StudentFest

2008 SELECTIONS

Special Screening of 'The Great Debaters'

A COLORED LIFE: THE STORY OF HERB JEFFRIES (Documentary Short , 60 min.)
(Middle School/High School)

The long and colorful life of legendary entertainer Herb Jeffries, America's "first Black singing cowboy," began with a little white lie. Ninety-six-year-old Herb Jeffries starred in “The Bronze Buckaroo”, sang with Duke Ellington's band, and was a TV personality, ladies ‘man and an accidental activist. The light-skinned Jeffries struggled with his racial identity for nearly a century.

AFRICAN BOOTY SCRATCHER (Narrative Short, 15 min.)
(High School)

Prom nears and things seem to be spiraling out of control for the typically composed Isatu. In this coming of age story, West African tradition conflicts with American idealism as Isatu is forced to reassess her idea of the "perfect dress."

AKIRA’S HIP HOP SHOP (Short, 37 min.)
(High School/College)

An intriguing love story. Two young people who fall in-love and share their passion for music through their ethnicities and appreciation for one another’s very stimulating cultures.

ALL IN GRAVITY (Short, 13 min.)
(Middle School/High School)

The story of a young troubled man is at ends with bullies at scho9ol. His older sister offers no positive advice or influence. Discovery of dead gang member and a gun changes his life forever.

ANTÔNIA (Narrative Feature, 90 min.)
(High School/ College)

On the outskirts of São Paulo, four girls who have been singing together since their childhood fight to fulfill their dream of making a living with their music. Tired of singing back-up for male rap artists, they form their own rap group, find a manager and begin to put on shows in bars and parties. But, just as the dream seems to be coming true, their hopes are dashed by brutal violence, internal jealousies, unplanned pregnancy and the daily events which accompany poverty. Filled with R&B, soul and rap music, this energetic look into modern Brazilian life, explores cultural oppression, chauvinism and urban violence yet manages to stay engaging and upbeat especially in its depiction and appreciation of female friendship.

BABA KING (Short, 17 min.)
(Middle School/ High school)

The intriguing story of a young man who struggles in the hood, seeking the smell of respect to stay alive. Baba King comes face to face with his bi8ggest challenge and for him success means survival and failure is not an option.

BLACK TO OUR ROOTS (Documentary, 49 min.)
(High School/College)

The inspirational story of the journey of 17 years old Sylvia Dorsey., as she leaves the frustration of her surroundings at home in Atlanta. Determined to transcend this environment Sylvia soon finds herself on a soul searching mission to define who she is, where she has come from and question where will her future lie.. This young teen discovers who she is, inspiration, goals, objectives to belong to a positive environment.

THE DON OF VIRGIL JR, HIGH (Short – 20 min.)
(Middle School)

The story of a young black boy who through a hard time in Jr. High with bullies, no friends and no popularity. The story of how he became a young business man and turned his popularity around at school, while learning a great lesson as well.

EZRA (Narrative Feature – 110 min.)
(High School/College)

Ezra is the first film to give an African perspective on the disturbing phenomenon of abducting child soldiers into the continent’s recent civil wars. It was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2007 Festival Panafricain du Cinema à Ouagadougou (FESPACO), Africa’s largest and most prestigious film event, and was selected for the International Critics Week at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Ezra stands out among other African films because it is a complex psychological study, not just of the brutalizing, healing and reintegration into society of one of thousands of traumatized former child soldiers, but also as a key for reconstructing these societies themselves.

The film illustrates a detailed overview of the problem of child soldiers: “In 2000, nearly 300,000 children were being exploited as soldiers throughout 30 countries. Close to 120,000 of these child soldiers were in Africa. Weapons continue to be imported into Africa in exchange for diamonds, oil and other natural resources. The children continue to fight and the entire next generation will suffer as a result.” (California Newsreel)

FLYING FOR FREEDOM: THE UNTOLD STORIES OF THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN (Documentary Short, 69 min.)
(Middle School/ High school/College)

The personal stories and fading memories of some of the few remaining Tuskegee Airmen -- African American pilots, mechanics, and servicemen who served valiantly in World War II. A sobering inside look at the changing face of racism during a time when black soldiers and heroes of WWII returned home to an America not ready to accept them as equals. This is a tribute to their unwavering patriotism, even in the face of great adversity.

