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Homo-Harlem: A Film Retrospective at the Maysles Cinema

June 19th - June 27th

With arguments often eerily reminiscent of old rationales for black oppression, gays and lesbians remain openly, legally and even, 'righteously', discriminated against.

For lgbt people of all races, knowing ourselves, making our extraordinary history known to others, much as with blacks, becomes a key component to liberation. If lgbt heritage remains often obscured and belittled, achievements of African American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people, are less well known still.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the film festival, Homo-Harlem: A Film Retrospective, Friday, June 19th-Saturday, June 27th, co-sponsored by the Maysles Cinema at 343 Malcolm X Boulevard with Men of All Colors Together, Queer Black Cinema and Harlem One Stop, seeks to help to remedy this lack of recognition.

Through a series of coordinated screenings, critical discussions and walking tours, Homo-Harlem for the first time officially brings Stonewall observations uptown to focus on and honor, figures as diverse as poets Audre Lorde and Langston Hughes, social justice activist Bayard Rustin, composer Billy Strayhorn, photographer Marvin Smith and living legend Storme DeLarverie, whose courageous stand at the Stonewall Bar, 40 years ago, literally helped set in motion the entire Gay Pride Movement.

We lgbt people have always been busy making Harlem better, as one resident reported in 1928, "Never no wells of loneliness in Harlem..." Space is limited for this exhilarating experience, so be sure to make a reservation in advance and get ready to be enlightened, to be amazed and to party hard!

-  Homo-Harlem Curator and Author Michael Henry Adams

(Complete remaining festival schedule below)

- The Maysles Cinema: The Best Spot for Film Geeks

"For a small suggested donation per screening, you can catch rarely seen documentaries, often followed by discussions and/or appearances by the filmmakers.What it lacks in stadium seating and surround sound, it makes up in sheer character and inventive programming."
- New York Magazine (2009 Best of New York)

Please direct all press and requests for reservations to [email protected]

Homo-Harlem: A Film Retrospective Curated by Michael Henry Adams Co-Sponsored by Men of All Colors Together, Queer Black Cinema and Harlem One Stop Photo artist and documentary filmmaker Lisa DuBois is exhibiting fine art photographs "Timeless Harlem" and "Transgender in the nineties" in our lower lounge throughout Homo-Harlem. All the photographers are for sale. $10 Suggested Donation For All Screenings Wednesday, June 24 7:00pm Brother Outsider, The Life of Bayard Rustin Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer, 2002, 83 min. This meditation on the parallels between racism and homophobia illuminates the life and work of Bayard Rustin, a visionary activist and strategist who has been called the "unknown hero" of the civil rights movement. Daring to live as an openly gay man during the fiercely homophobic 1940s, 50s and 60s, Brother Outsider reveals the price that Rustin paid for his openness, chronicling both the triumphs and setback of his remarkable 60-year career. Panel: Dir. Bennett Singer Walter Naegle, Rustin's partner until his passing in 1987 at 75 Ernest Green, The Little Rock Nine Adam Green, Historian, Author  of "Selling the Race: Culture, Community, and Black Chicago, 1940-1955" Shiera Chandler, The Gay, Lesbian and Staight Alliance Education Network Moderator: Michael Henry Adams Thursday, June 25 5:30pm Walking Tour* 7:30pm How Do I Look (Preview, 5 min.) Wolfgang Busch, 2007 A brief preview of a follow up of sorts to Paris is Burning. Couture Shock (Preview, 5 min.) Lisa DuBois, work-in-progress Couture Shock is an honest expose on the complications and secrets in the lives of transgendered individuals. Paris is Burning Jennie Livingston, 1990, 78 min. Many consider Paris Is Burning to be an invaluable document of the end of the "Golden Age" of New York City drag balls, as well as a thoughtful exploration of race, class, and gender in America. 9:30pm Dinner & Afterparty at Billie's Black* *Complete package (walking tour, screening and after party) cost is $50.00 Contact- [email protected] 60 person limit on tickets so get them while you can! Tickets for the screening only can be purchased at the Maysles Cinema the night of. Friday, June 26 5:30pm Walking Tour* 7:30pm Looking for Langston Isaac Julien, 1988, 45 min. A black and white, fantasy-like recreation of high-society gay men during the Harlem Renaissance, with archival footage and photographs intercut with a story. The text is rarely explicit, but the freedom of gay Black men in the 1920s in Harlem is suggested and celebrated visually. James Baldwin: Witness Angie Corcetti, 2003, 60 min. A minister's son from Harlem, James Baldwin moved to Greenwich Village and began writing essays for left-wing journals. With the success of his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and dozens of non-fiction works, Baldwin became an international voice on American Black life in the 1950s and 60s. A look at this Black American Gay icon's life. 9:30pm Dinner at Miss Maude's Spoonbread Too* *Complete package (walking tour, screening and dinner) cost is $50.00 Contact- [email protected] Saturday, June 27 11:30am Brunch at Chez Lucien* 1:00pm Walking Tour* 3:00pm M&M SMITH: For Posterity's Sake Heather Lyons, 1996, 57 min Morgan and Marvin Smith, twin brothers and prolific African American artists, boldly moved from Kentucky to New York in 1933 to pursue artistic careers. By 1937 they had opened a photo studio next door to Harlem's renowned Apollo Theatre. Thus began 50-year-long careers as still and motion picture photographers, painters and sound recordists. This story is richly visualized through the Smiths' photos, films and paintings and poignantly told by Morgan and Marvin Smith and friends such as Eartha Kitt. Clip of Short Conversation with Marvin Smith (20 min) 5:00pm Blueprint Kirk Shannon-Butts, 2008 73 min. Harlem shot and set, Blueprint is the story of Keith and Nathan, two New York City college freshmen trying to make a connection. Hosted by Dir. Kirk Shannon-Butts, Singer Nhojj and star of Blueprint Damion Lee (Finding Forrester) *Complete package (walking tour, screening and brunch) cost is $45.00 Contact- [email protected]

