In separate interviews filmmaker AVA DUVERNAY and cinematographer BRADFORD YOUNG discuss their collaborative partnership and the visual approach to MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. In theaters now www.middlenowhere.com
Camera: Craig Carpenter and Christopher Brown. Edit: Mike D. Thanks to: BlackStar Film Festival, Scrbe Video Center.
In this first of a series of interview snippets, filmmaker AVA DUVERNAY introduces us to her film MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, in theaters nationwide October 12, 2012. Ms. DuVernay is the founder of the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement and the first African-American woman to win Sundance for Directing. Support her efforts at www.affrm.com. Camera: Craig Carpenter. Edit: Mike D.
RBTV's MIKE D. spent a few minutes with legendary filmmaker SPIKE LEE to discuss his latest project, RED HOOK SUMMER, and the current state of African-American Independent Film. RED HOOK SUMMER expands to Philadelphia on Friday August 24, 2012.
An Atlanta adolescent experiences a new side of life while spending the summer in Brooklyn with his grandfather, a fire-and-brimstone preacher who's determined to save his soul. Young Flik (Jules Brown) has never met his grandfather before now, and when his mother drops him off at the Red Hook housing project, the culture shock is overpowering. Depressed at the prospect of spending his cherished vacation without his friends while enduring the righteous ramblings of his grandpa Enoch (Clarke Peters), Flik resigns himself to a summer of boredom until he crosses paths with Chazz (Toni Lysaith), a spunky church girl with a unique outlook on life. Meanwhile, as the summer heat spikes and conflicts among the congregation ignite, Flik realizes that his summer vacation is about to get interesting.
Author and comedian BARATUNDE THURSTON shares his thoughts on the state of popular African-American film and his hopes for the future. His new memoir, HOW TO BE BLACK is available now from Harper Collins.
From the Reelblack Vault comes this 2008 interview with independent film pioneer Robert Downey, Sr. He discusses his early work, hits and misses, with emphasis on the cult classic PUTNEY SWOPE (1968) which costarred Arnold Johnson and Antonio Fargas as the Arab. He offers suggestions to up-and-coming filmmakers and talks about the ups and downs of being an artist. A Reelblack Exclusive. Putney Swope is available on DVD from Homevison Entertainment. Greasers Palace Special Edition is available through Scorpion Releasing.
*check the cameo in the film from Soul SingerRonnie Dyson
From the Reelblack Vault comes this exclusive clip of poet/activist/professor NIKKI GIOVANNI reciting her piece "Tennessean by Birth" from her 2007 collection "Acolytes" at the 2010 Art Sanctuary's Celebration of Black Writing, where she was fetted. www.nikki-giovani.com
From the Reelblack vault comes this exclusive clip of actress/singer/author NICHELLE NICHOLS from the press room at the 2008 EAST COAST BLACK AGE OF COMICS CONVENTION in Philadelphia, PA. Journalist RAYMOND TYLER asks Ms. Nichols about working in film during the Blaxploitation era and the role her character LT. UHURA played in advancing the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
ReelBlack TV was privileged to encounter TEENA MARIE backstage at the 2008 R&B Foundation Awards. Here is the raw uncut footage from her press conference after receiving the award. She will be sadly missed. Camera Bill Tucker and Mike D.
Image Award winning Actress KERRY WASHINGTON (Ray) recently visited Philadelphia for the premiere of her new movie NIGHT CATCHES US. In this exclusive clip, she talks about what attracted her to star in the film, working with Anthony Mackie and finding balance between independent and Hollywood films.
Reelblack sat down with filmmaker Tanya Hamilton to talk about her debut feature, NIGHT CATCHES US. Filmed entirely in Philadelphia, it took nearly 10 years to develop and stars Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie. A hit at the Sundance Film Festival and Lincoln Center's New Directors/New Films, It opens in Philadelphia, New York and Santa Monica on December 3, 2010.
ABOUT THE MOVIE
In 1976, after years of mysterious absence, Marcus (Anthony Mackie, "The Hurt Locker") returns to the Philadelphia neighborhood where he came of age in the midst of the Black Power movement. While his arrival raises suspicion among his family and former neighbors, he finds acceptance from his old friend Patricia (Kerry Washington, "Ray," "Lift") and her daughter. However, Marcus quickly finds himself at odds with the organization he once embraced, whose members suspect he orchestrated the slaying of their former comrade-in-arms. In a startling sequence of events, Marcus must protect a secret that could shatter everyone's beliefs as he rediscovers his forbidden passion for Patricia.
