Mississippi Damned DVD Pre-Sale Begins Friday, November 12th, 2010

Official Website: www.MississippiDamned.com/

Own a Copy of the Award-Winning
Mississippi Damned
Pre-Sale Begins

Just in time for the 2010 holiday season, you can now purchase the Mississippi Damned DVD for your home collection! Own the film that made a definite mark on the film festival circuit, winning 15 awards at festivals all over the country. Honors include: Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the 2009 Chicago Film Festival, Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the 2009 American Black Film Festival, and Grand Jury Award for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature at the 2009 Outfest Film Festival.

The DVD is full of GREAT features including Deleted Scenes, the Trailer, Behind The Scenes Material, Interviews from the Film Festival Circuit, and Tina Mabry's first short, Brooklyn's Bridge to Jordan, which stars Jossie Harris Thacker who plays Charlie in Mississippi Damned.

Starring Malcolm Goodwin (Leatherheads, American Gangster), Michael Hyatt (The Wire), Malcolm David Kelley (Antwone Fisher, Lost), Tessa Thompson (For Colored Girls), Simbi Kali Williams (3rd Rock from the Sun), and DB Woodside (24,The Temptations), the film has been cited as one of "the best ensemble casts of the year."

Buy now to get the pre-sale price of $14.95 + shipping and handling! Take advantage of this great price as it will go up at the end of the pre-sale period. DVDs will be available for shipping on December 3rd, 2010 in plenty of time for the holiday season.

Just visit www.MississippiDamned.com and visit the store to get your copy today! (Navigate to the STORE tab)

Mississippi Damned Awards and Honors

• Jury Award for Best American Independent Film: Philadelphia Film Festival/CineFest 2009
• Jury Award for Narrative Breakthrough Film: 2009 Atlanta Film Festival 365
• Audience Award for Best Feature Film: NewFest 2009
• Grand Jury Award for Best Actor (Tessa Thompson): 2009 American Black Film Festival
• Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature: 2009 American Black Film Festival
• Grand Jury Award for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature Film: Outfest 2009 Film Festival
• Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature Film: 2009 Urbanworld Film Festival
• Jury Award for Best Feature Film: 2009 Chicago International Film Festival
• Jury Award for Best Screenplay: 2009 Chicago International Film Festival
• Jury Award for Best Supporting Actress (Jossie Harris Thacker): 2009 Chicago International Film Festival
• The Cheryl Dunye First Lady Award for Writing & Directing at the 2009 QBC Film Festival
• The Cheryl Dunye First Lady Award for Producing & Editing at the 2009 QBC Film Festival
• Mississippi Damned's Writer/Director, Tina Mabry & Cinematographer, Bradford Young Named in Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film
• 2009 AfterEllen.com Visibility Award for Best Festival Release with Lesbian/Bi Characters
• 2010 Black Reel Award for Best Independent Feature Film
• Audience Award for Best Feature Film: Hayti Heritage Film Festival 2010
• Tina Mabry Named 2010 United States Artist James Baldwin Fellow.

Homo Harlem Film Festival 2010 June 21st - 26th, 2010New York City

Click On The Images To Enlarge
For All Programming Information
(Feel Free To Download, Print Out And Take With You)

Click On The Images To Enlarge
For All Programming Information
(Feel Free To Download, Print Out And Take With You)

Kirikou And The Wild Beast (2005) Re-Released On DVD With English Subtitles

Hey Black Family,

I absolutely LOVE the character KIRIKOU because he's a tough, tough little brutha who has heart!! And funny, too!! A definite inspiration for the African Diaspora when you see him in action.

I originally found out or stumbled onto Kirikou when I was looking at a BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) flyer and saw an animated thumbnail of Kirikou. I thought to myself "Oh, this is interesting. An African animated character as a protagonist". So, I decided to go check it and was pleasantly and thoroughly superposed by this gem that I saw. ANd I actually took it to an ADODI summer retreat to show it as part of the ADODI Film Fest that I created and curated some years and t went over very well. Bruthaz responded to the film very favorably. Kirikou is accessible for kids and equally for adults, too!! Trust me!