HIP HOP: BEYOND BEATS AND RHYMES (Documentary Feature, 63 min.)
(High School)

A riveting documentary that examines representations of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music. Conceived as a "loving critique" from a self-proclaimed "Hip-Hop Head," it tackles issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today's hip-hop culture. Mos Def, Fat Joe, Chuck D, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons are interviewed; along with commentary from Michael Eric Dyson, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Kevin Powell, and Sarah Jones. The complex intersection of culture, commerce and gender are revealed through on-the-street interviews with aspiring rappers and fans at hip-hop events throughout the country. The film provides thoughtful dialogue from intelligent, divergent voices of rap artists, industry executives, rap fans and social critics from inside and outside the hip-hop generation.

I LOVE HIP HOP IN MOROCCO (Documentary, 80 min.)
(High School)

A group of Moroccan Hip Hop artists share a single dream: to rock a professional concert for a hometown crowd. Unfortunately, in addition to a lack of resources and freedom of speech, these young artists get virtually no support from their own society or cultural institutions. So, with the help of the American filmmaker, they appeal to the American Embassy for funding for the first Moroccan Hip Hop festival. Although the organizers face roadblocks along the way--diplomatic bureaucracy, disputes over money, unscrupulous stage-builders and general chaos of business in the Third World--they pull it off and the festival plays to massive crowds of young Moroccans in three cities, fulfilling the dream of the artists and catapulting Moroccan Hip Hop from the underground into the spotlight.

LEGEND OF THE SKY KINGDOM, (Narrative Feature, 74 min.)
(Elementary School)

When three children make a daring escape from the underground city where
they are held as slaves of the evil emperor, they go in search of the fabled
Sky Kingdom and the great prince Ariel. An epic journey, fraught with
danger, follows their escape, presented in a new and totally African
animation technique called "Junkmation."

PUBLIC ENEMY: Welcome to the Terrordome (Documentary, 104 min.)
(High School)

Public Enemy's monumental impact on music and global culture over the past two decades is shown through behind the scenes interactions between Chuck D and Flavor Flav, live concert footage from shows as far flung as Moscow, Rio, Italy, Spain and the UK, and interviews with the Beastie Boys, Tom Morello (Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine), Henry Rollins, Talib Kweli and Jonathan Davis of Korn.

“Less electrifying than a live Public Enemy show but packing more energy than 12 standard-issue music docs combined, "Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome" is among the best of its kind -- intimate, powerful, politically astute and absorbing. One needn't be a PE fan or even a rap fan to find something enthralling in this definitive portrait of a group and an era that changed the face of popular music...” John Anderson

RISING FROM THE RAILING (Documentary, 46 min.)
(Middle School/ High school)

Based on the best-selling book by Larry Tye, a chronicle of the relatively unheralded Pullman Porters, generations of African American men who served as caretakers to wealthy white passengers on luxury trains that traversed the nation during the golden age of rail travel.

WHEN THEY COULD FLY (Short 28 min.)
(High School)

A cinematic adaptation of a magical folktale which uses the period of American slavery as a stage to show how people can survive and overcome the most extreme experiences by the power of their own will. A group of people held as slaves on a South Carolina cotton plantation learn that people in Africa practice magic and have developed the ability to fly. The idea of transcendence is a necessity for human existence in times when there is nothing else to believe in. The protagonist holds on to this magical belief and it changes the group's shackled lives.

THE GREAT DEBATERS (Narrative Feature, 124 min.)
(High School/ Middle School)

"The Great Debaters" is about an underdog debate team that wins a national championship, and some critics have complained that it follows the formula of all sports movies by leading up, through great adversity, to a victory at the end. So it does. How many sports movies, or movies about underdogs competing in any way, have you seen that end in defeat? It is human nature to seek inspiration in victory, and this is a film that is affirming and inspiring and re-creates the stories of a remarkable team and its coach.
The team is from little Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, a black institution in the Jim Crow South of the 1930s. The school's English professor, Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington), is a taskmaster who demands the highest standards from his debate team, and they're rewarded with a national championship. That's what the "sports movie" is about, but the movie is about so much more, and in ways that do not follow formulas.

Special Performance by Impromp2, Friday, 2/8/08