The New Edition Story Could Be Coming to a Theater Near You!

I am a full-blown NE fan. I would stand in line for hours in the rain to see them live, still today.
So yeah, I'm checking for this:

Learn more about the project here: http://www.nethemovement.com/

Donate: Get Season 2 of "For Colored Boys" Produced

Season 1 of the award winning web series, For Colored Boys, was a TREMENDOUS SUCCESS! 

Because of its Indiegogo supporters, this series had an exciting year that included screening for major networks and media companies; winning awards; screening at colleges and universities; garnering major media attention and press; casting incredible new talent and, most importantly, creating independent content that sparks dialogue about critical issues faced by underrepresented communities who need this media most.

Season 2 is now underway and director Stacey Muhammad is reaching out to the community to continue showcasing this important body of work. 

Donate here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/for-colored-boys-season-2 

WINNER:

• Best Web Series at the Ocktober Film Festival 
• Official Selection Pan African Film Festival Official Selection 
• American Black Film Festival Official Selection 
• Brooklyn Arts Council Film Festival

Featuring Emmy Award winner actor Charles Dutton.

Not to mention all of the amazing PERKS! Tickets to the screenings. Skype chat with the director about starting your own web-series. Wrap Party invitation, t-shirts, and even dinner with the executive producer and director!
It's am amazing cause. Make a difference today. DONATE.

"Dear White People..." Hits Theaters on October 7th

Dear White People Concept Trailer from Justin Simien on Vimeo.

A satire about being a Black face in a white place.

Remember when Black movies didn't necessarily star a dude in a fat suit and a wig? Or have major plot twists timed to Gospel numbers for no apparent reason? No? Damn...
Well, believe it or not there was a time when movies like Do The Right Thing, Hollywood Shuffle, and Boyz In Da Hood were breaking box office records as well as making us laugh, cry, and think in ways movies hadn't before. The humble producers of DEAR WHITE PEOPLE long to bring those days back.

The Sundance hit  has been called..."exploding with thought-provoking questions that are also funny!"
by Vanity Fair and is opening around the country on October 17th.
More info: http://www.dearwhitepeoplemovie.com/

 

Tasha Hussey, "The Jeweled Life."

Each of us artists and designers are all awaiting that BIG BREAK. Jewelry designer Tasha Hussey discusses her process, her niche, passion, business, and what she needs to BLOW UP. Here is a clip from her documentary, " The Jeweled Life."

FADE: The Family Documentary

This controversial project was created by my childhood friend, Shaun. He is incredibly gifted. Get behind this project by donating funds to produce the documentary and sharing this with others.
#ChangeTheWorld

From Shaun Bless:

 Hello, I want to start by saying thank you for taking the time to read my campaign. I’m an established creator, artist, editor, songwriter and also a young music producer (CEO of Souldiggaz Entertainment). I have worked with artist such as: Madonna, Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Sean "Diddy" Combs and many more.

 My next phase in my career is film-making and story telling. Originally I wanted to do a comedy feature film but I came across a article that hit close to home. This article was about greed, deception, and the systematical way of profiting off of young parents. I decided to do a documentary on child support. After looking at some the stories I’ve pieced together below in the video, you’ll get a better understanding of this injustice. In no kind of way is this to take away due justice from parents who do indeed need help but there are many parents who deal with this injustice. It has no color, status or religion barrier.

 This documentary is being put together to show how power is misused by judges, state lawmakers, and scorned parents. A system created to help children but most often is used as a profit pool. This documentary will touch upon how money is paid for support but most times the kids receive benefits days or weeks later or in some cases not at all. This documentary will also show stories of American soldiers who come home after fighting for this country all to be thrown in jail because they can’t find a job.

 I know this is a touchy subject.  As I’m creating this documentary, I am willing to take notes from contributors and each individual will be credited for their input. I feel this story needs to be told.  Networks should take this message worldwide.  I need as much support to help promote, fund and kick start this documentary.

 The one question some may or may not ask is "How come your associates Missy Elliott, Beyonce, Diddy and more in the music industry can't help you with this?"  My answer is, "In my world we are all family and you have to start something on your own first to get the ball rolling in order to get the attention of your family to jump on board.  If we build it they will come. Sometimes,you have to get the ball rolling on your own to show and prove the passion you carry in your heart for a certain cause and/or project. I'm positive this project will gain a lot of interest once the ball starts to roll." 

Throughout history we have taken stands against so many unjustly laws and practices, which is why this country is such a great place to live because we fought for change.  Let's make a change now.  Let's help few or more children and parents stay together in peaceful relationships, without being separated by this system for profit. It's about family being able to peacefully and cordially come to a medium to take care of our kids.  Kids are our future.  My goal is to change some of the rules set by family court from this documentary, make sure kids are put first and parents aren’t being mistreated by system or misusing the system because of anger.

