TRUTH BE TOLD – A CELEBRATION OF BLACK HERITAGE
@ ICE THEATERS Every Thursday in February.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

SKIN
South Africa/2009/107 min/Drama/Rated PG-13/Directed by Anthony Fabian

“SKIN” is one of the most moving stories to emerge from apartheid South Africa: Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo) is a black child born in the 1950s to white Afrikaners, unaware of their black ancestry. Her parents are rural shopkeepers serving the local black community, who lovingly bring her up as their ‘white’ little girl. But at the age of ten, Sandra is driven out of white society. The film follows Sandra’s thirty-year journey from rejection to acceptance, betrayal to reconciliation, as she struggles to define her place in a changing world – and triumphs against all odds.

Post-Film Panel Discussion – Moderator: Santita Jackson, WVON; Panelists:   Ambassador Nomvume Magaqa, Consul General, South African Consulate General in Chicago; Rev. Calvin Morris, PhD, Executive Director of the Community Renewal society of Chicago; and  Dana Starks, Commissioner, Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

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Thursday, February 11, 2010
INVICTUS
USA/2009/134 minutes/Drama/Rated PG-13/Directed by Clint Eastwood

“Invictus” tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to help unite their country.   Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.

Post-Film Audience Q&A – Moderators: Matt McGill and Perri Small, WVON

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Thursday, February 18, 2010
THE PROVIDENCE EFFECT
USA/2009/92 minutes/Documentary/Rated PG/Directed by Rollin Binzer

Providence-St. Mel, a private school in Chicago, is celebrated nationwide for its remarkable success rate: for nearly 30 years, 100 percent of its students have gone on to attend college. As the nation faces an ongoing crisis in public education, many administrators and activists have begun turning to the Providence model to boost test scores and student confidence. This documentary chronicles the school’s unique history, and offers testimonies from generations of Providence-St. Mel teachers and alumni, most importantly the man who has led the school during all those years, Paul J. Adams III.

Post-Film Audience Q&A – Moderator: Cliff Kelley, WVON

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Thursday, February 25, 2009

WITHIN OUR GATES
USA/1920/90 minutes/Drama/Unrated/Written, Directed and Produced by Oscar Micheaux

Recognized as the oldest known surviving film by an African-American director, “Within Our Gates” is a silent race film that dramatically depicts the racial situation in America during the violent years of Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Migration, and the emergence of the “New Negro”. The story focuses on an African-American woman who goes North in an effort to help a minister in the Deep South raise money to keep a school open for poor Black children. Her romance with a black doctor eventually leads to revelations about her family’s past that expose the racial skeletons in America’s closet, most famously through the film’s depiction of the injustice of lynching.

Post-Film Panel Discussion – Moderator: Salim Muwakki, WVON; Panelists: Timuel Black, Professor Emeritus of Social Science at the City Colleges of Chicago; Nina Cartier, Doctoral Candidate at Northwestern University; and Floyd Webb, filmmaker/producer

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All screenings will be held at the ICE Chatham Theaters, 210 West 87th Street, Chicago.  Showtime is 7:00PM and admission is $5.00 for all screenings listed above. A post-film discussion will follow each screening. For program information or private group screenings, contact Venisha White Johnson at 773-892-3204 ext. 2 or venishajohnson@icetheaters.com.

Please let us know about your short films produced in Chicago for a short film program we are planning for this year. Please email me at floyd@blackworldcinema.net

Thursday, January 7,  7pm,
FREE ADMISSION
Martin Luther King Jr.: The Man and the Dream
Ice Theaters Chatham
210 West 87th Street
Chicago, IL 60620

Directed by black British director John Akomfrah, Martin Luther King Jr.: The Man and the Dream presents a remarkable portrait of courage in the face of hatred, of a man who forced change through the sheer strength of his indomitable spirit.  Rarely has one man done so much to change the politics and conscience of the nation. Like too many others, he paid the ultimate price for his beliefs. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most loved, respected, feared and influential leaders in American history. In life, he helped transform the nation’s outlook. In death, he became a martyr to the cause for which he labored. In this one-of-a-kind look at his life and work, writer/director Tom Friedman explores how Dr. King’s ideas, thoughts and causes evolved in the face of the rapidly changing climate of the Civil Rights Movement. Rare footage and photographs illustrate the defining moments of his crusade, from the first stirrings of his activism in Alabama to his time as the pre-eminent voice for racial justice in America.

Originally made for the BBC series “Reputations.” documentary profiles examining well-known personalities around the world, the film is a revealing portrait of the private life and inner struggles of Martin Luther King Jr. Champion of non-violent protest and martyr of the Civil Rights Movement. The film tells the story of Dr. King?s childhood and formative years, his early triumphs for Civil Rights and his personal sacrifices, his wilderness years and his rise to international prominence.

