Shall We Dance? Cultural Expression and the Immigrant Experience on Film

/

Monday, April 19th, 7:30pm

The Standby Program and Third World News Reel Present:

Shall We Dance? Cultural Expression and the Immigrant Experience on Film

An Immigrant Heritage Week Screening and Talkback

The Mist

Dirs. Maryam Habibian, 2009, 48 min.

“The Mist” chronicles Iranian filmmaker Maryam Habibian's return to Iran after 30 years to observe a new culture of art and ideas that has taken root and flourishes, side by side with fundamentalist traditions.

Two Dollar Dance

Dir. Yolanda Pividal, 2006, 17 min. 

In "Two Dollar Dance”, Spanish filmmaker Yolanda Pividal chronicles the experience of Latino immigrants who fill the dance clubs of Jackson Heights where they meet the "two-dollars ballerinas", women who will be their dance floor partners for two dollars a song.

The Bus

Dir. Zahra Partovi, 2009, 24 min.

“The Bus” by Iranian born filmmaker Zahra Partovi, takes us on a international and cross cultural journey inspired by the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca told by music and spoken word in 12 different languages; from Chinese to S

 

Muhammad & Larry

/

Saturday, April 17th, 7:00pm

Dirs. Albert Maysles & Bradley Kaplan (2009) 52 min.

Muhammad and Larry explores the unique and poignant relationship between two great boxers and two remarkable men who were more than just competitors. They were once teacher and student, and remain close friends. Muhammad and Larry combines never before seen footage of Ali and Holmes in the lead-up to their 1981 bout with reflective conversations with boxing experts, luminaries, and those who were at the fight.

Q & A with Albert Maysles & Bradley Kaplan

 

Muhammad Ali: The Greatest

/

Saturday, April 17th, 4:45pm

Dir. William Klein (1969) 104 minutes

"If people started identifying with Cassius there'd be Negroes running around everywhere saying, 'I am the greatest.' " - Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali: The Greatest

Photographer William Klein focuses on the Ali, the media impresario, in material he shot in 1964 plus footage shot in Zaire in 1974 when Ali fought George Foreman. 

Video Message from William Klein

Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson

/

Friday, April 16th, 7:30pm

Dir. Barbara Kopple (1993) 

He was the best loved boxing champion since Muhammad Ali. But Mike Tyson's extraordinary rise to fame was matched by his shocking fall from grace. His controversial story, from juvenile to international hero to convicted rapist, is told here in full. Through rare footage and exclusive interviews, director Barbara Kopple explores the legend: young Mike's relationship with his 'half-crazy, half-blind' mentor Gus D'Amato, his phenomenal killer instinct, his tumultuous marriage to actress Robin Givens, his association with Don King and eventual rape charge that brought him down.

Q & A with Filmmaker Barbara Kopple

When We We're Kings

/

Thursday, April 15th, 7:30pm

It's 1974, Muhammed Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Forman is ten years younger and the Heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set. A musical festival, featuring the America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King, is also planned.

Dir. Leon Gast (1996) 89 min.

Q & A with Producer Leon Gast

10:00 pm

Late Night Fight: Ali vs. Frazier III

A Woman is A Woman: The Female POV

/

Saturday, April 24th, 7:30pm

Hip Hop Screening (TBA)


A Woman is A Woman: The Female POV

Curated by Miriam Bale

April 25-28

(Taking inspiration from the literary criticism question, “Is there a feminine sentence?” films screened in the series—by renowned female filmmakers such as ELAINE MAY, CHANTAL AKERMAN, CAROLEE SCHNHEEMAN as well as new female directors such as Alina Mazzari, Maximilla Lukacs and Gina Telaroli—will attempt to identify and examine feminine filmmaking styles.

 

Cry of Jazz

/

Monday, April 12th, 7:30pm

***Back By Popular Demand***

Dir. Edward Bland, 1959, 34 min.