As a Black kid growing up in NYC during the 1970s and looking at Saturday morning cartoons religiously, I noticed there were very, very few cartoon characters that looked like me or had my dark skin complexion. The only Black characters that come to mind off the top of my head as I type this are Mighty Man from Mighty Man and Yukk and Black Vulcan (pictured to the right here with his qool, qool costume) from the Super Friends tv series. And there was the qool super villain the Moon Man from The New Adventures of Batman cartoon series.

Anyway, the original all French version of Kirikou et les betes sauvages (translates in English to Kirikou And The Wild Beast [2005]) that I currently own on DVD is French spoken and has French subtitles. This version was released by Alliance Atlantic Vivia Films/Remstar and has a running time of 75 minutes.

Even though I couldn't understand what the characters were saying I could still pretty much follow the storyline and what was going on. Because I'm a big Kirikou fan it didn't stop me from buying this version; most English speaking people probably would not have bought this DVD.

Now, Kirikou And The Wild Beast (2005) has been re-released on DVD by Kino Films which is still spoken in French, however, this version accompanies English subtitles with a running time of 95 minutes; that's 20 minutes longer!!! The aspect ratio is 1.85:1 and enhanced for 16:9 television monitors.

You can pick up a copy of Kirikou And The Wild Beast at
Amazon.com for $22.49
DeepDiscount.com for $11.99

I just placed an order with Deep Discount (can't knock their excellent price point) who is a reputable e-commerce website. I have been ordering from them for about 9 years now so they are trustworthy. They also offer FREE shipping as one of their 4 methods of shipment.

The above prices are subject to change / fluctuate at anytime.

NOTE: Parental guidance for children viewing is suggested.Women are shown in traditional attire (sarongs only) and children wear no clothing. I personally don't think it's a big deal for children to see at all (even if I had children), and one has to realize this particular film art is not rooted in American traditions of western values (aka Disney films); but, hey, everybody is different, so just giving you a heads up.

Also, below is a 10 minute clip so you can get a feel for the film. I LOVE Kirikou! You go boy!

African CG (Computer Genereted) Animation: The Zambezia Trailer And The Khumba Trailer

Hey Black Family,

WHOOOOAAA! I have to share this with y'all!

Embedded below are promo trailers to two African CG (Computer Generated) animation films produced by Triggerfish Animation called Zambezia and Khumba. I tell you... just watching these trailers just brought out the inner child in me so much. I haven't been this HAPPY about watching something from the animation genre since I discovered Kirikou and the Sorceress (1998) and the sequel Kirikou And The Wild Beast (2005) a few years ago.

These new, Zambezia and Khukma, that I discovered via ShadowandAct.com (my one and only favorite film website that I LOVE to visit for it's African Diasporic appeal) are examples of everything Hollywood is NOT in terms of ethnic and cultural diversity. In other words, these films are un-American and have their own flava which is so refreshing and needed!!! Though I will say I did enjoy the Hollywood made Madagascar series of animation films, but though they have some Afrocentricity to it (some settings in Africa and the characters are voiced by some African-American talent such as Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett-Smith), they're really dumbed-down Afrocentric presentations which is not surprising as they need to appeal to a white audience; they can't be TOO ETHNIC or TOO BLACK, know what I mean??? The Madagascar series short films are qool, but they don't hold a candle to the Kirikou films or these two new African gems.

Anyway, you can check out the clips below FIRST (both trailers run about 8 or 9 minutes total) and then you can head over to ShdaowandAct.com and read the whole backstory. Both Zambezia and Khumba are due for release in 2011.

Wheeeeeeeee! Qoolness!... just the little boy in me!

ME (Little ROD) Back In The Day


Zambezia Synopsis:

On the edge of an enormous waterfall, in the heart of Africa, lies the bird city of Zambezia. Famous for its impregnable defenses against egg predators, it has become the breeding sanctuary for birds from throughout the river valley. With half of its massive Baobab shell gone, Zambezia City is the ultimate tree house, humming with birds on every level, from its roots at the base, to the platforms high in the leafy tops.

Aero, a young Taita Falcon from a remote outpost, is the protagonist of the story. He dreams of flying on the prestigious River Watch. When Aero’s father is captured by the treacherous Marabous, he is forced to abandon his outpost and flee to Zambezia. However, Aero soon finds himself at the centre of a deadly plot concocted by the Marabous – who have joined forces with giant, egg-eating lizards – to overthrow Zambezia and return things back to “every bird for himself”. If Aero is to save Zambezia, he will have to learn that not all battles are won with fast and fancy flying.

