BDC Festivals DOC NYC begins this Thursday! November 14-21 IFC Center and SVA Theatre Started by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen, DOC NYC is the largest documentary film festival in the United States, with over 130 films and events. click on pix for festival lineup BDC is very proud to present an impressive selection   of films at the festival:    The Stuart Hall Project by John Akomfrah **NYC Premiere**    Mon, Nov 18th, 7:15pm IFC Center Acclaimed at the Sundance Film Festival, John Akomfrah's new film is an emotionally charged portrait of cultural theorist Stuart Hall.  A complex and deeply insightful thinker about subjects as diverse as feminism, Marxist methodology, migration and American hippies, the 82 year-old, Jamaican-born Hall is one of the most inspiring voices of the post-war Left.  Accompanied by a Miles Davis soundtrack, The Stuart Hall Project is an exhilarating journey though the second half of the 20th century.    God Loves Uganda by Roger Ross Williams (expected to attend) Tues, Nov 19th, 4:45 pm IFC Center In 2010, Roger Ross Williams won the Academy Award for his documentary short, Music by Prudence, becoming the first African-American director ever to receive an Oscar.  In God Loves Uganda, he follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting the "sexual immorality" of homosexuality, and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow Biblical law.  An impassioned and provocative call for change, God Loves Uganda "is strong, head-shaking stuff" (Variety).  Courtesy of Variance Films.       Gideon's Army by Dawn Porter (expected to attend)    Wed, Nov 13th, 9:30 pm IFC Center Gideon's Army follows Travis Williams, Brandy Alexander and June Hardwick, three young public defenders who are part of a small group of idealistic lawyers in the Deep South, challenging the assumptions that drive a criminal justice system strained to the breaking point.  Can these courageous lawyers revolutionize the way America thinks about indigent defense and make "justice for all" a reality?  Courtesy of HBO Documentary Films. We also want to give a shout out to some films made by our BDC Friends.  Please check them out!   Lucky  by Laura Checkoway Sun Nov 17 9:15 & Thu Nov 21 4:30p *NYC Premiere*     Lucky Torres hides a lifetime of abuse and abandonment behind an angry, tattooed exterior.  But despite being homeless, unemployed and a single mother, the compelling Lucky still dreams of true love and success. Death Metal Angola  by Jeremy Xido Sat, Nov 16th, 9:45 pm *NYC Premiere*      Sonia runs the Okutiuka orphanage in Huambo, Angola's second largest city, nearly decimated by decades of civil war.  Her boyfriend, Wilker, is a death metal guitarist.  To raise awareness and funds for the orphanage, the industrious couple organizes the country's first ever national rock concert, tapping into the unexpected healing power of hardcore music. * * * BDC Catalog & Directory is accepting submissions! The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members. This BDC-exclusive resource is an invaluable opportunity to reach audiences, increase visibility, promotional opportunities, as well as get work and generate revenue. We have already received requests from CBS, The Documentary Channel, ASPiRE, Magic Johnson's new cable network, to name a few.  But they can't reach you and we can't refer you if you're not in it, so please submit your information now! Please send an email for further instructions to: Catalog@bdcnewyork.org (Please do not send emails to Sabrina or Nicole's personal emails. Thanks!) You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included. Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership.  Become a Member

Support DIFRET - an inspiring testament to the courage of women and girls

DIFRET 

by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari

Based on a true story, DIFRET is a testament to women's courage in the face of staggering injustice.

Fundraising Campaign

Ends Tuesday Jul 23, 3:27pm EDT

**Help DIFRET reach its STRETCH goal of $40,000**
*Donation of any amount is greatly appreciated*

*Only 17 days and counting*

1996. Ethiopia. 14-year-old Hirut Assefa is abducted while walking home from school by a 29-year-old farmer who intends to marry her. Hirut shoots and kills her abductor with his own rifle, in an attempt to get back to her parents.

Hirut is charged with murder and is facing the death penalty.  Inspired by this young girl's courage, Meaza, a young lawyer, embarks on a long tenacious battle to save Hirut's life.

Funds raised during this campaign will be used for post-production costs and submission to the Toronto Film Festival.  Please help this gripping film get to Toronto!

**PLEASE SUPPORT TODAY** 

BDC Filmmakers Make 3 of Indiewire's Top 5 Films of the AFI DOCS Film Festival!

 

5 New Films To Watch Out For From AFI DOCS 

includes BDC Member Films "Documented" and "The New Black"

DOCUMENTED

Directed by Jose Antonio Vargas, Edited by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon

(CENTERPIECE GALA Special Screening)

In 2011, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in the New York Times Magazine.  DOCUMENTED chronicles his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; his journey through America as an immigration reform activist/provocateur; and his journey inward as he re-connects with his mother, whom he hasn't seen in 20 years.

* * *

The New Black   

Directed by Yoruba Richen, Produced by Angela Tucker, Yvonne Welbon

(In Competition, Audience Award Winner)

The New Black explores how African-American voters have become bitterly divided on the issue of gay marriage because of homphobia rampant in one of the pillars of the African-American community-- the black church.  In the process, the film uncovers the complicated and often combative histories of the African-American and LGBT civil rights movements.

