Omar Epps has signed on to executive produce a feature-length documentary called “Daddy Don’t Go” which shines a light on those fathers who are trying to go against the statistic that 1 in 3 children are growing up fatherless.
Epps released this statement: “Being the product of a fatherless household, Daddy Don’t Go delves into an issue that’s close to my heart.
In the media, we’re always inundated with the notion that black men and/or men from impoverished areas are absent fathers. Though that may be true to an extent, there are also thousands of young men fighting to be active fathers in their children’s lives. This fact gets smothered in the media by rampant negative imagery of black men and fatherless children. Daddy Don’t Go chronicles the journeys of four such men and their respective battles to parent their children. It’s time men like these have a platform and a voice to challenge the statistics and common ideology about the issue of fatherhood.”
The project itself follows four New York fathers as they tackle fatherhood as best they can. Of course, fatherhood is never easy, and this project shows both the highs and the lows of that challenge, but in the end, it’s always worth it.
article via thegrio.com
Posts published in “Documentary”
There a lot of different ideas about what it means to be beautiful, and one new docuseries is hoping to explore every facet of it.
Pretty is something that is hard to define, but you know it when you see it. Depending on where you’re from that could look a lot different. Adding race to the equation brings in a whole new group of variables. As such, Antonia Opiah decied that it might be interesting to take a look at what beauty means to Black women around the world in her new webseries, Pretty.
According to Shadow and Act, the series debuted back in January. That means there are a bunch of episodes to get caught up on if you’re just finding out about it.
In Pretty, Antonia asks Black women from London, Paris and Milan what beauty and the concept of what is beautiful means to them. From the promo above, you get a taste of the fact that being pretty is more than just a certain set of physical attributes, it’s about what each woman brings to it. Some even share how their perception of beauty has changed over the course of their lives.
She doesn’t just speak to one type of Black woman, either. Antonia sat down with Brown girls of all complexions and backgrounds to show just how broad this subject can be. Pretty goes further beyond the surface as it also explores their thoughts on fashion, self-esteem and feminism among other things. Ultimately it all results in a tapestry of all the ways Black women are beautiful even when living in areas where European ideals are the norm.
If you’re tired of binge-watching Netflix, this docuseries is definitely an interesting break from the norm that will give you lots to ponder. Go to YouTube or un-ruly.com to see the entire web series.
article by Sonya Eskridge via hellobeautiful.com
The media’s representation of Baltimore in 2015 hasn’t been the kindest—well, aside from that time President Obama praised HBO’s The Wire. The sad fact is, the media would’ve continued to ignore the crime-ridden city’s residents’ needs and discontent had it not been for the tragic death of Freddie Gray, the 20-year-old black man who died while in police custody in early April.
Rightfully angered, many of Baltimore’s citizens let their frustrations be seen and heard via riots and protests. And since nationwide news outlets were there on the scene for every broken window and raised-in-solidarity fist, much of the viewing public saw Baltimore’s post-Gray events and formed opinions based on those acts.
Instead of spending so much time focusing on the city’s angriest moment, however, media outlets should be paying more attention to the young men and women who are busting their humps to uplift Baltimore both emotionally and financially.
In the new documentary short A Dream Preferred, filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) have done just that. Co-produced by Tribeca Digital Studios and American Express, the film—which is currently available on various cable on-demand platforms—follows the efforts of six young black men in Baltimore, led by an outspoken go-getter named Devon Brown, who’ve started their own dessert company, Taharka Bros. Ice Cream. (The name is a tribute to Taharka McCoy, a 25-year-old local mentor who was senselessly gunned down in January 2002.)
The company’s goal is, naturally, partly to use their handmade frozen treats to turn profits, but ultimately the Taharka Bros. are aiming to inspire other young entrepreneurs—they’re proof that inner-city minorities don’t need to play sports and make rap music to be successful.
A Dream Preferred, shot throughout the summer of 2013, captures their efforts to raise $28,000 in 29 days through the crowd-funding site Kickstarter. Dubbed “Vehicle for Change,” their Kickstarter plan was crucial to allow the brothers (in the figurative sense, not literally blood-connected siblings) elevate their business above using a rinky-dink ice cream truck.
With charisma to spare, the Taharka crew—especially Devon Brown, who’s the film’s de facto star—give A Dream Preferred a lightheartedness that offsets its heavier underlying themes, mainly the racial discrimination they experience everyday as young black men. In one scene, their efforts to solicit Kickstarter contributions from white folks is mostly a cold-shoulder struggle, and the Taharka brothers’ frustrations are visible.