NEW DIRECTORS/NEW FILMS 2009 SLATE ANNOUNCED

Opening Night: Cherien Dabis’s “Amreeka”
Closing Night: Lee Daniels’s “Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire”
 
Presented by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center,
March 25 – April 5

 

NEW YORK—The 25 feature films that will make up New Directors/New Films 2009 were announced today by Rajendra Roy, chief curator of film at The Museum of Modern Art and Richard Peña, program director at The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Representing 20 countries, the titles in the 39th edition of this celebrated program dedicated to the discovery and support of emerging directors will screen in their New York premieres or, in some cases, their United States and world premieres. Many filmmakers and special guests will appear on stage at series screenings, held at MoMA and The Film Society of Lincoln Center, March 25 – April 5.

 

New York-based director Cherien Dabis’s debut feature “Amreeka” will be honored as the 2009 Opening Night selection. The humanist and humorous drama stars Haifa-trained actress Nisreen Faour and Hiam Abbas (“The Visitor,” “Lemon Tree”) in the story of Muna, a single mother from Ramallah, and Fadi, her teenage son, who move to Middle America just as U.S. troops enter Baghdad. Their bittersweet adjustment to a multicultural way of life provides a revelatory vision of a mother-son relationship set against the strange behavior of those “ordinary people” who treat them as outsiders.

 

Lee Daniels’s Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” will also be showcased as the series’s first-ever Closing Night feature. The much-discussed drama chronicles the world of Precious Jones, an overweight, functionally illiterate, lonesome teenager pregnant with a second child by her own father. Daniels, working with a script by Damien Paul and an extraordinary cast led by Gabourey Sidibe and including Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, and Paula Patton, creates a vibrant, engaging story of imposing character and unlikely survival.

 

Other features of the 2009 festival slate include the world premiere of Bob Byington’s slacker ex-love story “Harmony and Me” and the U.S. premiere of Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern’s inside look at the Broadway revival of “A Chorus Line,” “Every Little Step.” First-time feature director Sophie Barthes gathers a remarkable cast— including Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, and David Strathairn—in her existential comedy thriller “Cold Souls.”

