NEWS

Stone Center to step up film series to celebrate black history month

By LANITA WITHERS
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL – Hip-hop, homosexuality, mass media and the civil rights movement will be among themes of films screened through mid-March by the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The center, continuing the Diaspora Festival for Independent Black Films that it began last fall, will increase its offerings in February to commemorate Black History Month. Screenings will be free and open to the public; some will be followed by discussions led by UNC faculty and staff and/or directors of the films.

Black history month films will include a midday series that begins Tuesday (Feb. 4), with films shown at noon each Tuesday and Thursday in February in 110 Lenoir Hall. Weekly themes will be homosexuality, Feb. 4 and 6, with five films co-sponsored by UNC’s Queer Network for Change; hip-hop, Feb. 11 and 13; mass media and popular culture as tools of manipulation and resistance, Feb. 18 and 20; and issues of culture and identity throughout the diaspora, Feb. 25 and 27.

Evening films, exploring pivotal moments in African-American history, will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 12, Feb. 19 and Feb. 26 at various Chapel Hill locations.

The festival will culminate with a "Celebration of 'Sugar Cane Alley' " at 7 p.m. March 18 in the Carolina Theater in Chapel Hill. The program will include screening of the film "Sugar Cane Alley" and will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film's release. Special guests and discussions will be announced later in February.

"These films reflect ongoing discussions about black cultures, histories and triumphs," said Dr. Joseph Jordan, center director and a professor of African and Afro-American studies. "They give us a glimpse of the range of black creativity that continues to inform the ways in which people throughout the African Diaspora respond to the various issues and challenges facing them in their respective regions."

By African diaspora ("di-AS-pora"), scholars mean the spread of Africans to most other areas of the world, where they now live far removed from their ancestral homelands. Because much of their history and influence wasn't documented or analyzed at the time, researchers today try to fill gaps in this body of knowledge, as well as examine the current status of blacks.

Film titles and descriptions are listed below. For more information, call the Stone Center, (919) 962-9001, or visit www.unc.edu/depts/bcc.

Feb. 4

"Our House: Lesbians and Gays in the Hood" – Up-front, in-your-face interviews with black gays and lesbians provide an uncompromising look at homophobia, racism, alienation and empowerment for gay African-Americans. 28 minutes.

"Two Encounters" – "Racialized geographies of New York’s gay bar scene" are portrayed in a film by two gay men, one black and one white. The two took hidden cameras into two gay bars in New York, one predominately black and one predominately white, to make the film. 7 minutes.

"Life on Christopher St." – Individuals struggle to maintain dignity as gay minorities in a society they experience as biased against a rising subculture of black and Latino gay youth. Born in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, the youth are inspired by and represent the hip-hop generation. Through interviews of these individuals, better known as "Homo Thugs," we see gay rappers, "Bloods" gang members, pimps and prostitutes. 17 minutes.

"Forbidden Fruit" – Zimbabwean filmmaker Sue Maluwa Bruce breaks long-held taboos about sexual identity and lesbian love in African society in this video. 30 minutes.

"Black Sheep" – In this upbeat tape from Australia, Lou Glover tells her own story as a lesbian and one-time police officer who recently discovered her Aboriginal background. 26 minutes.

These films will be followed by a moderated discussion.

"Style Wars" – As the hip-hop culture took shape in Harlem and the Bronx, New York’s extraordinary subway graffiti art flowered. With music, dance and stunning visuals, "Style Wars" follows teen-age artists as they struggle for recognition from each other and a predominately hostile city. 32 minutes.

"Bought and Sold" – Do globalization and diversity help us appreciate each other or exploit our cultures? This video explores cultural exploitation and appropriation, looking at the punk, hip-hop and Chinese youth subcultures to examine how cultural symbols get represented and misrepresented in the media, fashion trends and people’s imaginations. The film sheds light on what distinct cultures mean to people within them and how to respect those cultures within a multicultural society. 15 minutes.

"I Am Hip-Hop" – This film looks at stereotypes associated with hip-hop -- including graffiti, break-dancing and free-styling -- and critically analyzes the projected messages, including attitudes about women and youth violence. 20 minutes.