Click here to watch Yoruba Richen and activist Karess Taylor-Hughes  

on MSNBC/s The Cycle

Click here to read Yoruba Richen's CNN Op-Ed  

on the historic Supreme Court ruling on DOMA

If you missed AFI, check out The New Black at 
Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco 

Saturday, June 29th 1:15pm

* * * 

BDC Support DIFRET  by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari (a feature film based on a true story) Fundraising Campaign Ends Tuesday Jul 23, 3:27pm EDT  1996. Ethiopia. 14-year-old Hirut Assefa is abducted while walking home from school by a 29-year-old farmer who intends to marry her. Hirut shoots and kills her abductor with his own rifle, in an attempt to get back to her parents. Hirut is charged with murder and is facing the death penalty.  Inspired by this young girl's courage, Meaza, a young lawyer, embarks on a long tenacious battle to save Hirut's life. Based on a true story, DIFRET is a testament to women's courage in the face of staggering injustice.  Funds raised during this campaign will be used for post-production costs and submission to the Toronto Film Festival.  Please help this gripping film get to Toronto! **DONATE TODAY**

BDC at LA Film Fest, AFI Docs and More!

BDC Festivals The New Black  by Yoruba Richen    Co-Prod by Angela Tucker and Yvonne Welbon World Premiere at LA Film Festival  **TONIGHT**  June 14th 7:30 pm  & June 16th 6:50 pm Also screening at AFI Docs in D. C. and the   Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York  An explosive new documentary which explores how African-American voters have become bitterly divided on the issue of gay marriage because of homophobia rampant in one of the pillars of the African-American community-- the church. In the process, the film uncovers the complicated and often combative histories of the African-American and LGBT civil rights movements. *  *  *   by Jose Antonio Vargas Edited by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon     CENTERPIECE GALA Screening Friday, June 21, 8pm  Smithsonian Institution - National Portrait Gallery  In 2011, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in the New York Times Magazine.  DOCUMENTED chronicles his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; his journey through America as an immigration reform activist/provocateur; and his journey inward as he re-connects with his mother, whom he hasn't seen in 20 years. * * *

BDC Screenings Soul Food Junkies  by Byron Hurt  Special Performance by Dead Prez Imagenation @Von King Park, Brooklyn  Sunday, June 16th, 7pm Baffled by his dad's unwillingness to change his traditional soul food diet in the face of a health crisis, Hurt sets out to learn more about this rich culinary tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity. He discovers that the love affair that his dad and his community have with soul food is deep-rooted, complex, and in some tragic cases, deadly. * * * Homegoings by Christine Turner  @The Apollo Theatre, NYC Friday, June 21, 7:30p Special Performance by violinist Daniel Roumain (click below for details)  Homegoings is about renowned Harlem funeral director Isaiah Owens and African-American funeral traditions.  The event will feature a performance by film composer and violinist Daniel Roumain with members of the Harlem Chamber Players, and a discussion with director Christine Turner and Isaiah Owens. * * *

BDC Members

 

  Changing Face of Harlem 

by Shawn Batey 

http://igg.me/at/ChangingFaceofHarlem/x/2395085 

 

Changing Face of Harlem looks at the revitalization of Harlem told
from the perspective of residents and small business owners.
The film covers a decade of the transformation of Harlem from 2000-2010.

"Making this film has been a 13 year endeavor. I am happy to say  

we are real close to the finish line and are excited to release the film this year.  Thank you so much for your continued support.
This film would NOT be possible without it.."
-- Shawn Batey, Director

**********

BDC Catalog & Directory is accepting submissions 

The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members.

This BDC-exclusive resource is an invaluable opportunity to reach audiences, increase visibility, promotional opportunities, as well as get work and generate revenue.

We have already received requests from CBS, The Documentary Channel, ASPiRE, Magic Johnson's new cable network, to name a few.  But they can't reach you and we can't refer you if you're not in it, so please submit your information now!

Please send an email for further instructions to:

Catalog@bdcnewyork.org ONLY!

(Please do not send emails to Sabrina or Nicole's personal emails.  Thanks!)

You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included.

Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership.