 

The series will offer New Yorkers an exclusive first chance to see 2009 Sundance favorites including National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos’s “The Cove;” Sterlin Harjo “Barking Water;” Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Deléphin’s “Louise-Michel;” Sebastián Silva’s “The Maid;” Laurel Nakadate’s “Stay the Same Never Change;” Alexis Dos Santos’s “Unmade Beds;” and Ondi Timoner’s “We Live in Public,” an insightful and resourceful documentary exploration of Internet pioneer Josh Harris's raise and fall within the art and technology whirlwind of 1990s Manhattan. Venice Film Festival prizewinners “Mid-August Lunch” by Gianni Di Gregorio and “Paper Soldier” by Aleksei German Jr. are also among the many stellar new features highlighted in the slate.

 

Dedicated to the discovery and support of emerging artists, New Directors/New Films has earned an international reputation as the premier festival for works that break or re-cast the cinematic mold.

 

The series is presented by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center and supported by The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Young Friends of Film.

 

The work of The Film Society of Lincoln Center is made possible by the generous support of the Irene Diamond Fund, 42 Below, Stella Artois®, Illy, and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

 

The Museum of Modern Art's film programs are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

 

The complete public schedule for New Directors/New Films 2009 will be announced in early March. Tickets will go on sale Friday, March 13. They will be at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, MoMA, and online at filmlinc.com.

MoMA SHOWCASES AWARD-WINNING INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER RAMIN BAHRANI

Trio of Films Includes an Advance Preview Of Goodbye Solo, Opening Theatrically In March

Filmmaker in Focus: Ramin Bahrani
March 4–7, 2009
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters

The Museum of Modern Art announces Filmmaker in Focus: Ramin Bahrani, an exhibition of three feature films by independent writer/director Ramin Bahrani (American, b. 1975), comprising his award-winning films Man Push Cart (2005),and Chop Shop (2007), as well as an advance preview of his third feature Goodbye Solo, which will have its theatrical release in New York on March 27. Filmmaker in Focus: Ramin Bahrani runs March 4 through 7 in The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters. Bahrani, who was awarded the 2007 Someone to Watch Independent Spirit Award, will introduce the screening of Goodbye Solo on March 5 and will participate in a post-screening discussion.
           The exhibition is organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art.
           Born and raised in the United States, Bahrani studied film at Columbia University in New York City before moving to his parents’ homeland of Iran, where he lived for three years. He returned to the United States in 2005 and made Man Push Cart, which captures the beauty of midtown Manhattan and the complexity of life in a multicultural city; it was the opening film at MoMA’s 2006 New Directors/New Films festival. Bahrani followed it with Chop Shop (2007), set in the junkyards and auto-repair shops of Willets Point, Queens.  His most recent feature, Goodbye Solo, premiered at the 2008 Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals and is the story of a young Senegalese cab driver who, having relocated to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, picks up a fare which changes his life.
           All films, written and directed by Bahrani, have found distributors and great acclaim in the U.S. as well as at respected film festivals abroad. Known for an admirable consistency and integrity in his vigorously humanist cinema, Bahrani often shoots on location with first-time actors, focusing on individuals on the margins of society who are vulnerable, under pressure, and determined to cope.

# # #

Public Information:

    

The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019

Hours:

    

Films are screened Wednesday–Monday. For screening schedules, please visit www.moma.org.

Film Admission:

    

$10 adults; $8 seniors, 65 years and over with I.D. $6 full-time students with current I.D. (For admittance to film programs only.) The price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket when a film ticket stub is presented at the Lobby Information Desk within 30 days of the date on the stub (does not apply during Target Free Friday Nights, 4:00–8:00 p.m.). Admission is free for Museum members and for Museum ticketholders.

 

SCREENING SCHEDULE

Wednesday, March 4

6:15

    

Man Push Cart. 2005. Screenplay by Bahrani.
First-time actor Ahmad Razvi plays a man fleeing his past among the urban multitudes. Man Push Cart captures the siren beauty of midtown Manhattan and the complexity of life in a multicultural, multiethnic city that suddenly reneges on its comforting promise of anonymity. Print courtesy Films Philos, New York. 87 min.

