San Francisco Black Film Festival Celebrating Year XX
SF MOMA
Modern CinemaBlack Powers: Reframing Hollywood,
Now thru July 29, 2018 Phyllis Wattis Theater
San Francisco-For the sixth season of Modern Cinema, SFMOMA and SFFILM present a decades-spanning program exploring African American filmmakers
Film Series was kicked off by Paul D. Miller, DJ Spooky who introduced Oscar Micheaux's 1925 silent film "Body and Soul" starring Paul Robeson with a musical score by DJ Spooky.
Photo by Jackie Wright, Wright Enterprises
navigating inside the Hollywood machine and operating outside its boundaries. Black Powers: Reframing Hollywood features work from pioneers such as Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Bill Gunn, whose films of the 1970s were revolutionary and counter to prevailing ideas about Blackness, alongside the resistance-fueled Black independent film movement coming out of the LA Rebellion. Continuing into the 1980s, the series explores the relationship-driven films of Spike Lee and Kathleen Collins that shone a light on a variety of experiences in Black America and inspired a new wave of independent filmmaking. The big budget hits and independent classics of the 1990s paved the way for contemporary directors like Barry Jenkins, Ava DuVernay, and Ryan Coogler, whose films were met with wide acclaim in Hollywood and beyond, demonstrating a full spectrum of compelling stories directed by a growing list of African American filmmakers.
USE THIS CODE FOR MEMBER DISCOUNT PRICES: MCPOWERS
"Cheryl Dunye plays a version of herself in this witty, nimble landmark of New Queer Cinema. When the fledgling filmmaker becomes obsessed with the 'most beautiful mammy' spied in a 1930s movie, she embarks on a documentary about this 'Watermelon Woman,' along the way unpacking LGBT and Black film history and finding parallels between that Depression-era actress and herself. This is social critique at its most charming and audacious."
[Hip-Hop stars] Kid 'n Play defined a generation of teenage schemers and style icons. In this classic '90s teen film, Play's (Christopher Martin) parents are out of town, and he's planning the house party to end all house parties.
Based on his semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, The Learning Tree
established Gordon Parks as the first black director of a major Hollywood studio film. "His victory...in directing The Learning Tree
was a victory for all of us," observed the director Melvin Van Peebles of the movie's seminal role in African American culture.
Director Michael Schultz will introduce his films Car Wash on July 21, and Krush Groove on July 22 (plus, following Krush Groove, Schultz will be in conversation with DJ Spooky)
LONDON BREED CONGRATULATED SF CHARLIE WALKER FOR HIS FILM "AMERICA"S STILL THE PLACE" THAT PREMIERED AT THE SAN FRANCISCO FILM FESTIVAL AS JACKIE WRIGHT INTERVIEWED FOR JOHNNIE BURRELL'S WWW.INTERNATIONAL MEDIATV.COM.
MAYOR BREED THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE ARTS...
