Free Film Festival: From Black Liberation to HipHop (2/16)
Posted by: "Orlando G." [email protected] sun_god7
Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:02 pm (PST)
*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 Rainbow
and 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 Street
Voicemail & Text: 347.262-6385 & 917.224.3493

eMail: [email protected]

Sponsored by

FOCUS-Filmmakers of Color United in Spirit-Columbia University, School of
the 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_nyloc

Schedule

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 cult
favorite 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 number
of black applicants to their training program, but they purposefully make
the process difficult and unpleasant enough to winnow out nearly all the
African-American students. Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook), a strong,
intelligent but soft-spoken man, somehow 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 and
gives 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
CIAcollecting 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

*HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes*, a riveting documentary that tackles
issues 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 manhood in hip-hop culture, what
today'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 section
of the country that wasn't invited to the party. As the urban landscape
became the point of no return - Hip Hop emerged as a voice for the
people.... This film takes an unprecedented look at a variety of issues
directly 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 Green
National HipHop Political Convention