That scene has struck a lot of people who’ve seen the film,” says Taharka Bros. creative director Darius Wilmore, 42. “It’s interesting, because that scene is part of the challenge of something like this. You have the softest product on the face of the Earth, which is ice cream, that’s made and sold by people who’ve been deemed to be the hardest, and that’s an interesting juxtaposition. Unfortunately, you can’t avoid the issue of race. It’s always gonna be there. Some people will be open to it and others aren’t, but you can’t let that stop you from doing what you’re trying to do.”
Today, yours truly had the honor of being a part of a community of filmmakers and journalist who helped HuffPost Live host Nancy Redd interview Academy Award-nominated director Liz Garbus about her upcoming documentary on legendary singer-songwriter and activist Nina Simone entitled “What Happened, Nina Simone?” This feature-length look at Simone’s private as well as professional life debuts on Netflix on June 26 and I, for one, can’t wait to see it. Check out the HuffPost Live interview below for more insight and information:
[wpvideo 2CbGRSAv]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
Netflix and RadicalMedia paired up to produce and release the documentary, “What Happened, Miss Simone?,” directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus (“The Farm: Angola,” “USA” and “Bobby Fischer Against the World”), which will premiere exclusively in all territories where Netflix is available, on June 26.
Made in cooperation with the Estate of Nina Simone, and described as an “epic” documentary, director Liz Garbus’ film interweaves never-before-heard recordings and rare archival footage together, with Nina’’s most memorable songs, incorporating never-before-heard audio tapes, recorded over the course of 3 decades, of Nina, telling her life story to various interviewers and would-be biographers. Rare concert footage and archival interviews, along with diaries, letters, interviews with Nina’’s daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly, friends and collaborators, and other exclusive materials, make this the most authentic, personal, and unflinching telling of the extraordinary life of one of the 20th Century’s greatest recording artists.
Emmy–award nominated cinematographer Igor Martinovic (“House of Cards,” “Man on Wire”) shot the film, and Joshua L. Pearson (“Made in America,” “Under African Skies”) edited. Sidney Beaumont (“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”), Jon Kamen (“The Fog of War”), Lisa Nishimura (“The Square,” “Virunga”), Adam Del Deo (“The Square”) and Lisa Simone Kelly serve as executive producers on the film.
The documentary made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Netflix has released a first full trailer for the upcoming film, which is embedded below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOQXZxriKY&w=560&h=315]
article by Tambay A. Obenson via blogs.indiewire.com
HBO took U.S. television rights to director Marc Silver’s “3 1/2 Minutes,” after its premiere in documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival this year. And now Participant Media has announced a limited theatrical release of the acclaimed and timely feature documentary, which is now going to be titled “3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets,” opening on June 19th, 2015 in New York, and then on June 26th, 2015 in Los Angeles.
The film chronicles the story of Jordan Davis, the unarmed black 17-year-old, who was shot to death at a Florida gas station by a white fellow customer, Michael David Dunn. “3 1/2 Minutes” explores the aftermath of Jordan’s tragic death, the latent and often unseen effects of racism, and the contradictions of the American criminal justice system.
HBO will air the film in the fall, after its theatrical run.
The Jordan Davis shooting took place after Dunn, a white middle-aged male, and Davis exchanged angry words over the volume of the music in Davis’ car. Dunn fired 10 bullets at a car full of unarmed teenagers and then fled. He was arrested the next day and claimed he shot in self-defense.
He was convicted on three counts of attempted second-degree murder for firing at three other teenagers who were with Davis, and one count of firing into a vehicle. He was sentenced in October to life without parole.
“When we started this journey, our aim was make sure that Jordan’s story was not going to be forgotten, that he would not become a statistic in an increasingly violent world; this is why we are so fortunate to be partnering with HBO and Participant Media for the distribution of ‘3 1/2 Minutes,'” director Silver said in a previous press statement. “We are now certain that Jordan’s story will reach the widest, most diverse audience possible.”
To see a trailer and 2 new clips from the film, click here.
article by Tambay A. Benson via blogs.indiewire.com
Set to make its New York premiere tonight, March 29, 2015, at 9:30pm, at the New Voices in Black Cinema Festival, at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn, NY, is “Black Panther Woman” – director Rachel Perkins‘ documentary on the little known Brisbane chapter of the Black Panther Party, which was directly inspired by the American Black Panthers.
To pre-purchase tickets, visit http://www.bam.org/film/2015/black-panther-woman.
Central to the film is Marlene Cummins (photo above), who was introduced to Australia’s Black Panther Party in 1972, when she met and fell in love with its leader, beginning her education into the Black Power movement.
