Langston Hughes African American Film Festival 2009

Acclaimed New Orleans native Wendell Pierce (Ray, The Wire) narrates this gritty look at the delicate relationship between government and citizen in the wake of disaster. Filmed on location in the small city of Baker, Louisiana, Renaissance Village follows the personal struggles of five characters to reclaim their lives after living nearly three years in a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) trailer park. After allegations of formaldehyde poisoning force the park to close, residence must leave to find a new home.Paul, an auto-mechanic from New Orleans who lost everything in the storm, directs his grievances toward the camera, "Why do we put this all on the government?" and answers, "Because there's no one else to put it on." But where is the line drawn line between villain and victim? Who is truly responsible when disaster strikes? Filmmakers in attendance

Harold Jackson II wrote, produced, and directed this thriller about an average Joe, who quickly finds himself in over his head in the murky world of Gangsters, dirty Cops, and betrayal all because of one deadly mistake. Starring Curtiss Cook, Kerisse Hutchinson, Loukas Papas, Del Pentecost, and Nicoye Banks.

Sonia, a young 'Garifuna' woman - a Latin woman of West African, Arawak and Carib Indian ancestry - leads a troubled life as a house worker in Los Angeles and is plagued by a haunting memory of a relationship with an American soldier. Stimulated by Garifuna ritual, Sonia discovers her cultural roots and her own identity as a mother.

STILL BLACK: a portrait of black transmen, is an alternative feature-length documentary that explores the lives of six black transgender men living in the United States. Through the intimate stories of their lives as artists, students, husbands, fathers, lawyers, and teachers, the film offers viewers a complex and multi-faceted image of race, sexuality and trans identity.

A woman shares the history of her Mississippi Delta community as she gives a tour of her church cemetery.

Acclaimed musician Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong is renowned for a lifetime of jazz, blues, folk and country music. In P.O.V.'s first season, he was the subject of Terry Zwigoff's "Louie Bluie," and he is the first person to reappear in the series. Armstrong's roots in America's musical past, his accomplished musicianship, and his sly and charming personality led the National Endowment for the Arts to honor him as a "national treasure." But when Armstrong met Barbara Ward, a sculptor 30 years his junior, a new chapter of his life and art unfolded.Sweet Old Song, a film by Leah Mahan, is the story of Armstrong and Ward's courtship and marriage - a unique partnership that has inspired an outpouring of art and music. This creative work draws on nearly a century of African American experience, beginning with Armstrong's vivid stories and paintings of his childhood in a segregated town in Tennessee.

Allegorical, experimental short film about a woman who suspects her husband of infidelity.

The South was not the only place where Americans were denied equal rights. Right here in Washington, as little as 35 years ago, some people could not get jobs or housing because of their color. This film explores the trials and tribulations of the Civil Rights movement in Tacoma, Washington. Filmmaker Sidney Lee in attendance

TROUBLE THE WATER takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. It's a redemptive tale of two self-described street hustlers who become heroes-two unforgettable people who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning. The film opens the day before the storm makes landfall-twenty-four year old aspiring rap artist Kimberly Rivers Roberts is turning her new video camera on herself and her 9th Ward neighbors trapped in the city. "It's going to be a day to remember," Kim declares. With no means to leave the city and equipped with just a few supplies and her hi 8 camera, she and her husband Scott tape their harrowing ordeal as the storm rages, the nearby levee breaches, and floodwaters fill their home and their community. Seamlessly weaving 15 minutes of this home movie footage shot the day before and the day after the storm, with archival news segments and verite footage shot over two years, directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal document a journey of remarkable people surviving not only failed levees, bungling bureaucrats and armed soldiers, but also their own past.