Website: zambeziamovie.com

Zambezia from Triggerfish Animation on Vimeo.

Khumba, Synopsis:

Khumba, the story of a half-striped zebra, born into an insular, isolated herd obsessed with stripes. Rumors that the strange foal is cursed spread and, before long, he is blamed for the drought that sets in. When his father, the leader of the herd, blames him for the lack of rain and the subsequent death of his mother, the outcast zebra leaves the confines of his home knowing that he cannot survive in the herd without all his stripes.

Khumba Trailer




Sopo (short film)
A Triggerish Film Project

Fall in LOVE with BLUEPRINT NOW ON VOD (Video-On-Demand)Also, Pre-Order Black Same Gender Loving Film on DVD NOW: $14.99

Blueprint (2007)
starring
Blake Young-Fountain and Damion Lee

Blueprint is who you really are - Keith and Nathan. Two intelligent, attractive, down to earth young men looking for a romantic connection in the chaos we call life.

Having screened in New York, London, Cannes, Los Angeles, Burkina Faso, San Francisco, Prague, Philippines, Atlanta, DC, Montreal, Boston, Amsterdam, Detroit, Berlin, & Chicago, the Black same gender loving (SGL) indie film Blueprint is now available on VOD (Video-On-Demand).

STARTING VALENTINE'S DAY...

GET YA CHOCOLATE ON!

See yourself.
Leave your blueprint at WWW.FLICKERIA.COM

Video-On-Demand Available NOW

Also Pre-Order The Blueprint DVD
At The Special Price Of $14.99 NOW
(Feb 14th thru March 14th, 2010)


Keith At The Lake



Nathan



Keith and Nathan Laying Together

Jim Kelly Is Black Belt Jones And More... 4 Film Favorites: Urban Action Collection Definitely A Childhood Hero Of Mine From Da 1970s

New Urban Action Collection DVD Release
Starring My Boyhood Hero Jim Kelly








DOOOOUUUUUUUUUHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Rejoice y'all! On the FUN side, I'm happy to announce that Warner Bros just released (January 12th, 2010) the Urban Action Collection on DVD which is part of their 4 Film Favorites series of DVDs.

This particular set of films feature: Belt Black Jones (1974) , Hot Potato (1976), and Three The Hard Way (1974) all star my childhood Black (martial arts) hero Jim Kelly; the other film Black Samson (1974), which I never heard of, is also featured. You can pick up this 4 film set DVD for like $13 to $15 duckets at Amazon.com. A bargain. And the films are remastered and letterboxed. ( I HATE the term widescreen; I'm old school from the laserdisc days! Yo' heard!)

Anyway, not gonna type much more here other than to say that Black Belt Jones and Three The Hard Way are winners. Hot Potato unfortunately is not a good film. In fact, it's rather horrendous and wasn't funny! The following pics are from Black Belt Jones, which a campy FUN film. I also found and embedded below the opening film fight sequence and the ending film fight sequence from YouTube.

So, chill a while on Nubian Knights Network and watch a few minutes and have FUN.

Lata y'all... DOOOOUUUUUUUUUHHHH!!!!!!!!!

ROD

Jim Kelly Givin' A Beat Down

A Hit To Da Balls! DAMN! Dat Hurts!

Another Beat Down Is Comin' By Black Belt Jones

Jim Kelly In His Cute Shorty Shorts Kickin' Butt!

Black Belt Jones: Intro/Opening Credits Fight Scene

Black Belt Jones: Ultimate Car-wash Kick Butt Scene

Jim Kelly Tribute With "Afro Samurai" Theme Song By RZA

Jim Kelly (Being Falsely Set-up) Kickin' The Police's Ass
Awesome Clip Is From Three The Hard Way

ROD's Top 20 Black SGL Films;Also: RAG TAG (2006)A Black British Same Gender Loving FilmNow Available On U.S.'s Amazon.com

Hey FAM,

Just got word from a friend that the British Black same gender loving (SGL) film Rag Tag is now available stateside on Amazon.com (HERE). Amazon sometimes fluctuates its prices on various items; you can get the film for like $23 bucks or so. I purchased my copy not too long ago from Rag Tag director Adaora Nwandu from her company Muka Films Limited and had it shipped from England. Rag Tag is one of my favorite Black SGL films of all time (in fact, it's in the top three!) an it's highly recommended if my word means anything to ya. LOL!