This Australian chapter of the Black Panther Party adapted the politics and style of the American Black Panther Party, from the clothing to their defiance, attracting the attention of the local authorities. Yet, unlike their American comrades, who numbered in the thousands across America, the Australian chapter comprised of just 10 members – young Aboriginal people who staged educational theatre shows, kept watch on the police on what they called ‘pig patrols,’ and were at the forefront of demonstrations, including the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
According to director Rachel Perkins, what began as a straightforward story, recounting the Black Panther Party in Australia, slowly revealed itself as something more. The tensions around the movement and her personal life tightened around Marlene, and finally led to the break up of her relationship with the party’s leader. Marlene filled the vacuum with alcohol and quickly spiralled into a cycle of addiction that left her vulnerable on the streets. Her vulnerability and her belief in the movement made her a target for black men in power. Marlene recalls the incident of her rape, by two Indigenous leaders, after which she made the difficult decision to stay silent. Dedicated to the cause, and distrustful of police, she, like other Aboriginal women facing abuse, chose to stay silent to protect the movement from criticism.
According to director Rachel Perkins, what began as a straightforward story, recounting the Black Panther Party in Australia, slowly revealed itself as something more. The tensions around the movement and her personal life tightened around Marlene, and finally led to the break up of her relationship with the party’s leader. Marlene filled the vacuum with alcohol and quickly spiralled into a cycle of addiction that left her vulnerable on the streets. Her vulnerability and her belief in the movement made her a target for black men in power. Marlene recalls the incident of her rape, by two Indigenous leaders, after which she made the difficult decision to stay silent. Dedicated to the cause, and distrustful of police, she, like other Aboriginal women facing abuse, chose to stay silent to protect the movement from criticism.
BBC Films is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an announcement of 15 new projects that will be released this year.
Among the 15 is a new documentary on Grace Jones from director Sophie Fiennes. Described as an observational portrait, the feature film is titled “Grace Jones – The Musical of My Life” and it will weave a multi-narrative journey through the private and public realms of the legendary singer and performer, mixing intimate personal footage with unique staged musical sequences.
It’s produced by Katie Holly, James Wilson, Emilie Blézat and Sophie Fiennes.
BBC Films join the BFI Film Fund and the Irish Film Board as co-financers.
No other details on the project are available at this time. It was 1 of 3 feature documentaries selected for funding by the BFI a year ago, following pitching sessions held at, and in partnership with the UK’s leading documentary festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The shortlisted teams were asked to give a 7-minute pitch and show clips of footage, and then fielded questions from the panel about the strength of the stories, characters and cinematic potential of the projects.
Incredibly, this will be the first comprehensive feature film (fiction or non-fiction) on the personal and professional life of Grace Jones – so my research tells me.
No word on when exactly it’ll be released, or whether it’ll become available in the USA.
article by Tambay A. Benson via blogs.indiewire.com
No word on when exactly it’ll be released, or whether it’ll become available in the USA.
article by Tambay A. Benson via blogs.indiewire.com
At Good Black News, February is an especially invigorating time. When Black History Month rolls around, people have more interest than normal in African-American history, music and culture, and GBN inevitably benefits from the heightened exposure. We make an extra effort to provide a wide variety of information and stories (historical and current) during this time, and point to events and programming we find to be educational as well as entertaining.
Even so, we are a small operation with limited (albeit growing) reach, and we know a lot of black folks feel skeptical about BHM — it always seems like the same old, same old — Martin, Malcolm, Rosa, and the black movie, tv show or person du jour get celebrated in the national news, and then everybody forgets (or tries to forget) about African-American history until next year.
Last night, however, as I was flipping through cable before going to bed, I noticed there was not only an increased amount of black programming (and not just on BET or TV One or PBS), it was more varied than ever. So much so, I wasn’t even sure what to watch: “Angel Heart” with Lisa Bonet and Mickey Rourke, a horror thriller set in New Orleans and the world of voodoo (which reminded me of a time where the media considered Bonet the controversial one from “The Cosby Show”), “School Daze”, the Spike Lee movie set at an all-black college in the South, or “Iceberg Slim: Portait of a Pimp”, a 2012 documentary produced by Ice T, primarily chronicling the author’s experiences in Chicago and Los Angeles.
I had been thinking about “School Daze” earlier that day, so I took it as a sign and flipped to that. It was the scene where the light-skinned sorority girls (lead by Tisha Campbell-Martin and Jasmine Guy) bump into the dark-skinned girls (lead by Kyme and Joie Lee) and go into a full-on musical fantasy where they square off as they sing “Good and Bad Hair.”
My jaw about dropped — I saw this movie in the theatre when I was in college, but I’d forgotten how provocative the lyrics and the visuals were. I mean, this movie was released in 1988 and had black women going hard for each other over hair, calling each other “high-yellow” and “jigaboo,” holding up fans with images of Hattie McDaniel as Mammy and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett to taunt one another! Up until Chris Rock‘s 2009 documentary “Good Hair,” when had this subject matter ever received exposure in mainstream entertainment?
