From June 12-19, The 2000 Juneteenth Film Festival will celebrate the spirit of Juneteenth by showcasing films that help us remember the past, examine the present, and find hope for the future. Presented at various locations around the Twin Cities metro area, the film festival, now in its seventh year, opens with a free program of short films by African-American filmmakers followed by a panel discussion and reception at the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota (June 12). Subsequent screenings/programs feature a retrospective of clips from the documentaries and community profiles broadcast on KTCA-TV/Channel 2's Don't Believe the Hype at the Minnesota History Center (June 13); Public Enemy, combining contemporary interview footage with stock images from the height of the Black Panther era, at the Walker Art Center (June 14); Otto Preminger's smoldering Carmen Jones at Oak Street Cinema (June 15); Gordon Parks' groundbreaking private-eye feature Shaft, as well as the sequels Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa at The Heights Theater (June 16-18); The Life and Times of Sara Baartman--The Hottentot Venus at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (June 18); and a reading of Cool Blue North by award-winning screenwriter David Grant at the Penumbra Theatre (June 19). (A complete listing follows.) The Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, freed African slaves in the states that tried to secede from the Union. Some slave owners, however, chose not to inform their slaves of the news. It was not until June 1865--two and one-half years after the signing of the Proclamation--that slaves in Texas learned of their freedom from bondage, upon the arrival of Union troops in Galveston. In the years since, in cities across the United States, June 19 and the surrounding days are observed as a time for African-American communities to come together to share food, stories, and laughter--and to pause and remember the sacrifices and contributions of those who came before us. Juneteenth, now a legal holiday in the state of Texas, has been called by some the "African-American National Independence Day." The 2000 Juneteenth Film Festival is organized by the Twin Cities Juneteenth Steering Committee, Independent Features Project/North, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Oak Street Cinema, Penumbra Theatre, Minnesota Film Board, the African American Adoption Permanency and Planning Agency (AAAPPA), Twin Cities AFTRA/SAG, The Heights Theater, the Walker Art Center, and the Weisman Art Museum. For a complete schedule of events, call the Walker box office at 612.375.7622. Promotional support for this festival has been provided by KFAI community radio--90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM Saint Paul. THE 2000 JUNETEENTH FILM FESTIVAL
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: THE STRUGGLE AND LIBERATION OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
JUNE 12-19 MONDAY, JUNE 12, 7 PM The Short and The Long of It
An evening of short films by African-American filmmakers
Panel discussion and reception follow the screening.
Free
Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota
333 East River Road, Minneapolis
Information: 612.625.9494
www.weisman.umn.edu
Join host Patrice Snead, program director at Independent Features Project/North, for an evening of short films and the longer stories behind them. The program features the Twin Cities' hottest African-American filmmakers and special guest Courtney Byrd, a Los Angeles filmmaker whose recent movie premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. This event is cosponsored by the Weisman Art Museum and Independent Feature Project/North. Fearsome Dancer
Directed by Lori Neal
A journey where the very old and very young come together in the most unusual circumstances. 1997, U.S., 7 minutes. World Premiere
Checks and Balances
Directed by Aaron V. Smith
In two days, Lorenzo is about to take his first vacation with his girlfriend, during which he plans to propose to her. Everything seems to be in order until he discovers that his checking account has been emptied and left with a negative balance. 2000, U.S., 15 minutes. Village Blues
Directed by Ayesha Adu and e.g. bailey
This experimental improvisational film deals with the disintegration of interpersonal and social relationships within the black community. It centers on three poems written by e.g. bailey, which serve as the links between ideas, images, text, and sound. 1999, U.S., 20 minutes. Whitewash
Directed by Amy Ostergaard
A sardonic look at a baptism through the eyes of a little black girl in an all-white community. 1998, U.S., 5 minutes. Grahm's Diner
Directed by Courtney Byrd
A callous business owner is doubly duped by agents of heaven and earth. Featuring actor Garrett Morris (Saturday Night Live, The Martin Lawrence Show, and The Jamie Foxx Show). 2000, U.S., 20 minutes. TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 7 PM Don't Believe The Hype
Free
Minnesota History Center
345 Kellogg Boulevard West, Saint Paul
Information: 651.296.6126 (TTY: 651.282.6073)
www.mnhs.org
Don't Believe the Hype, a media youth collaborative founded in 1992 by Susan Robeson, Robin Hickman, and Daniel Bergin, produces a regularly broadcast program of the same name on KTCA/Channel 2. Its mission is to provide an educational alternative activity for inner-city youth. Hype's members learn editing, reporting, broadcasting, and other skills involved in television production, and the collaborative helps young people address the critical need for qualified media professionals of color as well as promoting social responsibility. Hype is not operated by adults, so the youths control the image portrayed. Through their documentaries and community profiles, Hype crew members tackle topics such as male/female relations, health, education, politics, violence, and racism while profiling community builders, educators, and multicultural history in Minnesota. This retrospective includes clips from various productions and a discussion moderated by consultant-former Hype executive producer Robin Hickman and Hype producer Daniel Bergin. A panel discussion with Hype alumni and current members concludes the evening. Program length 2 hours. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 7 PM Public Enemy