Founded in 2000 BDC™ BLAST!        BDC Members are on a Roll in February!     * The Schomburg Celebrates Pioneers   Bill Greaves and Bill Miles    * Orlando Bagwell Returns to Directing #welcomeback! *MIST Cinemas, MOMA's Documentary Fortnight, CCNY Documentary Forum, Stranger Than Fiction and More    Become a Member of the BDC  Visit us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter: @BDCNewYork  Sabrina S. Gordon, Chair Rafee Kamaal, Chair February 19, 2012 BDC Founder, St. Clair Bourne "I'm trying to take the form somewhere.  Much like African-American musicians did with music, I'm trying to do that with the documentary." BDC News Orlando Bagwell leaves the Ford Foundation to make his own documentaries once again.  (click below to read The New York Times article)     #welcomeback  *  *  *  BDC Events (in date order) CCNY Documentary Center Honors Independent Cinema Director Shirley Clarke  Anjanette Levert, Program Coordinator THIS Friday, February 22 Multiple events beginning at 4pm  (click image below for details)     Dancer/choreographer turned filmmaker, Shirley Clarke studied filmmaking in the 1950s with the legendary Hans Richter at the City College of New York.  She soon became part of the  downtown independent film scene that included avant garde pioneers Maya Deren and Jonas Mekas.  A founder of the New American Cinema movement, The New York Times calls her "one of the great undertold stories of the American independent cinema."    A Co-Presentation of the CCNY Documentary Forum, the Black Documentary Collective (BDC), the Rifkind Center for the Humanities, the Music Dept., the MCA Dept. Cinema Studies Program, the Women's Studies Program and the Black Studies Program of CCNY *  *  *  Creatively Speaking Screening Series at MIST Harlem Cinemas  February 22 - 25, NYC   Featuring Promised Land by Yoruba Richen   and Jesse Owens by Laurens Grant   (click image below for details)      Jesse Owens, Feb 23, 3pm   The most famous athlete of his time, his stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. The story of the 22-year-old son of a sharecropper who triumphed over adversity to become a hero and world champion, Jesse Owens is also about the elusive, fleeting quality of fame and the way Americans idolize athletes when they suit our purpose, and forget them once they don't.  Promised Land, Feb 24, 5pm Though apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, economic injustices between blacks and whites remain unresolved.  Promised Land follows two black communities as they struggle to reclaim land from white owners, some of whom who have lived there for generations. Amid rising tensions and wavering government policies, the land issue remains South Africa's "ticking time bomb," with far-reaching consequences for all sides. Co-presented by Creatively Speaking and the Black Documentary Collective (BDC) *  *  *   An Oversimplification of Her Beauty  Directed by Terence Nance Stranger Than Fiction at IFC   Tuesday, February 26, 8pm, NYC  (click below for details)   Terence Nance dazzled audiences at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival with this bold debut that's hard to define as fact of fiction.  As both director and subject, Nance brings a delightful sense of humor and vulnerability to chronicling his relationship with a lovely young woman, teetering between platonic and romantic. Co-presented by Stranger than Fiction and the Black Documentary Collective (BDC)      * * * Celebrating Black Independent Film Pioneers   Bill Greaves and Bill Miles   Wednesday, February 27, 6:30 - 8pm  @ the Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture  Langston Hughes Auditorium FREE, click image below to register:     Before Spike Lee, Henry Hampton, Stanley Nelson, St. Claire Bourne, and many other successful black documentary makers, there was Bill and Bill. Steeped in black history and culture, the work of these two pioneers laid a firm foundation for many of today's black filmmakers who continue a proud tradition of storytelling that began with Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams, and others.  Join us as we explore the work, legacy, and lives of Bill Miles and Bill Greaves. Co-Presented by Firelight Media and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture * * *  Homegoings  Directed by Christine Turner MoMA Documentary Fortnight  Thursday, February 28, 8pm, NYC (click for more details)   Through the eyes of funeral director Isaiah Owens, the beauty and grace of African American funerals is brought to life. Filmed at Owens Funeral Home in New York City's historic Harlem neighborhood, the film takes an up-close and unusual look at the rarely seen world of undertaking, one of the few occupations black Americans could enter into freely after slavery. Combining cinéma vérité with intimate interviews and personal photographs, Homegoings paints a portrait of the dearly departed and the man who serves them. Featuring a special performance by composer and violinist Daniel Roumain, introduced by Simon Kilmurry, executive producer, POV, followed by a discussion with Christine Turner and appearances by Isaiah Owens and others. *  *  * Little Brother  a documentary series   by Nicole Franklin and Jasmin Tiggett Get the DVD and Love It Forward!   Black History Month and Valentine's Day are both in February,   and this is the third year of the    Valentine for Little Brother Campaign!    For a $25 donation, purchase one DVD chapter of Little Brother for home video and a second DVD that will be shipped to the Library, Educational Institution, Community Organization or House of Worship of your choice.    Go to Little Brother for more information.    BDC Catalog & Directory is accepting submissions    The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members.    This BDC-exclusive resource is an invaluable opportunity to reach audiences, increase visibility, promotional opportunities, as well as get work and generate revenue.  We have already received requests from CBS, The Documentary Channel, ASPiRE, Magic Johnson's new cable network, to name a few.  But they can't reach you and we can't refer you if you're not in it, so please submit your information now!  Please send an email for further instructions to:  Catalog@bdcnewyork.org ONLY!    (Please do not send emails to Sabrina or Nicole's personal emails.  Thanks!) You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included.  Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership. Become a Member    *  *  * The Black Documentary Collective (BDC) was founded in 2000 by the late great documentarian St. Clair Bourne, as the singular networking and mentorship organization for documentary film, video, and media professionals of African descent. The BDC has a monthly screening series at Harlem Stage, the premiere arts and culture center in Harlem, open to the public. The BDC offers its members professional development workshops, educational programs and networking events, and acts as an advocate for its filmmakers.  The BDC is also dedicated to making a difference in the ever-increasing communities that are interested in, and influenced by the work of its talented members, through community-sponsored events, outreach and activism.