The British film festival came to a close over the weekend so thought I'd do a quick BHM selection.
Portrait of Jason by Shirley Clarke
This documentary by Shirley Clarke was recently restored thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign by distributor Milestone who are helping to keep many black and independent films in circulation - notably Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep which Spike Lee recommended in the interview with Pharrell I posted. A quick intro if you're unfamiliar with her : she was student of Hans Richter and a pivotal member of the New American Cinema movement. Their statement of intent contained a strong critique of the spread of hollywood-style film culture:
"The official cinema all over the world is running out of breath. It is morally corrupt, aesthetically obsolete, thematically superficial, temperamentally boring."
Alongside fellow director Maya Deren she pushed the boundaries of film and led the way for women in film. The Connection and The Cool World tell stories of outsiders; Jazz playing heroine addicts waiting to score and gangs in Harlem, she also directed a documentary on Jazz legend Ornette Coleman and an Academy Award winning piece on poet Robert Frost. I included her in this BHM post because black people tend to be the focus of her films and regardless of her motivations for this the quality of her works speak for themselves.
Her films are extremely hard to find (The Cool World is on youtube) so for that reason alone I recommend going to see this. Jason, a friend of her long time collaborator Carl Lee, was a gay hustler and 'alcoholic genius' who Clarke interviews in her apartment over the course of 12 hours discussing sexuality, race, class and everything in-between. Whilst it may not sound like the most 'exicting' film Ingmar Bergman called it 'the most fascinating film' he's ever seen - so that has to say something, right?
For more info about Clarke check this in depth interview with Lauren Rabinovitz here.
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The next film directed by Nigerian Chika Anadu, B For Boy from Nigeria is her debut feature film. B For Boy is a contemporary drama set in Nigeria about the pressures placed on women to give birth to a male child. It has been shortlisted for the First Feature competition.
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Mother of George was directed by Andrew Dosunmu with cast featuring Isaach de Bankolé (Chocolat, Ghost Dog, Casino Royale), Danai Gurira & Bukky Ajayi. Another Nigerian film from a Nigerian director dealing again with fertility; this time it's set in the Nigerian quarter of Crown Heights, NYC. A former design assistant at YSL, music video director and fashion photographer it's no surprise that teamed with cinematographer Bradford Young it won best Cinematography award at Sundance.
'Mother of George depicts what happens in today's world when the pressure to prove one's fertility becomes fused with the ultimate sacrifice for love, when tradition clashes with modernity, and when secrets in families lead to surprising choices and devastating outcomes.'
In other news Dosunmu has also taken over from Steve McQueen for the Fela biopic.
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Gone Too Far by Destiny Ekaragha
Bringing it back the U.K Malachi Kirkby plays a British-Nigerian teenager whose just starting to become to popular when his 'freshy' (bush or whatever you wanna call it) brother lands from Nigerian, played by OC Ukeje (Half of a Yellow Sun) who just won best lead actor for Hoodrush in the Nollywood 2013 Awards , and things take a turn for the worse. Adpated from Bola Agbaje's theatre production of the same name, Ekaragha's debut feature is a coming of age story set in Peckham that explores issues of race and perception whilst maintaining her signature balance of comedy and seriousness.
Check her award winning short Tight Jeans from 2008 below.
Post on 12 Years a Slave and Half of a Yellow Sun to follow.
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