I also decided to compile of list of my top 20

The criteria for my top 20 Black same gender loving films is based upon:
(1) The majority of the characters (fiction) and/or real persons (documentaries) are of African descent and same gender loving.

(2) The stories are the primary focus of the African same gender loving (homosexual, bisexual, transgendered) experience (a slice of life)

(3) Black films that I (ROD) have SEEN (NOT word of mouth)

(4) American and foreign (import) films

(5) The films were exhibitioned in movie theaters or via tv/cable viewing

(6) The Black films depict people of African descent in a affirming, cultural, uplifting and respectable way.

ROD's Top 20
Black Same Gender Loving Films

The list below is arranged in alphabetical order
and DOES NOT signify a particular order
of importance or ranking!!

1- Batty Man (2006)~

2- Billy Turner’s Secret (1990) [From The Short Film Anthology Boys' Shorts] [available on DVD]

3- Blind Faith (1998)

4- Blueprint (2007) [available on DVD February 2010]

5- Brother To Brother (2004) [available on DVD]

6- Dakan (1997)~ [available on DVD]

7- DL Chronicles, The (2005) [available on DVD]

8- Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project (2008)

9- Four Rent Boys And A Sangoma (2004)~

10- Kevin's Room (2001)

11- Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100 (1999)

12- Looking For Langston (1988)+ [available on DVD]

13- Make A Move (2006)

14- Mississippi Damned (2009)

15- Paris Is Burning (1990) [available on DVD]

16- Rag Tag (2006)~ [available on DVD]

17- Reception, The (2005) [available on DVD]

18- Rude (1995) [available on DVD]

19- Ski Trip, The (2004) [available on DVD]

20- Surrender (2000)~


SYMBOL LEGEND:
FILMS HI-LITED IN YELLOW DENOTE MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE BLACK SGL FILMS

~FOREIGN FILM [PRODUCED & MADE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES] (4)

+INCREDIBLE CINEMATOGRAPHY

Does Alien Movie "Avatar" Have a Racist Theme?

The following column below is taken from blackamericaweb.com. And no matter what you think of Avatar if you've seen the film or not (like I haven't seen the film but because Avatar's a hot topic in the news financially and its social-political storyline), it is undeniable that it brings up the race dialog yet again. It becomes clear over and over again, that the United States of America still does not want to deal with race or racial inequality. Some are quick to say "well, it's just a fantasy movie, stop being so serious about it" or "well, we have a our first Black president,, what more do you want?" . And yet as comedian Paul Mooney recently said on The Tavis Smiley Show, (paraphrasing) are Black people supposed to be ecstatic because we have a first Black president when yet the previous 43 presidents were all white? And fianlly, this post-racial America feel-good crap term thrown around is a fucking joke!

So, again, whenever there are parallels to race (in this case the Avatar film), how can it be surprising to folks that race doesn't flare up again??? We as a country don't wanna deal with it!!!!! How can it not come up unexpectedly???

Dr. Joy DeGruy, a professional around post-traumatic slave syndrome, has said time and again, that America keeps putting a band aid on the bole (race), yet it festers and the wound becomes even more infected because we won't properly deal with it.

Anyway, here's the article which I thought was a great read...

ROD

Does Alien Movie 'Avatar' Have a Racist Theme?
Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 5:22 am
By: Jesse Washington, AP National Writer

Near the end of the hit film "Avatar," the villain snarls at the hero, "How does it feel to betray your own race?" Both men are white — although the hero is inhabiting a blue-skinned, 9-foot-tall, long-tailed alien.

Strange as it may seem for a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble denizens of a faraway moon, "Avatar" is being criticized by a small but vocal group of people who allege it contains racist themes — the white hero once again saving the primitive natives.

Since the film opened to widespread critical acclaim three weeks ago, hundreds of blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have said things such as the film is "a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people" and that it reinforces "the white Messiah fable."

The film's writer and director, James Cameron, says the real theme is about respecting others' differences.