8:15

    

Chop Shop. 2007. Screenplay by Bahrani, Bahareh Azimi. With Alejandro Polanco, Isamar Gonzales, Rob Sowulski, Carlos Zapata.
A streetwise kid and his slightly older sister, played by a pair of nonprofessional actors, cope with adolescence amid the junkyards and auto-repair shops of Willets Point, Queens. "A giant billboard from Shea Stadium looms and reads, 'Make dreams happen.' I was curious to know what dreams can happen in this place, and who these Dreamers were. The more time I spent there, the more I was drawn to the lives of the young kids who work and live in the auto-body shops" (Bahrani). Print courtesy Koch Lorber. 85 min.

Thursday, March 5

7:00

    

Goodbye Solo. 2008. Screenplay by Bahrani, Bahareh Azimi. With Soulemane Sy Savane, Red West, Diana Franco Galindo.
Combining his extraordinary ability to coax memorable performances from nonprofessional actors, his interest in location shooting, and his understanding of how so much of human drama is internalized, Bahrani relocates, to some extent, Abbas Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry from Tehran to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The film tells the story of a Senegalese cab driver and his passenger, a seventy-year-old man who wants to be driven to a distant and lonely location. Print courtesy Roadside Attractions. 91 min. Introduced by Bahrani.

Friday, March 6

6:00

    

Chop Shop. 2007. Screenplay by Bahrani, Bahareh Azimi. Print courtesy Koch Lorber. 85 min. See Wednesday, March 4.

Saturday, March 7

6:00

    

Man Push Cart. 2005. Screenplay by Bahrani. Print courtesy Films Philos, New York. 87 min. See Wednesday, March 4.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN ANNOUNCES LINEUP FOR 2009 NATIVE AMERICAN FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian announced today the complete lineup for its 2009 Native American Film and Video Festival. Fourteen features and 43 shorts representing 10 countries were chosen from more than 350 submissions. This year’s festival celebrates its 30th anniversary and the richness and growth of indigenous film and media. The works reflect vibrant contemporary voices of Native filmmakers telling their stories and histories and sharing their unique, individual dreams and concerns, as well as those of their communities. The festival will run from Thursday, March 26, through Sunday, March 29, at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, the George Gustav Heye Center.

 

All screenings are free and open to the public. Reservations for evening programs are strongly suggested. For reservations, e-mail [email protected] or call (212) 514-3737.

 

The festival opens with the world premiere of “We Shall Remain: Trail of Tears” directed by Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho), Thursday, March 26, at 7 p.m. The screening will be introduced by Eyre, executive producer Sharon Grimberg and lead actor Wes Studi (Cherokee). The screenings will be introduced by the producers and community members. During the four-day festival, the voices of least 100 members of the geographically widespread, but deeply connected, community of Native American filmmakers will be heard.  

 

Features will include “Older Than America” by Georgina Lightning (Cree), starring Adam Beach (Saulteaux) and Studi. Lightning tells the story of a woman’s haunting visions that bring to light a plot to conceal atrocities that occurred at a Native American boarding school. “Pachamama” by Toshifumi Matsushita is a coming-of-age story that takes place along the salt route of the Andes in Bolivia, where a boy confronts the complexities of adult life, including death, suffering and, most sweetly and powerfully of all, first love. 

 

Among the highlights of the short films presented will be “Sikumi/On the Ice” by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiaq), a story of an Inuit hunter who witnesses a murder; “Mémère Métisse/My Métis Grandmother” by Janelle Wookey (Métis), in which the filmmaker leads her own grandmother to finally embrace their Native heritage; “The Colony” by Jeff Barnaby (Mi’kmaq), a graphic depiction of a displaced Native man; and Dustinn Craig’s (White Mountain Apache/Navajo) experimental “4 Wheel War Pony.” “A Gente Luta mas Come Fruta/We Struggle but We Eat Fruit” by Bebito Piãko (Ashaninka) and Isaac Piãko (Ashaninka) is a loving portrait of the videomakers’community in Acre, Brazil, and “A Cielo Abierto/Under the Open Sky,” a documentary by José Luis Matías (Nahua) and Carlos Perez Rojas (Mixe), documents how community landowners successfully win concessions from a gold-mining company.