 I thank you in advance for your support. 

Donate here: http://www.indiegogo.com/Fade-The-Family

Medicine for Melancholy

I went to the screening of this movie in Newark a few years ago and I totally fell in love with it. Still one of my favorite indie films of all time.

Beats, Rhymes and Life

"As the Tribe flies high like a dove..."

For me, A Tribe Called Quest is EVERYTHING. Before I understood that I was an artsy chick, before I knew what bohemian was, before the term "backpacker" made any sense to me I was an ATCQ fan. They had me at "hello". Their first video, "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" had me open. My flygirl girlfriends thought I was out of my mind. We were from Newark. It was early 90s. Big Daddy Kane ruled the world. But I liked the b-boys and the new sound of the "backpackers" simultaneously. That experience taught me something I hadn't put my finger on yet. I'm different from my girls. We are from the same hood but have different tastes/values/core beliefs/aesthetics and that's OK. It's fine to be ME. I have the Tribe to thank for this realization. I am thrilled that their story is finally being shared on film. Check the trailer and go see the movie when it comes to your neck of the woods.

Bonita Applebaum brings back so many memories. It was 1990 and I was entering highschool. My real 1st name is Terina so it was only natural that I changed the lyrics to Terina Applebaum. :) I thought I was oh-so-fly!





My favorite joint from my fantasy babydaddy Q-Tip is "Getting Up" but honestly every thing he breathes on is the hottest thing I've ever heard. (in my groupie voice) PS: I met him once. We were in the Blockbusters looking for movies together in the same aisle in Englewood, NJ. I was with my then fiance' and got his autograph. Now happily divorced, I wonder 'Damn, why couldn't I have rolled solo to the video store???' (hehehe) I saw him perform only once...2-3 yrs ago in Long Island. The man is incredible.
Long live A Tribe Called Quest!

New York Fashion Film Festival is TODAY

Fashion, Film, Free? Say no more.

Stacey Muhammad, Film Maker/Documentarian Extraordinaire

What if Spike Lee was a woman? Can you imagine the nerves he would touch with poignantly compelling stories from the soul of a conscious Black woman? Meet Stacey Muhammad: part Spike Lee, part Sista Souljah, part Cornel West. 100% real. 100% powerfully beautiful.

Please introduce yourself. What do you do?

Stacey Muhammad
Independent Filmmaker, Documentarian
Dedicated to the freedom and liberation of the minds, hearts and lives of Original People around the globe. Doing my part to make this happen through the powerful medium of film and media.

 How did you get started on your creative path? What did you do prior?
I started out in film with an interest in writing screenplays. I participated in just about every filmmakers workshop that was offered in the Washington, DC area, which is where I lived at the time. The class / workshop that greatly affected every part of my being, not just as a filmmaker, was the directing and screenwriting classes with Prof. Haile Gerima of Sankofa / Howard University. He is a brilliant man who cares so much about the truth that it's impossible to be in his presence and not have your consciousness altered and expanded in significant ways. His classes were further confirmation for me, that compromise was not an option. I knew that I would be a filmmaker dedicated to using this medium to spread truth and speak to the unique needs of Original People without pathologizing and further stereotyping them / us. After his classes, I made my first documentary film, “A Glimpse of Heaven, the Legacy of the Million Man March.”


My journey to become a filmmaker hasn't been separate from my spiritual journey and walk toward becoming who God intended for me to be. After a spiritual workshop at the ASCEND Spiritual Flight Academy, I was encouraged to move back to New York and immediately step into my calling. I moved to New York to attend the Digital Filmmaking Academy and continue with this work. I started working with various hip hop artists in the NY area, did the I AM SEAN BELL and OUT OF OUR RIGHT MINDS film, and here I am.

I AM SEAN BELL, black boys speak




TRAILER FOR OUT OF OUR RIGHT MINDS, TRAUMA, DEPRESSION AND THE BLACK WOMAN currently being screened nationwide


Prior to film...well, I started out as a dancer. I studied with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater here in NY, years ago. I was always into community activism and worked with a number of non profits in the Washington, DC area as a graphic designer / journalist prior to getting into film.


Do you feel more connected to your authentic self through the work you do?

Absolutely. What I do has been a journey back to my authentic self. There is no separation. The work is my life. My life is the work. I'm healing and growing by being a contribution and vessel.


What advice can you give to those who what to follow in your footsteps for their career path?