In the film (read no further if you don't want the plot spoiled for you) a white, paralyzed Marine, Jake Sully, is mentally linked to an alien's body and set loose on the planet Pandora. His mission: persuade the mystic, nature-loving Na'vi to make way for humans to mine their land for unobtanium, worth $20 million per kilo back home.

Like Kevin Costner in "Dances with Wolves" and Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai" or as far back as Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 Western "Broken Arrow," Sully soon switches sides. He falls in love with the Na'vi princess and leads the bird-riding, bow-and-arrow-shooting aliens to victory over the white men's spaceships and mega-robots.

Adding to the racial dynamic is that the main Na'vi characters are played by actors of color, led by a Dominican, Zoe Saldana, as the princess. The film also is an obvious metaphor for how European settlers in America wiped out the Indians.

Robinne Lee, an actress in such recent films as "Seven Pounds" and "Hotel for Dogs," said that "Avatar" was "beautiful" and that she understood the economic logic of casting a white lead if most of the audience is white.

But she said the film, which so far has the second-highest worldwide box-office gross ever, still reminded her of Hollywood's "Pocahontas" story — "the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the savior."

"It's really upsetting in many ways," said Lee, who is black with Jamaican and Chinese ancestry. "It would be nice if we could save ourselves."

Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of the sci-fi Web site io9.com, likened "Avatar" to the recent film "District 9," in which a white man accidentally becomes an alien and then helps save them, and 1984's "Dune," in which a white man becomes an alien Messiah.

"Main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color ... (then) go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed," she wrote.

"When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?" wrote Newitz, who is white.

Black film professor and author Donald Bogle said he can understand why people would be troubled by "Avatar," although he praised it as a "stunning" work.

"A segment of the audience is carrying in the back of its head some sense of movie history," said Bogle, author of "Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films."

Bogle stopped short, however, of calling the movie racist.

"It's a film with still a certain kind of distortion," he said. "It's a movie that hasn't yet freed itself of old Hollywood traditions, old formulas."

Writer/director Cameron, who is white, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that his film "asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message."

There are many ways to interpret the art that is "Avatar."

What does it mean that in the final, sequel-begging scene, Sully abandons his human body and transforms into one of the Na'vi for good? Is Saldana's Na'vi character the real heroine because she, not Sully, kills the arch-villain? Does it matter that many conservatives are riled by what they call liberal environmental and anti-military messages?

Is Cameron actually exposing the historical evils of white colonizers? Does the existence of an alien species expose the reality that all humans are actually one race?

"Can't people just enjoy movies any more?" a person named Michelle posted on the Web site for Essence, the magazine for black women, which had 371 comments on a story debating the issue.

Although the "Avatar" debate springs from Hollywood's historical difficulties with race, Will Smith recently saved the planet in "I Am Legend," and Denzel Washington appears ready to do the same in the forthcoming "Book of Eli."

Bogle, the film historian, said that he was glad Cameron made the film and that it made people think about race.

"Maybe there is something he does want to say and put across" about race, Bogle said. "Maybe if he had a black hero in there, that point would have been even stronger."

___

Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press.


UPDATE (FRIDAY, JANUARY 22ND, 2010):

The following is a thoughtful DECONSTRUCTION and analysis using CRITICAL THINKING around RACE in regard to Avatar paralleled with the racist history of the United States.

Well, well done! The truths here cannot be refuted!!

The Shadow & Act "Black Film" Report For 2009 (The Horror!)

The Shadow & Act “Black Film” Report For 2009 (The Horror!)
By Tambay, on December 9th, 2009

IndieWire, LA Weekly & Village Voice have posted the full list of every single film that’s been released this year (in the USA) – specifically, every film that’s screened in theatres for at least 1 week; whether indie or mainstream; foreign or domestically-produced; limited release, or wide; whether in 1 theatre in New York, or 3500 screens nationwide. It’s all there!

The total? 589 films - including films that haven’t yet been released, but will be, before the end of the year, in the next 3 weeks.

That’s a lot of movies, right? How many of those did you see? And maybe more importantly, how many fall under the category of “black films?”

Well, to answer the latter question… I looked over the list – although, to be honest, I did it rather quickly, so there’s a chance I missed 1 or 2; but I don’t think I missed more than that. But feel free to look over the list yourself and let me know if I missed any!