In the 42 years since his assassination, the image of the champion of non-violent protest has been tarnished by FBI-inspired rumours of womanising and adultery. This film reveals how, though riven with self-doubt and under threat of death, Dr King nevertheless challenged America to live up to its own ideals. The film examines King’s evolving radicalization through his moral opposition to the Vietnam War, delving into areas of American foreign policy that few black civil right leaders dared to challenge

Awards: Best Archive, Best Documentary, The Peoples.Award Delhi International Film Festival 1998.

Still Bill, 2009 118 min (See Trailer)
Director: Damani Baker,Alex Vlack

Thursday,Dec. 3, 7pm,
General Admission $5.00

Ice Theaters Chatham
210 West 87th Street
Chicago, IL 60620

SYNOPSIS
STILL BILL is an intimate portrait of soul legend Bill Withers, best known for his classics “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day,” “Grandma’s Hands,” and “Just the Two of Us.” With his soulful delivery and warm, heartfelt sincerity, Withers has written the songs that have – and always will – resonate deeply within the fabric of our times.

Filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack follow Withers and offer a unique and rare look inside the world of this fascinating man. Through concert footage, journeys to his birthplace, interviews with music legends, his family and closest friends, STILL BILL presents the story of an artist who has written some of the most beloved songs in our time and who truly understands the heart and soul of a man.

“Still Bill doesn’t get into the specifics of the conflicts between Withers and Columbia Records back then; that information is out there for those who want to look. Instead, it gives us a look at Withers’ life and personality to perhaps explain why he was able to just walk away from show business when many other men would fight the labels or do whatever was necessary to stay in the public eye. It’s not so much that he’s a man at peace with himself – indeed, he’s wise enough to say, in a roundabout sort of way, that his calm demeanor owes as much to shyness as it does to contentment. He is fairly content; one of the aphorisms he offers to the camera and to his children is “on the way to wonderful, you’ll pass through all right. Stop and take a look around, because you may be staying,” and he does seem to be all right with all right.” Jay Seaver, efilmcritic.com

Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love (2008), 102 Min
Director/Producer: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

Thursday,Nov. 6, 7pm,
General Admission $5.00
Ice Theaters Chatham
210 West 87th Street
Chicago, IL 60620

SYNOPSIS
An audience sensation at film festivals worldwide, I Bring What I Love takes you behind the scenes and into the world of Africa’s most famous musician: Youssou N’Dour. This never-before-told story follows N’Dour at a turning point in his life and career, as he releases his most personal and controversial album Egypt.

With this album he sought to use music to promote a more tolerant face of Islam, a loving homage to his religion. At the height of his career, Youssou became frustrated by the negative perception of his Muslim faith and composed Egypt, a deeply spiritual album dedicated to a more tolerant view of Islam. The album’s brave musical message was wholeheartedly embraced by Western audiences but ignited serious religious controversy in his homeland of Senegal.

The project started over a year before the tragic events of 9/11.He halted the release in order not to be swept up in the sensationalism and extreme negativism towards Islam that came about in the year afterward. He feared the album would be misinterpreted.

Release of the album sometime later, during the month of Ramadan in Senegal, erupts in scandal and outrage in his native country. The album is rejected and denounced as blasphemous.

The film follows N’dour in his quest to lobby for acceptance of his creative work on it’s own merit in his own country.
In this quest, he goes to the scared city of Touba, the holy city of Mouridism(Islamic Sufism) and the burial place of its founder, Shaikh Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke.

Part explosive documentary, part stirring drama, I Bring What I Love is an unforgettable musical journey with an artist whose courage and conviction shook the music industry and ultimately awakened the world.

Special Screening:
SOUL POWER! 2009, USA, 105 min., 35MM
Directed by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte SEE TRAILER!
Thursday, Oct. 1, 7pm, General Admission $5.00
210 West 87th Street, Chicago, IL 60620

In 1974, the most celebrated American R&B acts of the time came together with the most renowned musical groups in Africa for a 12-hour, three-night long concert held in Kinshasa, Zaire. The dream-child of Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine, this music festival became a reality when they convinced boxing promoter Don King to combine the event with “The Rumble in the Jungle,” the epic fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, previously chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary WHEN WE WERE KINGS.

SOUL POWER is a verité documentary about this legendary music festival (dubbed “Zaire ‘74”), and it depicts the experiences and performances of such musical luminaries as James Brown, BB King, Bill Withers, Celia Cruz, among a host of others. At the peak of their talents and the height of their careers, these artists were inspired by this return to their African roots, as well as the enthusiasm of the Zairian audience, to give the performances of their lives. The concert has achieved mythological significance as the definitive Africa(n)-American musical event of the 20th Century.

SOUL POWER is crafted from the extensive “outtakes” that remained after making WHEN WE WERE KINGS, which documented the epic title fight, but relegated the music festival to a small, supporting role. The “outtakes” have remained vaulted for the past 34 years, until now. The film was ultimately edited down from over 125 hours worth of footage. Lensed primarily by celebrated cinematographers Albert Maysles, Paul Goldsmith, Kevin Keating and Roderick Young, SOUL POWER finally provides today’s audience the opportunity to experience this historic musical event in all of its magnificent, filmed glory.