I'm hesitant to refer to what I'm doing as a “career”. It feels more like a calling, like a state of being. So, in truth, I couldn't give much advice to someone who sees being a filmmaker as their career path of choice. What I can say to people who believe that they were put on the planet to do something impactful, whether they are intimately familiar with this truth, or if it's something that's a new discovery for them; my advice would be, to understand that there is no such thing as entertainment. EVERYTHING in media and (particularly “Hollywood”) has a purpose and a plan attached to it. We believe that films are being made to entertain us, when in fact they are being made to distract us. We've got to start viewing the mediums of artistic expression as what they are, tools (weapons) used to build or destroy and avenues to inculcate masses of people with certain ideas. Black filmmakers get to use these mediums to tell the truth and to provide avenues for healing for our people. This is a spiritual journey and experience, that is native to us if we connect to our authentic selves. So, I would say, be in integrity, live your word, tell the truth unapologetically and learn as much about this craft as you can; perfect it, go to film school, or take workshops, get on a set, talk to people, ask questions, don't pretend like you know things that you don't know, ask for help and be willing to sit next to people and learn everything you need to learn in order to make the most visually beautiful, technically perfected, truthful and bold films that you possibly can.


What projects are on the horizon?

Next project is a feature length documentary titled “FOR COLORED BOYS, the rainbow ISN'T Enough”. It is slated to be released in May 2001. I'm more excited about this project than anything else I've done thus far. The film is based upon the CRESS THEORY OF COLOR- CONFRONTATION AND RACISM, coined and taught by Master Teacher, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing. It's time to give our brothers a voice. They are being lynched, criminalized, and disregarded. Until black women become CLEAR on WHY this is happening to our men, we will continue to “unwillingly and unintentionally” participate in the lynching, pathologizing and destruction of black men. They are NOT responsible for our collective pain and suffering and we are not responsible for theirs. I'm hopeful this documentary will, at least, shed some light on what's going on and the ways in which healing can take place.

How can one support your work?

http://www.staceymuhammad.com/
http://www.wildseedstudios.com/
www.vimeo.com/wildseed


PLEASE donate, support and reach out...it's appreciated more than you can possibly imagine.


Peace

BT: The Last Days-The Opening Reception

This story of the lives of the residents of Newark, NJ's demolished notorious projects, Baxter Terrace really struck a chord with me. The notable fine art photographer, filmmaker, and photojournalist, Akintola Hanif, establishes relationships with the residents during his continued studies of gang relations. He discovers that BT will soon be no more and begins his quest into how this will effect the many lives of its residents.
I was a small child coming up in Newark with my mom in the 7th Avenue projects until I was about 4-5 but I continued to visit my peoples out there occassionally until they were all knocked down in my late teens. I know the stigma attached to the "lower class" as if their conditions are hopeless and their lives are completely void of value. My mom, who lived in the projects for the 2nd half of her childhood into adulthood, went on to become a college professor and Director at one of NJ's largest hospitals. So much for this hopelessness theory.

For me, it was seeing the image of that brother with his head poking from the steel door entry on the marketing materials that reflected the weight of the burden of the Black poor and analogy of being shut away and hidden from "polite society".  His head stubbornly reveals the strength and utter determination of a people insisting on being acknowledged. His head beckons to be recognized. His eyes, though weary, pronounce, "YO, I'M STILL HERE!"




Akintola cleverly used this door, bolted to the floor of his studio, during the reception.

Check the video of the opening reception here:

Learn more about Akintola Hanif here :http://www.hycide.com/
See the exhibit in person here:
31 Central Avenue, Studio #7
Newark, NJ 07102
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
(646) 434-7815

Newark's Independent Film Festival in collaboration with Art in the Park

It's romantic! It's entertaining! It's community-based/organized. It's a cultural smorgasborg! And it's FREE!!

Newark's Independent Film Festival is LIVE every Wednesday evening from 5-10pm in Washington Park, which is the cute little grassy enclave on Broad St. directly in front of the Newark Museum and Newark Library.

Treat yourself to a piece of one-of-a-kind art/jewelry/accessories from the artists that are vendors there. Have a bite to eat and have a seat or, if you've come prepared to lounge. lay out a blanket and watch an international film under the stars! There isn't a more brilliant way to spend a Wednesday evening!

NOW PLAYING:

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO (an audience favorite)

Vince and Shonda have come to the proverbial end of their ropes with one another. Set in Atlanta during the 2008 Presidential Election season, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do is the touching story of what happens when two people feel they have nothing more to give to a relationship. A funny and intimate look at how people fall in love and what it takes to stay there, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do touches on the reality of the outside forces that can make or break a relationship. They say the truth will set you free, but when Shonda and Vince are armed with the truth, will they use it to set themselves free for once and for all?

UPCOMING SHOWS:

MY NAME IS KHAN
Rizwan Khan, a Muslim from the Borivali section of Mumbai, suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism that complicates socialization. The adult Rizwan marries a Hindu single mother, Mandira, in San Francisco. After 9/11, Rizwan is detained by authorities at LAX who mistake his disability for suspicious behavior. Following his arrest, he meets Radha, a therapist who helps him deal with his situation and his affliction. Rizwan then begins a journey to meet US President Obama to clear his name.