The Cry of Jazz is filmmaker, composer and arranger Edward O. Bland's essay on the politics of music and race. Not only is this one of the earliest documentaries made by an African American, it is arguably the first time an African American director openly challenges assumptions of white supremacy on film. Bland makes an early argument that Jazz is an inherently Black art form, rooted in Black experience, being diluted by White imitators to its own peril. Bland makes the case by grounding Sun Ra’s soundtrack in poignant images of Black urban experience and cultural life compared with the “cool” sound and posture of White jazz performers. This argument has fueled debate and cultural production from the Black Arts movement through the current “post-racial” period. "Edward O. Bland’s...insights into the art and politics of jazz—as seen in this short work of philosophical agitprop, from 1959—are profound."-Richard Brody (The New Yorker, 1/11/10)

Followed by Q&A with Dir. Edward Bland

 

Keeling's Caribbean Showcase

/

Sunday, April 11th, 7:30pm

Best of Reggae Sunsplash (1982)

Reggae Sunsplash is the brainchild of four Jamaicans, Tony Johnson, Don Green, Ronnie Burke and John Wakeling. Beginning in the summer of 1978, Sunsplash and the great reggae artists it featured is credited for generating tourism in Jamaica during the summer, traditionally a dead season. This collection of performances by The Mighty Diamonds, Yellow Man, Dean Fraser, Eek-A-Mouse and many more captures the festival at its apex.

Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music

Dir. Mike Connolly, 2004, 90 min.

This documentary uses clips, interviews, and musical performances to examine the evolution of reggae music, which was born on the streets of Jamaica and spread through America, Europe, and eventually the world. The popular artists of reggae, whose presence is still felt today, ultimately created a lasting impression and went on to influence a wide variety of musical styles including rock and hip hop.

 

VDay Harlem 2010

/

Saturday, April 10th, 4:00pm, 6:00pm, 8:00pm

Organized by Tiffany Johnson & Sheebani Patel

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery. This Harlem production of The Vagina Monologues will feature women of all different backgrounds and career paths organizing and performing this Phenomenal and Fierce work to raise money and awareness for the 2010 Spotlight: The Women and Girls of the Democratic Republic of Congo and our local beneficiary, Steps to End Family Violence. Performers: Janine Blunt, Kiku Chaudhuri, Melissa Corbett, Candice Gordon, Tiffany Johnson, Sweta Kapadia, J.J. Orgera, Sheebani Patel, Rebecca Rafelson, Sarah Schlein, Lesley Younge, Lisa Sheth. 

4:00pm performance-$15.00

6:00pm performance- $15.00

8:00pm performance- $25.00 (with reception)

 

A Hero Ain't Nothin' But A Sandwich

/

Thursday, April 8th, 7:30pm

Faux Real

(Truth Telling in Narrative Film)

Dir. Ralph Nelson, 1977, 107 mins.

Adapted from Alice Childress' inspirational novel of the same name, director Ralph Nelson's super real addiction drama tells the story of an intelligent yet alienated young person seduced into the world of hard drugs. Unable to stand being in the same apartment as his gruff but caring foster-father Butler (Paul Winfield), high school student Benjie (Larry B. Scott) opts to pass the time smoking weed and drinking with his good friend Jimmy Lee (Kenneth Green) and small-time drug dealer Carwell (Erin Blunt). Before long Benjie is hooked, and hanging out with local pusher Tiger (Kevin Hooks) in order to get the hard stuff. Increasingly alienated from both his foster-father and his grandmother (Helen Martin), young Benjie must rely on the assistance of a caring social worker (Claire Brennan) in order to stay clean and get back on his feet.

 

Blacula

/

Wednesday, April 7th, 7:30pm

The Collector's Showcase: 

From the Vaults of Robert Williams

Dir. William Crain, 1972, 93 min.

In the 18th century, an African prince and his wife go on a good-will mission to Transylvania to seek assistance from the "influential" Count Dracula in order to stop the slave trade. Dracula, enslaves and 'turns' the prince, cursing him with the Blacula name. Two hundred years later, Blacula is brought to the "New World" by interior decorators and reawakened, creating havoc on Los Angeles of the early 1970's.

Scream Blacula Scream

Dir. Bob Kelljan, 1973, 96 min.

Blacula returns the following year with a Voodoo twist. To remove the vampire curse so that his soul can rest in peace back in Africa, the African prince seeks the help of a beautiful Voodoo High-Priestess [Pam Grier]. But, in the mean time, he continues his vampiric ways and 'makes' himself a few helpers. Taking place mostly in inner-city Los Angeles of the early 1970's.