Directed by Jens Meurer
$6 ($3 Walker members)
Walker Art Center Auditorium
Information and tickets: 612.375.7622 Today they look like sedate people in their forties, but Kathleen Cleaver, Nile Rodgers, Jamal Joseph, and Bobby Seale were at the forefront of militant activism in the 1960s as leading members of the Black Panthers. In this film, Seale returns to the places where he and his colleagues were assaulted by the police, and he tells how some of them were killed in front of his eyes. "We weren't violent at all, but within the rules of law, which allowed arms possession," a still-ardent Seale declares. "We fought for better housing and more job opportunities for blacks." Combining contemporary interview footage with stock images from the height of the Panther era, Public Enemy reveals the human beings behind the movement, many of whom were simply dedicated youngsters only 16 years old when they joined the Panthers. 1999, Belgium/Germany/England/France, 90 minutes. THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 7:30 AND 9:30 PM Carmen Jones
Directed by Otto Preminger
$6 ($4.50 seniors/children)
Oak Street Cinema
309 Oak Street S.E., Minneapolis
Information: 612.331.3134
www.oakstreetcinema.org
Dorothy Dandridge's performance in Carmen Jones, Otto Preminger's smoldering adaptation of Bizet's opera set in the Florida everglades, garnered her an Oscar nomination and the cover of Life magazine. Although she persistently struggled against a race barrier that kept her from being acknowledged as one of the sexiest and strongest female actresses of her time, Dandridge was among the first African-American women to achieve star status. Preminger's film is one of her best, causing Time magazine to observe that she "holds the eye like a match burning steadily in a tornado." With Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll. 1954, U.S., 105 minutes. FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 7 PM Shaft
Directed by Gordon Parks
$3 (Free with Juneteenth brochure)
The Heights Theater
3951 Central Avenue N.E., Columbia Heights
Information: 612.788.9079
Parks' second feature, Shaft, single-handedly reinvented the private-eye genre and ushered in a period in which African Americans achieved access to mainstream cinema both on-screen and behind the cameras. John Shaft, the title character (Richard Roundtree), is a black detective hired by Harlem mobster Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn) to find his kidnapped daughter. Urban mayhem ensues set to the pulsing rhythms of an Isaac Hayes score. This screening is scheduled on the same day that director John Singleton releases his remake of Shaft. 1971, U.S., 98 minutes. Preceded by a trailer for Half Past Autumn, an HBO documentary about the life of Gordon Parks, airing in November. Introduced by director Craig Rice and consultant/former executive producer Robin Hickman. SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 7 PM Shaft's Big Score
Directed by Gordon Parks
$6 ($4.50 students/seniors)
Parks adds some state-of-the-art pyrotechnics to the story of Shaft's attempts to outsmart the mob. With Moses Gunn and Kathy Imrie. 1972, U.S., 106 minutes. SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 7 PM Shaft in Africa
Directed by John Guillermin
$6 ($4.50 students/seniors)
Shaft is sent to Africa to break up a modern slavery ring. 1973, U.S., 112 minutes. SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 2 PM The Life and Times of Sara Baartman-The Hottentot Venus
Directed by Zola Maseko
Free
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis
Information: 612.870.3203
www.artsMIA.org
This film documents the life of a young Khoi Khoi woman who was taken from Cape Town to London in 1810 and exhibited as a freak across England. The image and idea of "The Hottentot Venus" as an icon of racial inferiority and black female sexuality swept through British popular culture and culminated in a losing court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her captors. In 1814 she was taken to France and became the object of scientific and medical research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. She died the next year. But even after her death, Sara Baartman remained an object of imperialist investigation. In the name of Science, her sexual organs and brain were displayed in the Musée de l'homme in Paris until 1985. Using historical drawings, cartoons, legal documents, and interviews with noted cultural historians and anthropologists, this film deconstructs the social, political, scientific, and philosophical assumptions that transformed one young African woman into a representation of savage sexuality and racial inferiority. Winner Best Documentary, 1999 Milan Festival of African Cinema (Italy), Best Documentary, 1999 FESPACO, Pan-African Film Festival (Burkina Faso). Panel discussion follows screening 1999, U.K., 52 minutes.
MONDAY, JUNE 19, 7 PM Cool Blue North
Free
Penumbra Theatre
Martin Luther King Center
270 N. Kent Street, St. Paul
Information: 651.224.3180
Award-winning African-American screenwriter David Grant presents his revised script for Cool Blue North. The main character, Jesse, has been dealing with his demons by moving farther and farther north--deeper and deeper into isolation. As the story begins, he's working for a Canadian oil company only 200 miles shy of the Arctic circle and getting ready to move again when, out of the blue, the kids he abandoned in Los Angeles some 10 years before are suddenly thrust back into his life. David Grant was the winner of the 1999 McKnight Fellowship and finalist for the 1999 Heathcote Award for Best Screenplay sponsored by the 1999 Independent Feature Film Market. His earlier script Trouble was presented in the Fifth Night Series at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York. This will be the last public reading of Cool Blue North before it goes into production in 2001. Program length 2 hours. The McKnight Screenplay series is sponsored by Twin Cities AFTRA/SAG, the Penumbra Theatre, and IFP/North.
|