Regardless, it’s a tiny percentage! Ain’t nothin’ changed! Of the 589 movies released this year, I counted just 20 that we could classify as “black films.” A paltry 3.4%!

3.4%!!!!!!

It’s not even on par with the percentage of blacks that make up the country’s population, which is currently around 14%. If it at least matched population percentage breakdowns, I’d maybe be a little less perturbed.

For the sake of this post, I’m defining a “black film” as one that tells a story primarily about a black person (or black people). In essence, a black person has to be at the story’s center! So, a film like Law Abiding Citizen doesn’t count, even though Jamie Foxx had a lead role in it. It was Gerard Butler’s character’s story, ultimately, not Jamie Foxx’s.

The 20 “black films” are:

Black Dynamite, Precious, Not Easily Broken, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Madea Goes To Jail, Medicine For Melancholy, American Violet, Armored, Confessions of an Ex-Doofus-Itchyfooted Mutha, Good Hair, Goodbye Solo, Next Day Air, Notorious, Obsessed, Munyurangabo, Pressure Cooker, Soul Power, 35 Shots of Rum, Tyson, Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love.

Wow! Underwhelming isn’t it? Not only the number, but also the overall quality of films.

How many of those did you see? And, of more importance, how many are actually what we could call “good films?”

Of the 20, I’ve seen 15. The 5 I didn’t see are Munyurangabo, Pressure Cooker, Soul Power, Tyson, and Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love – all documentaries, except for the 1st! I’ll catch them on DVD.

So, of the 20 films, 5 are documentaries; also, 3 have Tyler Perry’s name attached whether as writer/director or producer; the highest grossing of the 19 films is also a Tyler Perry product (Madea Goes To Jail, at $90 million); What else stands out to you?

But of the 15 that I saw, I’d put Medicine For Melancholy at #1, at the top of the list! Followed by 35 Shots Of Rum, Black Dynamite, American Violet, and Precious, rounding out my top 5, in that order.

To wrap it all up… despite any articles we’ve read, or interviews we’ve watched proclaiming positive changes in the industry, with regards to diversity, it’s quite clear that we’ve still got a loooooooong way to go, because this is just pathetic! 57 years after Ralph Ellison’s book was published, we’re still very much “invisible.”

The full list of 589 films can be found HERE.

BMX-NY Presents A Movie Screening: RAG TAG (A Black SGL Film)Friday, November 6th, 2009 @ 8PMHarlem, NYC

Presents

A Movie Screening of
RAG TAG

Hey Bruthaz,

The Black Men's Xchange-New York (BMX-NY) will be screening the Black same gender loving (SGL) film RAG TAG (2006) this Friday, November 6th, 2009 @ 8PM.

We hope you can come out and see a phenomenal film about the SGL experience from a British perspective.

This film ranks as one of my top favorite three Black SGL films of all-time!! Yes! I LOVE the film that much!

BMX's address and film info is listed below.

Be qool y'all!

ROD (aka BIG ROD)


BMX-NY
730 Riverside Drive (@ the corner of 150th Street)
(Entrance is on the 150th Street side of the building)
Suite 9E (9th floor)
Harlem, New York
8PM - 11PM
Google Map
TRAVEL: Take the A, C, D (front of any of those trains) or the #1 train to 145th Street






Rag Tag (2006)
Running Time: 98 minutes / Genre: Drama/Romance
Starring Danny Parson (as Raymond/Rag) and Adedamola Adelaja (as Tagbo/Tag). Produced, written and directed by Adaora Nwandu.

Synopsis:
Despite their radically different backgrounds, young Black British boys Rag and Tag share a close bond - perhaps too close. Rag is from a single-parent West Indian home and Tag is the pride of middle-class Nigerian parents. The two are inseparable until Social Services discovers Rag's mother isn't around and he's taken far from his
London home to Birmingham.

10 years later they discover later as young men that their once
innocent desires have definitively shifted into an urgent need to be together.

Propelled by a fantastic hip-hop score, Rag Tag is an intricate,
lyrical film about love and friendship set against a cultural backdrop that has never before been seen in a same gender loving film.

Filmed in the United Kingdom and Nigeria.
Genre: Drama/Romance.