 

From the Ground Up

/

Monday, April 5th, 7:00pm

Docwatchers

Dir. Su Friedrich, 2007, 54 min.

Using minimal narration, From the Ground Up shows how an ordinary cup of coffee occupies center stage in the world economy. Traveling with the filmmaker from Guatemala to South Carolina to New York City and seeing each phase of coffee production unfold the growing, picking, processing, distribution, brewing and selling one comes to understand that most products we use have passed through the hands, and lives, of countless people in numerous countries. This film is all about the coffee, and about everything else we consume, consume, consume.

 

The Exeriment: Potraits

/

Saturday, April 3rd, 7:30pm

‘The Experiment’ is a quarterly screening event dedicated to the relationship between experimental and documentary modes of cinema. Our last screening explored the political film with work from Jem Cohen, Deborah Stratman, and Leslie Thornton. This time around, we have assembled a diverse collection of films and videos , from both established and emerging artists, to explore the concept of portraiture in film. This two-floor event will showcase works both in a tradtional theater setting as well as through gallery-style film and video installations. A by donation bar will be open the entire evening.

Cinema: Albert Maysles - Orson Welles, Ben Rivers - Origin of the Species, Naren Wilks - Bridgee Study,Kelly Spivey - Make Them Jump, Paolo Gioli - Filmmarylin, Stan Brackage - I ... Dreaming, Seth Fragomen - Seance, Robert Todd - Stable.

Downstairs Gallery: Seoungho Cho - W.S. 1-3, Marie Losier - Bird, Bath & Beyond, David Baker - AB OVO, Greg Vanderveer - Albert Maysles, Sean Berman - Self-Portrait, Peter Buntaine - Bushwick, Lorenzo Gattorna - Orkin, & more to be announced.

Harlem Homegrown

/

Friday, April 2nd, 7:30pm

(For Harlem, By Harlem)

Luther T. Jones

George Lamboy, 1991, 60 min.

 

 

Released the same year as Spike Lee's glossy Jungle Fever, the verite gem Luther T. Jones, tells the story of a Harlem based black man and his fetish for white women. However, in the end through a series of bittersweet, comic events Jones comes to appreciate the girl next door. Shot in and around Harlem in real apartments, local nightclubs, bars and parks Luther T. Jones evokes early 90s, real deal NYC perhaps on a level that most films (documentary or narrative) can't claim. Luther T. Jones features James Dickson as the title character. Dickson, a Harlem resident, has appeared in a wide range of stage, screen, and television productions including We Wear the Masques, New Jack City and The Cosby Show.  Stars Dickson as well as Lorin Johanson, Jessie Eccles, Carole Lynn Oswald.

Q &A with James Dickson

 

Human Rights in Haiti

/

Thursday, April 1st, 7:00pm

The People's Choice

(Audience Curated Screenings)

Dirs. Isabelle Abric and Simone Guidi di Bagno, 1999, 56 min.

In a delicate blend of paintings and exclusive footage, this documentary - the first of its kind - takes viewers through the history of Haitian people and the struggle for their rights.

Q&A with Dr. Steeve Coupeau of NYIHA MEDIA

 

Pumping Iron

/

Dir. George Butler, 1977 85 min.

From Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach California to the showdown in Pretoria, amateur and professional bodybuilders prepare for the 1975 Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe contests in this documentary film. Five-time champion Arnold Schwarzenegger defends his Mr. Olympia title against Serge Nubret and the shy young deaf Lou Ferrigno, whose father is his coach; the ruthless champ psyches out the young lion as Bodybuilding and a celebrity-to-be go mainstream. 

Q&A George Butler & Larry Silk

Pumping Iron II: The Women

/

Dir. George Butler, 1985, 107 min.

“One of Gloria Steinem’s favorite films!” Four women who have devoted their lives to the pursuit of their conception of the “perfect” female form, spending grueling hours torturing themselves on Nautilus machines and browning themselves under tanning lamps prepare for the 1983 Caesars Palace World Cup.