Langston Hughes African American Film Festival 2009

black./womyn.:conversations…focuses on the lives and views of lesbians of African descent living in the United States. The documentary is structured by interviews-"conversations"-the director had with each of the women. It features candid interviews with black lesbian women discussing coming out, sexuality and religion, love and relationships, marriage, patriarchy, visibility in media, discrimination and homophobia, activism, gender identity, Black lesbian youth and elders, balancing gender/race/sexuality, and, finally, what it means to call oneself a Black lesbian today. black./womyn.:conversations… is a piece that provokes honest, progressive dialogue and critical thinking among people in general-and Black lesbians in particular-about how Black lesbians are viewed and affected by society. black./womyn.:conversations… features interviews with close to 50 out, Black lesbians including Poet/Author Cheryl Clarke, Filmmaker/Activist Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Poet/Author Staceyann Chin, Filmmaker Michelle Parkerson, Artist Hanifah Walidah, Hip-Hop Duo KIN, and Author Fiona Zedde. Filmmaker Tiona M in attendance

This film is about the work of American artists, Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder who stepped forward in the 1950's to play a vital part in the newly energized world of modern dance. It is also about a forty-seven year long marriage and creative partnership that has sustained their accomplishments. Over the past three years, Linda Atkinson (a student of Carmen's) and Nick Doob have filmed the virtually uninterrupted creativity of this couple, now in their 70's. The film's style is spontaneous, intimate and revealing, showing Carmen and Geoffrey's natural penchant for uncommon good humor. The film was shot in New York, Texas, Trinidad and Paris and contains rare dance footage featuring them from the 50's and 60's, both solo and together. It also includes their work with Ailey, Ross, Horton, Joe Layton, Duke Ellington and Josephine Baker in Paris. There are scenes of their contemporary work, including Carmen's on-going partnership with Gus Solomons jr and Dudley Williams and both Carmen's and Geoffrey's current choreography. The film provides young people with role models of lives boldly lived and above all will offer a paradigm for survival and accomplishment in one of the toughest professions to which anyone can aspire.

CLOSING NIGHT (West Coast Premiere) LHAAFF is deeply proud and honored to partner with Cine Seattle , producers of the Seattle Latino International Film Festival to bring "Celia the Queen". We recommend that you arrive at the theater early; there is no guaranteed seating and sorry, no late seating. Legendary Afro Cuban diva Celia Cruz was a woman whose voice symbolized the soul of a nation. Her reign as the queen of salsa, surrounded her with some of the most important 1970s-era figures of the genre. Her trademark cry ¡Azúcar! became known across Latin America. When she fled Castro’s Cuba in 1960 and eventually arrived in the United States, she started a second, even more successful career fueled by her partnerships with salsa greats Tito Puente, Willie Colon and Johnny Pacheco. Ironically, while she became known as the voice of Cuba around the world, her once beloved music was banned in her home country. Directors Joe Cardona and Mario de Varona use archival footage of both Celia and her loving husband, Pedro Knight, to tell the inspiring story of a little girl from Havana who became an international diva. Interviews with David Byrne, Gloria Estefan, Andy Garcia, Wyclef Jean, Quincy Jones, and others who knew her, loved her and have been influenced by her, paint an intimate portrait of the life, times and music of salsa’s indisputable queen. Director Joe Cardona in attendance. Reception follows.

Filmed entirely in Southeast Texas, "Do You" examines race relations as prejudices arise in unexpected places, leaving a young couple to navigate troubled waters to maintain their love. In the film, Paula Teague and Frank Bradshaw only have one thing in common; they want their children to end their current relationship.The Bradshaws, a Southern white family, are surprised to meet their daughter Kesha's boyfriend, Cameron Teague, who is black. Surprise changes to outrage when Cameron introduces Kesha to his outspoken mother, Paula.When Kesha and Cameron decide to get married, the feelings and stereotypes of their over-protective parents become abundantly clear. Their opinions force Kesha and Cameron to take drastic measures to maintain their love.

This documentary tells the little known story of Sakia Gunn, a 15 year old student who was fatally stabbed in a gay hate crime in Newark, New Jersey. Sakia was an Aggressive, according to GLAAD, a homosexual woman of color who dresses in masculine attire but does not necessarily identify as either lesbian or female-to-male transgender. Sakia held promise as a basketball player and was an "A" student, looking forward to becoming a senior at Newark's West Side High School. On the night Sakia was murdered, she and her friends were returning from socializing at New York City's Greenwich Village piers, at Christopher street, a popular spot for Lesbian, Gay and Transgendered youth.

…The world can change in a day… Despite hard-fought gains in the fight for racial equality, segregation remained firmly entrenched in 1960 America. Black citizens in the South were still treated as second-class citizens and their calls for justice remained largely unheard by the nation. There had been some advances in the arena of civil rights with the Brown v. the Board of Education, but after that, strong defiance by ardent segregationists pushed the Movement into retreat. February 1, 1960 changed all that. Based largely on first hand accounts and rare archival footage, the new documentary film February One documents one volatile winter in Greensboro that not only challenged public accommodation customs and laws in North Carolina, but served as a blueprint for the wave of non-violent civil rights protests that swept across the South and the nation throughout the 1960's.

WEST COAST PREMIERE! Douglass escaped slavery and took refuge in Ireland during the peak of the Great Famine. The doc examines the effect Ireland had on Douglass' activism, & the role of the Irish in America after Douglass' return. The film sheds light on the turbulent relationship between African Americans and Irish Americans, and the race riot that rocked NYC during the Civil War. The director and producer are expected to be present at the screening for a filmmaker talkback.

Ben Chaney, brother of James Chaney, one of 3 civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi in 1964, leads a group of young people on a Freedom Bus Ride from NY to MS. They register voters, visit historic civil rights sites, and come to understand the 'price of freedom'.

A young couple comments on favorite and least favorite qualities of the other person.