DVD Purchase: http://www.mukaflicks.co.uk/shop.html

RAG TAG DVD

10 GBP + Postage and Packaging (Roughly $23.00 U.S. Dollars)

PAL DVD, Multizone - will play on computers and newer DVD players
all over the world

Bonus Extras include: 'Making Of' documentary and shots from Deleted Scenes

8 - 10 days delivery from England

African Diaspora Film Festival 2009 (NYC)

African Diaspora Film Festival 2009

WHAT: COME CELEBRATE WITH US THE 17TH ANNUAL AFRICAN DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL!!
- 101 films
- 63 world, US and NY premieres
- 46 countries

WHEN: Starting on Thanksgiving Weekend, Friday November 27 and running until December 15

WHERE: Six different venues in Manhattan

UPCOMING SCREENINGS - SPECIAL EVENTS:

OPENING NIGHT - Wole Soyinka & Nothing But the Truth - Fri, Nov 27 @ 8:00PM - Anthology Film Archives

CENTERPIECE - Inside Buffalo - Fri, Dec 4 @ 8:00PM - Cowin Center (Teachers College)

GALA SCREENING - Harimaya Bridge - Sun. Dec 6 @ 5:30PM - Thalia Theatre (Symphonie Space)

A NIGHT IN MOROCCO - The Tale of a Mchaouchi Wrestler / Moussem Lamchaoucha - Tue, Dec. 8 @ 6:30PM - Thalia Theatre (Symphonie Space)

GALA SCREENING - Arugba - Wed, Dec. 9 @ 8:30PM - Anthology Film Archives

WOMEN INDIES NIGHT - The Little Black Shool House & Portia White, Think on Me - Thu, Dec. 10 @ 8:30PM - Schomburg Center

Third World Newsreel Office Mural It's Really BEAUTIFUL ART!!!(Also... Fall 2009 Film/Video Workshops!)

Third World Newsreel Office Mural

| TWN Workshops: The Fall 2009 Edition!

Tuesday, October 20th, 6:30 PM
New Approaches to Fundraising ** Free **

Grants, investors, loans, house parties - how are people raising money now - with various guest speakers. Includes: Shaady Salehi, of Active Voice, on strategies such as their successful "Prenups" program, which helps forge more productive relationships between the media artist and its funders.

Tuesday, Oct. 27th - New Media Series
Part 1: Web 2.0 with The Hip Hop Association
Blogging, websites, podcasts, RSS - an introduction to the use and rationale for the various social media. Best practices, how-to's and why-to's and where to find the help to get started.

Wednesday, Oct 28th - New Media Series
Part 2: Transitioning to New Media Platforms: with Ann Bennett
It's not enough to make your film for theatrical and television broadcast - you have to plan to have your production work on various media platforms simultaneously. What do you need to know and plan for, and how to get the info you need to "catch up".

Editing: Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro Workshop
6 week course on Saturday Afternoons This Fall - STARTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3rd!
Learn to edit through examining films, exploring media literacy principles - and learning Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro, in a 6 week course on Saturday afternoons from 1-3 PM. The class costs $300 and an application and pre-registration is required. Registration includes free entry to the Wednesday Night Workshops. Taught by filmmaker Alonzo Rico Speight. For application/ info, email: workshop@twn.org.
All editing classes are on Saturdays at 1 PM.

All classes take place at:
Third World Newsreel
545 Eighth Avenue, 10th Flr
between 37th and 38th Streets
1, 2, 3, A, C, E, N, R, W to Times Square
212 947-9277 x 15
email: workshop@twn.org

Register Now! Email: workshop[at]twn.org.


MISSION / ABOUT US...

TWN is a 501(c)3 nonprofit alternative media arts organization that fosters the creation, appreciation and dissemination of independent film and video by and about people of color and social justice issues.

It supports the innovative work of diverse forms and genres made by artists who are intimately connected to their subjects through common bonds of ethnic/cultural heritage, class position, gender, sexual orientation and political identification. TWN promotes the self-representation of traditionally marginalized groups as well as the negotiated representation of those groups by artists who work in solidarity with them.

Ultimately, whether documentary, experimental, narrative, traditional or non-traditional, the importance of the media promoted by the organization is its ability to effect social change, to encourage people to think critically about their lives and the lives of others, and to propel people into action.