Feb. 13

"Nobody Knows My Name" – The film tells a story of female artists connected by their love for hip-hop music. Although they exist within a culture that revolves around self-expression, the women must struggle to be heard. The documentary explores a fascinating and diverse feminist community that yearns for a place in a male-dominated subculture that is itself marginalized. 58 minutes.

"Strange Fruit" – This documentary is the first to explore the history and legacy of this classic, brooding song recorded by Billie Holiday, which became an anthem for the anti-lynching movement. The saga shows viewers the terror of lynching and spotlights the courage and heroism of those who fought for racial justice when to do so risked ostracism and livelihood if white – and death if black. It examines the history of lynching and the interplay of race, labor and the left, and popular culture as forces that would give rise to the civil rights movement. 60 minutes. Dr. Kenneth Janken, a UNC associate professor of African and Afro-American studies, will lead a post-film discussion.

"The Hate that Hate Produced" – This program will screen an infamous 1959 news program by this title, hosted by Mike Wallace, that was intended as America’s introduction to the Nation of Islam. Wallace examined new groups characterized as "black supremacist" and interviewed leaders including Elijah Muhammed, Malcolm X, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Roy Wilkins of the NAACP. Part II of the program was a discussion among Wallace, Wilkins, Jackie Robinson and others. The screening will be followed by discussion about media as well as the legacy of Malcolm X, who was murdered on Feb. 21, 1965.

"Dôlè (Money)" – This film provides an affectionate and affecting portrait of African youth poised precariously on the cusp of modernity. With familial and societal structures crumbling, young people seek support from each other and an all-encompassing international pop culture. The film reveals that, whether in the inner cities and suburbs of Africa or the United States, the underlying causes of youthful disaffection can be remarkably similar. 80 minutes.

"Mi Otro Yo" – This film looks at the work of Chicano artists living in southern California. Their cultural ties to Mexico and historical presence in the United States before it became the "New World" broaden contemporary debates on identity and multiculturalism. The film features the views and work of artists including Luis Valdez, Amalia Mesa Bains and Jose Montoya. 30 minutes.

"Hip Hop SP" – Young black members of Sao Paulo’s hip-hop movement depict their experience and view of black Brazilian history through music, dance and graffiti. 11 minutes.

"El Puente" – This short documentary depicts El Puente Academy, the first accredited high school for peace and justice, located in a predominately Puerto Rican neighborhood in Brooklyn. The film serves as a case study of how individual and collective efforts can improve conditions in a community for the next generation. 13 minutes.

Feb. 12, "The Murder of Emmett Till," 7 p.m., Carolina Theater, 108 E. Franklin St. This one-hour documentary examines the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 15-year-old black boy from Chicago killed while visiting relatives in Mississippi. The movie shows the broad impact of his death, his funeral and the trial and acquittal of his accused killers. The murder of Emmett, who was described by his mother as the "sacrificial lamb of the civil rights movement," was a watershed event in the history of the civil rights movement. Mass outrage over his murder spurred membership in civil rights organizations.

Feb. 19, "As An Act of Protest," 7 p.m., Carolina Theater, 108 E. Franklin St. The film explores the fragmented, colonized and repressed black voice in the Western world. Focusing on a young black actor in New York City, the movie details the lack of direct political action and the dearth of healthy coping strategies during times of extreme, blatant oppression. The film’s director, Dennis Moore, will be on hand for a post-film discussion.

Feb. 26, "Nat Turner, A Troublesome Property," 7 p.m., Frank Porter Graham Student Union Film Auditorium. Nat Turner's slave rebellion was a watershed event in America's long and troubled history of slavery and racial conflict. The film tells the story of that violent confrontation and how the story has been re-told since 1831. It examines a critical moment in American history and how it has been remembered. Turner was a "troublesome property" for his master and has remained a "troublesome property" for the historians, novelists, dramatists, artists and many others who have struggled to understand him. The film’s director, Charles Burnett, will lead a post-film discussion and speak about documentary filmmaking.

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(Withers is a senior in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication from Reidsville.)

Stone Center contact: Jocelyn Womack, (919) 962-0395
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589