Cultivating Black Brilliance
LANGSTON is the new non-profit arts organization created to continue the mission of the historic Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.
Women take stage at 2017 Langston Hughes African American Film Festival
Anisia Uzeyman, left, directed “DREAMSTATES,” whose cast includes actor-musician Saul Williams, her spouse. Both will be at the Langston Hughes festival Saturday.
Katie Anastas | The Seattle Times staff reporter
Published April 25, 2017
Starting Thursday (April 27), the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival will showcase more than 20 independent films by black filmmakers from around the country and the world.
The festival, now in its 14th year, is being presented by a new nonprofit arts organization called LANGSTON. Along with screenings, organizers have planned panel discussions and other activities.
Karen Toering, the festival’s program consultant, said the event is an opportunity to build relationships between filmmakers and the Seattle community.
“We’re not a market festival,” Toering said. “We’re more of a filmmaker and audience festival.”
The short films are as varied as the feature-length films. “DIVINE: Part 1” celebrates body positivity among African-American women. “Padlock Men” reveals a secret pact among John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
In “Last Stop,” a young veteran with PTSD is transported to 1860 and must survive the night as a runaway slave. In an interview at the California-based Grove Center for the Arts and Media, director Prentice Dupins said his struggle with suicidal thoughts in college and his experience learning about his great-great-grandfather — an emancipated slave — inspired him to create the film.
On Saturday, the festival will screen “DREAMSTATES,” an experimental film about two people touring the country during the Afropunk movement. Director Anisia Uzeyman, who spent 42 days shooting the film on an iPhone, will be in attendance with actor-musician Saul Williams, also her spouse.
Toering said about half of the films’ directors are female.
“Women are taking the stage this year, and that’s something you don’t typically find at film festivals,” Toering said. “We’re pretty proud of that.”
Several other filmmakers and special guests will also be at the festival. After the Thursday screening of “90 Days,” filmmakers Jennia Aponte, Nathan Hale Williams and Sol Aponte will join the audience for a discussion. Comic-book writer and cinema scholar David Walker will give a free presentation on the importance of black superheroes on Saturday. Local chef Tarik Abdullah will prepare Sunday’s brunch.
Toering has been involved with the festival for 13 years. She said increased interest from companies like Netflix and improved access to equipment have led black filmmakers to challenge themselves.
“I feel like there was a time when independent black filmmakers weren’t taking the kind of risks with their content that they’re taking now,” Toering said. “There’s more discussion about indie black film.”
ANNOUNCEMENT: “Sleep Running” will be screened at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival! Come out and support this weekend! (Saturday - 2:30pm)
April 30th, 5PM
TELL THEM WE ARE RISING-The Story of Historically Black Colleges | Dir. Stanley Nelson
The story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began before the Civil War and influenced the course of our nation yet remains one of America’s most important untold stories. Until now.
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Historically Black Colleges and Universities is the first and only feature documentary and multi-platform project to research, gather, and share a rich mosaic of stories that relay the history of HBCUs.Tell Them We Are Rising is produced by Firelight Films and directed by master documentarian Stanley Nelson, producer of The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.
Filmmaker Paul Jackson takes us on a tour of the world of 360 degree images. Explore the world of 360 video. Travel to worlds and places across the globe and right here at home.
LHAAFF brings back a family favorite: DOUBLETIME. This edge-of-your-seat documentary focuses on two teams in preparation for the Double Dutch world championship at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
LHAAFF 2017 is a four day curated experience in the heart of Seattle dedicated to celebrating Black brilliance in independent cinema. In its 14th year, the festival presents provocative films and works about the Black experience shot from an independent lens. Experience over 20 films and events over four days. This year’s festival features engaging panel discussions and in-depth chats with filmmakers, industry professionals and community leaders. Special guests include: Saul Williams, David Walker, Charles Murray, Anisia Uzyeman, Nnegest Likke, Sol Aponte, Jennia Aponte, Nathan Hale Williams, and Chef Tarik Abdullah.
Enjoy delicious food featuring MorningStar creator Chef Tarik Abdullah- feed your body and your mind with lively conversation with filmmakers in attendance.
Star MONICA CALHOUN (of The Best Man/Holiday) plays Vanessa A.Price, a sexy, smart, self-made career woman who's got everything but love. She's got her own house, nice car, high paying job and a degree from Stanford. The only thing missing from her successful life is a good man. Secretly lonely, but always presenting a strong face to the world, Vanessa resolves to be single forever. Until she meets Max, a handsome, mysterious, French-speaking foreigner who just may be her perfect match. But his radical lifestyle differences threaten to shake up her world and challenge everything she believes about love, relationships and what being a "strong" woman really means. Also stars JIMMY JEAN-LOUIS (Phat Girlz, NBC's Heroes) and Camille Winbush (The Bernie Mac Show). Directed by Award Winning, African-American woman director NNEGEST LIKKÉ (Phat Girlz, Ben & Ara).
Nngest Likke scheduled to attend.
LHAAFF Presents: Do Black Heroes Matter? | Panel discussion | 4/29/17 12pm
David F. Walker is an award-winning comic book writer, author, filmmaker, journalist, and educator. His work in comic books includes Shaft (Dynamite Entertainment), winner of the 2015 Glyph Award for Story of the Year, Power Man and Iron Fist, Nighthawk, Fury, Secret Wars: Battleworld (Marvel Comics), Cyborg (DC Comics), The Army of Dr. Moreau (IDW/Monkeybrain Comics), and Number 13 (Dark Horse Comics). In 2015, he wrote the novel Shafts Revenge, the first new novel starring private detective John Shaft in nearly 40 years. He is also the creator of the critically-acclaimed YA series The Adventures of Darius Logan.
Recognized as a leading scholar expert of African-American cinema who has been interviewed by such news outlets as The Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, and BBC, Walker produced one of the definitive documentaries on the topic of Blaxploitation films, Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered, and Shafted. His publication BadAzz MoFo became internationally known as the indispensable resource guide to black films of the 70s, and he is co-author of the book Reflections on Blaxploitation: Actors and Directors Speak. Walkers most recent book, Becoming Black: Personal Ramblings on Racial Identification, Racism and Popular Culture, was released in winter 2013.
Walker has worked on projects with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, Aaron McGruder (creator of The Boondocks), and director/producer Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Django Unchained).
RSVP for free admission: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2922488
Equal parts love story, road movie, and Americana, DREAMSTATES tells the haunting tale of two wayward souls (Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman) discovering their love for one another in their dreams and reality while touring the United States with some of the most pivotal figures of the Afro-Punk movement. Sultry, sensual, and quixotic, an underground portrait of America: haunted and hollow.
DREAMSTATES screens 4/29/17 at 8pm. Director Anisia Uzeyman and poet, musician and renaissance artist Saul Williams will be in attendance.
90 DAYS: Directed by Nathan Hale Williams, Jennia Fredrique Aponte
90 DAYS confronts the realities surrounding living and loving with HIV. Written and directed by Jennia Frederique Aponte and Nathan Hale Williams, The cast includes Teyonah Parris (Survivor’s Remorse, Mad Men, Chi-Raq, Dear White People) as Jessica, Nic Few (The Chadwick Journals, Gideon’s Cross) as Taylor, and Rodney Chester (Noah’s Arc) as Kyle. Executive Produced by Jussie Smollett and Sol Aponte.
90 DAYS screens at #LHAAFF 2017 4/27/17 at 7PM. Filmmakers Jennia Aponte, Nathan Hale Williams and Sol Aponte will join the audience for a post screening discussion. Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2922402