WRESTLING GROUND 2006, Senegal, 105 min., 35MM
Directed by Cheikh Ndiaye SEE TRAILER!
Thursday, Sept 3, 7pm, General Admission $5.00
210 West 87th Street, Chicago, IL 60620

Combining sporting prowess and fabulous music, the promising “Wrestling Ground” (L’APPEL DES ARENES) dramatically demonstrates the cultural importance of wrestling in Senegal.
The atmosphere is highly charged from the get-go as 19-year-old Nalla (Abdoul Aziz Ndiaye) is chased by several muggers in the daylit streets of his well-to-do Dakar suburb. Wrestling champ Andre (Moustapha Gueye), fixing his truck near the crime scene, intervenes in the melee and intimidates the thieves into returning Nalla’s property.

While driving Nalla to town, Andre explains the importance of wrestling and encourages the youth to join his group. The sport quickly becomes a vocation for Nalla, much to the consternation of his mother, a domineering and sophisticated upper-class woman who disdains violence in all its forms.

The film’s second half is both enchanting and edifying with its representations and explanations of the importance of spirituality, music and tradition in Senegalese wrestling.

Russell Edwards, VARIETY

HYENAS 1992, USA, 96 min. SEE TRAILER!
Directed by Djibril Diop Mambety
Thursday, July 2, 7pm, General Admission $5.00
210 West 87th Street, Chicago, IL 60620

An old woman millionairess with a gold artificial leg and hand returns to her impoverished native village after several decades. Hearing she is wealthy beyond belief, the villagers prepare an elaborate array of pomp and circumstance in her honor to flatter her into using her money to revitalize their decaying, poverty-stricken lives. They regale her with ceremonial speeches, ritual dances, music, and praise songs. Knowing full well what they do, she makes an announcement.

But first, she dismisses the faulty memory of their praises. Secondly, she explains the circumstances that drove her out of the village and brought her back. The village shopkeeper had made her pregnant at the age of seventeen, suborned the perjury of witnesses to back up his denials, and she was branded by their mores, and, as a social outcast, became a prostitute, travelled the world, and became rich through prostitution. Her lover, now the storekeeper, had dumped her to marry for money, but he and his wife along with the rest of the village lives in squalor, too, since everybody “buys” everything on credit and never pays.

The old woman agrees to make the village and its people wealthy beyond their imagination. There is one condition: the storekeeper, the man who betrayed her, must first be killed. The people in the village are outraged at this condition. “We are still Africans. We are civilized people. We won’t kill for money.” But then, poverty and greed prove top be their undoing in the face of all her gifts and promises of great wealth.

“This pungent film adaptation’s change of locale lends the tale a new political dimension…(Mambety) inflects the grim drama with an edge of carnival humor. This film carries a sting!”
New York Times

BALLAST 2008, USA, 96 min., 35MM
Directed by Lance Hammer SEE TRAILER!
Thursday, June 4, 7pm, General Admission $5.00
210 West 87th Street, Chicago, IL 60620

“Ballast” is the very life of life. It observes three good, quiet people as they sink into depression, resentment and rebellion. Then it watches patiently, gently, as they help one another find their futures together. The film has a bedrock reality that could not be fabricated. It was filmed on locations in the Mississippi Delta, and uses actors who had never acted before, but who never step wrong. Few professional actors could convince us so deeply.

But already you are filing this film away to forget. You don’t care about the Mississippi Delta. You want to go see real movie stars. You already have too much reality in your life. You are suspicious of words like quiet, patiently, gently. The film’s own writer-director, Lance Hammer, winner of the best director award at Sundance 2008, does a better sales job in writing his synopsis, where you will find words like embattled, act of violence, emotionally devastated, the fury of a bitter and longstanding conflict. Be honest. Now it sounds less threatening to you.
The film centers on two households side by side on an open flatland. A man named Lawrence (Micheal J. Smith) lives in the house next to his sister-in-law, Marlee (Tarra Riggs), and her 12-year-old son, James (JimMyron Ross). After the death of Lawrence’s brother, they are not on speaking terms. They ran a roadside convenience store and gas station together, but now it stands closed, its gate padlocked, and Lawrence sits at home alone, a cigarette burning itself down in his fingers. James comes to visit him one day.That’s really all I should tell you. The events in this film arrive when they happen, how they happen, in the order that they happen. The plot doesn’t have “surprises,” just things we didn’t expect to happen. “Ballast” does not take the point of view of any one character. It regards them all. Because they all know what has happened before the story opens, the film doesn’t use artificial dialogue to fill us in. We find out everything in the course of events. You will see how it unfolds the way life does.

4/4 Stars CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
Roger Ebert