://www.myspace.com/safiyanuh http://www.nhhpc.org/ or
http://www.myspace.com/hiphopconvention_nylocSchedule noon- Hip Hop Colony (rt 93 min) 2:00 - Eyes of the Rainbow ( 47 min) 4:00- Letter to the President [90 mins] 6:00- The Spook Who Sat By the Door( 90 min) RECEPTION 7:30-Black August (100 min) Some Film Descriptions:
*FEATURE FILMS (Partial Listing)
* * * *The Spook Who Sat By The Door Sam Greenlee <
http://movies.nytimes.com/person/183651/Sam-Greenlee>'s cultfavorite novel of political unrest was brought to the screen in this drama,which also earned a small but loyal following. A congressman hoping to attract African-American voters during an election year decides to make political hay by pointing out that the Central Intelligence Agency has no black agents. Bowing to subsequent public pressure, the CIA admits a numberof black applicants to their training program, but they purposefully make the process difficult and unpleasant enough to win now out nearly all the African-American students. Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook), a strong,intelligent but soft-spoken man, some how makes it through the gauntlet to become the black CIA agent; however, rather than being given important field assignments, Freeman is put in charge of the agency's copying machines andgives tours of their facilities to give the offices a progressive front for visitors. After a few years, Freeman leaves the agency to move back to his hometown of Chicago and do work with the community...at least that's what he tells his superiors. In fact, Freeman has used his time at the CIA collecting information on how to launch a political revolution, and not long after he arrives in the Windy City, he begins recruiting an army of leftist radicals and black nationalists fed up with the system. With their help,Freeman launches the first stage of an armed revolt with the stated goal of bringing the white-dominated power structure to its knees.
* * *Black August The George Jackson story has now been developed into a movie entitled Black August. It depicts the last 14 months of George Jackson's existence under the subjective and objective conditions of captivity. Sentenced to one year-to-life at age 18, for a $70 gas station robbery in 1960, George Jackson would spend the next 11 years in California's industrial prison complex, 7 years of which were in solitary confinement. The movie encompasses the Soledad Brothers case in which George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clucheette are accused of murdering a Soledad prison guard,in retaliation for the killing of three Black inmates involved in a fight with White inmates on an exercise yard in Soledad State Prison, Soledad, California. The movie also reflects on the general prison movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the role the Black Panther Party would play in organizing both the outside communities in America as well as their influence on prisoners across the country. George Jackson would be moved and inspired as a result of the Panther Party activities. As a prison organizer, George was recruited by Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton to head the Peoples Army, a euphemism which would become synonymous with the name Black Guerrilla Family. With the history of slavery and repression in this country as a backdrop, every whip lash, every lynching, every humiliation finds its ultimate reaction in the events chronicled in the movie Black August.
*Hip-Hop Colony Kenyan Hip-Hop was initially regarded as a passing fad. Hip-Hop was eagerly dismissed by the media outlets and the general public during it's shallow inception in the early ninety's. Hip-Hop today has firmly gained its roots in Kenya, while fusing its traditional music and drawing major influence from America. This fusion has led to a new entity-the birth of Genge Music. Filming the documentary in Kenya, producer/Director Michael Wanguhu, enjoyed collaborative efforts from top-notch Kenyan producers, and reigning Hip-Hop acts past and present, seeking to expose a culture they have whole-heartedly embraced and it is also punctuated by footage of engaging live concert events.
*HIP HOP COLONY *richly ties key elements of Hip-Hop, flexibility and talent which continue to increase its dominance around the World one colony at a time.
*HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes*, a riveting documentary that tackle sissues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today's hip-hop culture. Sparking dialogue on hip-hop and its declarations on gender, HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes provides thoughtful insight from intelligent, divergent voices including rap artists, industry executives, rap fans and social critics from inside and outside the hip-hop generation. The film includes interviews with famous rappers such as Mos Def, Fat Joe, Chuck D and Jadakiss and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons; along with commentary from Michael Eric Dyson, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Kevin Powell and Sarah Jones and interviews with young women at Spelman College, a historically black school and one of the nation's leading liberal arts institutions. The film also explores such pressing issues as women and violence in rap music, representations of man hood in hip-hop culture, whattoday's rap lyrics reveal to their listeners and homoeroticism in hip-hop. A "loving critique" from a self-proclaimed "hip-hop head," HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes discloses the complex intersection of culture, commerce and gender through on-the-street interviews with aspiring rappers and fans at hip-hop events throughout the country.
* * *Letter To The President: Hip-Hop and Politics* The Streets Get Political While the glamorous 1980's continued for much of America, rappers made it a point to tell the world there was another sectionof the country that wasn't invited to the party. As the urban landscapebecame the point of no return - Hip Hop emerged as a voice for thepeople.... This film takes an unprecedented look at a variety of issuesdirectly affecting the urban community - including the 'crack' conspiracy, censorship, racial profiling, police brutality, poverty, prison for profit,and the NYPD Hip Hop Task Force. If you think politics had nothing to do with Hip Hop, think again! "Letter to the President" explores this rebel music with a cause.... --
Orlando GreenNational Hip Hop Political Convention