I’d also forgotten how talented the actors and dancers were/are, blending traditional and historical dancing styles and choreography with contemporary steps, and how creative and original Lee was to even imagine doing a number like this in what was then only his second motion picture.
The next scene was a frat hazing scene where pledges where being paddled and this all-too-real violence (as well as the abhorrent misogyny that would soon be coming down the pipe) made me realize the film was deeper and pointed to more problems and issues in the black community than I’d recalled. “School Daze” received its share of flak (at the time and over the years) for being the hodgepodge of styles that it is, but it’s an important, innovative part of Lee’s work as well as black cinema, as relevant as “Dear White People” is in 2015, and fully worth a re-watch and discussion with the new generation of young people and college students.
Jazzed from this rediscovery, I flipped over to the Iceberg Slim documentary. Although I’ve known about Iceberg Slim for decades, I’ve never read his work, dismissing it based on its categorization as “gangsta” literature. Having matured since my 20s however (at least I think I have), I realized I really didn’t know anything about Iceberg Slim other than my perception, so perhaps I should learn more. I’m so glad I did. Not only was the documentary particularly well-executed (creative visuals, innovative music, interesting talking heads and dynamic footage of old Slim interviews), I learned what an intelligent man (Robert Beck) lay behind the Iceberg Slim persona, and how he wrote books such as “Pimp” and “Trick Baby” as cautionary tales rather than celebrations of street life. Even though I don’t (neither does he in his later years) condone or excuse his repulsive criminal behavior and abuse of women, I do recognize he artfully captured and described a very real part of the black experience in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
I also had no idea “Trick Baby” was made into a motion picture by Universal, which helped spur the burgeoning “Blaxploitation” film boom in the 1970s, or that he lived for years only ten blocks away from my grandparents in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles/Inglewood. It was equally fascinating to learn Birdman of Cash Money Entertainment acquired the rights to “Pimp” and Slim’s other works to keep them alive on the Cash Money Content imprint via Simon & Schuster. And now I want to read those books and get that movie.
All in all, these late-night viewings made me even more excited and energized about Black History Month. And when I looked at my DVR this morning, I saw a variety of options casually waiting for me there, too: the latest episodes of the “Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore”, “How To Get Away With Murder”, “Empire”, “Black-ish” and what I hear via Twitter was an incredible performance by D’Angelo on “Saturday Night Live” last night. If that wasn’t enough, I started writing this piece while watching NFL QB Russell Wilson attempt to lead the Seattle Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowl wins, which, if he does, will be a first for an African-American quarterback. (And btw, what an unexpected treat to see Missy Elliott featured in the halftime show with Katy Perry — Missy was fire!)
We all have the ability, even casually, to celebrate and discover (or re-discover) our history, music, literature and culture and I invite all GBN followers to comment, tweet, email or share any unexpected, positive BHM experiences you have. I’m going to continue to chronicle mine alongside more formally-presented stories and articles — looking forward to hearing yours as well!
Onward and upward!
Coming to PBS primetime next month, as part of its AMERICAN MASTERS series, is the documentary, “August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand,” airing on February 20 at 9pm ET.
Directed by Emmy and Peabody-winner Sam Pollard (long-time Spike Lee editor, as well as a director and producer in his own right), the documentary explores the life and legacy of Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson – the man some call America’s Shakespeare — from his roots as a Pittsburgh activist and poet, to his indelible mark on Broadway.
Unprecedented access to Wilson’s theatrical archives, rarely seen interviews, and new dramatic readings, bring to life his seminal 10-play cycle chronicling each decade of the 20th century African American experience. The film features new interviews with Viola Davis, Charles Dutton, Laurence Fishburne, James Earl Jones, Suzan-Lori Parks, Phylicia Rashad, his widow/costume designer Constanza Romero, and others, sharing stories of the late great African American playwright’s rich theatrical canon.
PBS is premiering the film in honor of the 70th anniversary of Wilson’s birth, as well as the 10th anniversary of his death, and for Black History Month.
The DVD will be available on February 24 from PBS Distribution.
“Having the opportunity to explore Wilson’s creative process and his tenacity in looking at the African American experience in the 20th century was one of the most exciting endeavors I have ever had in my film career,” said filmmaker Sam Pollard.
article by Tambay A. Obenson via indiewire.com
The DVD will be available on February 24 from PBS Distribution.
“Having the opportunity to explore Wilson’s creative process and his tenacity in looking at the African American experience in the 20th century was one of the most exciting endeavors I have ever had in my film career,” said filmmaker Sam Pollard.
article by Tambay A. Obenson via indiewire.com