BESOURO
Martial arts meet Brazilian history in an original mythic story.
Local Afro-Brazilian myth springs to life in the entertaining "Besouro," that rare martial arts film that has an engrossing story to tell and a social point to make. Here the focus is on Capoeira players, who, lead by the legendary hero Besouro, combine acrobatic dancing and fighting to liberate themselves from the oppression of a white plantation owner.

BRICK LANE
Poignant tale of a woman's journey of self-discovery, January 22, 2009. "Brick Lane" is based on Monica Ali's controversial novel of the same title, and tells the story of a Bangladeshi Muslim woman, Nazneen [Tannishta Chatterjee] who was married off at 17 by her father to a much older man living in London. Nazneen leaves behind her beloved sister, and there is also the haunting specter of her mother's suicide when she was a young girl. Nazneen's sister keeps up an active correspondence with her, indicating a life of adventure and excitement, in stark contrast to Nazneen's own repressed life - one of monotony and drudgery, of a loveless union with a self-absorbed man, and of caring for her two daughters. Nazneen's way of coping with her humdrum life is to quote her deceased mother: "Life is to be endured."
Things change when a new neighbor moves in next door.

UP FROM THE BOTTOMS: The Search for the American Dream
Tells the story of the massive migration of African Americans from the rural south to the prosperous north during the World War II years and beyond. They left behind the legacy of slavery and segregation and set out to find the american dream. The voice of Cicely Tyson guides us through these touching, thoughtful and often funny stories as told by fifteen residents of Muskegon, Michigan. During the late 1930’s through the 1960’s, factory jobs in the north were abundant while farming jobs in the south were disappearing. It started as a trickle but once word got back to families in the south, it turned into a flood of people uprooting their lives and moving to the land of prosperity, the industrial north.

SOUL POWER 2009
What do Hugh Masakela, Celia Cruz and James Brown have in common? While it’s highly likely they all got on the good foot a time or two, that’s not it. In 1974, they were among the musical acts who returned to their African roots to perform in a 12-hour, three night long concert in Zaire. Soul Power is the documentary about this concert, Zaire ’74, that was held in conjunction with the “Rumble in the Jungle” fight between Muhammad Ali and George Fraser. This epic film will be shown at the Detroit Film Theatre on August 7, 8, and 9. Much acclaim has been made about the fight which was chronicled in When We Were Kings. Director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte wanted Soul Power to be a distinctly different experience.

SUGAR
Sugar follows the story of Miguel Santos, a.k.a. Sugar, a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro De Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States’ minor league system; but when his play on the mound falters, he begins to question the single-mindedness of his life’s ambition.


SITA SINGS THE BLUES
The movie is about Sita, the Hindu Goddess from the epic "The Ramayana", who accompanies Lord Rama on a 14 year exile in forest. Sita is abducted by Ravana, the ruler of Lanka. This movie deals with the relationship of Rama and Sita.


ENDGAME
From the vantage point director Pete Travis turns his attention from high-profile political assassinations to the high-risk talks that ushered in the end of apartheid while securing the release of Nelson Mandela in this historical drama Read More...starring William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofer, Mark Strong, and Johnny Lee Miller. The time is the late 1980s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging onto power by a thread as the African National Congress (ANC) takes up arms against apartheid and the country tumbles towards insurrection. A British mining concern called Consolidated Gold is convinced that their interests would be better served in a stable South Africa, and quietly dispatches Michael Young, their head of public affairs, to open an unofficial dialogue between the bitter rivals. Assembling a reluctant yet brilliant team to pave the way to reconciliation by confronting obstacles that initially seem insurmountable, Young places his trust in ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse. It is their empathy that will ultimately serve as the catalyst for change by proving more powerful than the terrorist bombs that threaten to disrupt the peaceful dialogue. As the story shifts between Mandela's jail cell, Botha's chambers, ANC headquarters, and a rented car occupied by a British bureaucrat, the prospect for peace becomes more than just a distant hope.


CELIA CRUZ, QUEEN OF SALSA
This biographical tribute to an icon of Latina music evokes the talent, independence, and inner drive of a woman who helped develop a music style present in today's popular culture. A songbird of the Havana streets, the young Cruz charmed her neighbors with the passion and uniqueness of her voice, which incorporated the sounds of street vendors. "Her father heard thunder. Her cousins heard the call of the sea. Her neighbors heard a hummingbird." The text records her early life in an overcrowded household but also emphasizes her love for learning and her classical training, her devotion to her birth country, and her international fame. Full-page illustrations in bold jewel tones evoke the warmth and swirl of the salsa sound she created. An author's note summarizes Cruz's personal and professional life. Like the sweetness of her voice, this tribute is pure azúcar. It fills a gap in materials for music teachers and is a solid addition for all libraries.

For More Info:
Contact (888) 842-3295