 

Complete festival listings can be found at www.nativenetworks.si.ed

Gotham Awards, Indie Spirit Award Nominees & Sundance '08

Last night Steiner Studios was the scene of the IFP Gotham Awards. The annual ceremony is a love letter to the NYC indie film scene and kicks off the awards season.  The timing for the event is welcome in the city. Especially since the entertainment industry is handling strikes on  both the East & West coasts.  This year's  Gotham tribute honoree Mira Nair was given a special award.  Another star on the rise we were happy to discover at Sundance is Ellen Page.  X-Men III fans may remember her as the spunky Kitty Pryde.   Ellen won a Breakthrough Actress award last night and is definitely about to become a household name.  Look for her star turn as a pregnant teen in "Juno" directed by "Thank You For Smoking" helmer Jason Reitman.

Ellen is also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. We're happy to see that Sundance alums Rocket Science, Crazy Love and Four Sheets to the Wind also received nominations.  The Bob Dylan bio pick "I'm Not There" led the Independent Spirit Awards with the most nominations. 

Today, Sundance released their list of films to screen in the January 2008 dramatic competition.  There are some alums including Nanette Burnstein who co-directed "The Kid Stays in the Picture" with Brett Morgan.  Brett Morgan's animated docudrama "Chicago 10" was last year's festival opening night film.  This year Nanette Burnstein returns to Sundance with the cinema verite "American Teen."   

"Half Nelson" team Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden reteam for   "Sugar" which chronicles the journey of Dominican baseball star Miguel "Sugar" Santos.  Cinematographer Ellen Kuras A.S.C.  who has worked as director of photography for directors like Spike Lee and Michel Gondry makes her directorial debut with
Nerakhoon (the Betrayal).   

Tropfest@Tribeca Announces Award Winner

AUSTRALIAN DIRECTOR BELINDA KING WINS TOP PRIZE


(TROPFEST FOUNDER : JOHN POLSON/ PHOTO BY SHANI HARRIS) 

A jury comprised of actor Josh Lucas (Poseidon), Australian born actress Rose Byrne (Damages, Troy), actor/director Griffin Dunne (The Accidental Husband, Fierce People, After Hours), Academy Award®-nominated director Bennett Miller (Capote), actress/director Mary Harron (American Psycho), director Tom McCarthy (Station Agent), and last year’s winner Matthew Bonifacio viewed the films alongside the audience and selected the winners for The Target Filmmaker Award, Second Prize, Third Prize, Best Actress, and Best Actor. The audience also acted as a jury when they voted for their favorite film, the Audience award, at the end of the premieres.

“Tropfest@Tribeca exceeded my expectations as a stand alone event in New York City in regards to the turn out, the crowd, and the films,” said John Polson, creative director. “I can’t imagine it going any better; it was an incredible night for the filmmakers, the audience and I’m incredibly grateful to the sponsors who helped to create a great festival experience for all who attended.”

John Polson handed out the Target Filmmaker Award with an unrestricted cash prize of $10,000 from Target and a trip for two to Australia provided by Australia.com and Qantas Airlines to Belinda King from Marrickville, Australia for The Picnic. (Synopsis: The desperate acts of a crazed woman turn a friendly picnic into a day to remember.) This is not Belinda’s first win at Tropfest, in February 2006 in Australia Belinda was a Tropfest finalist and won the Best Actor and Tropicana Award for her film- The Sister, which she wrote, directed and starred in.

“I am overwhelmed. It’s my first time out of Australia; I arrived in New York Saturday,” said director Belinda King. “I have been blown away by this city and this Festival. I was here just to see it all and participate and I can’t believe I won.”