Pan African Film & Arts Festival, Los Angeles CA

The Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF), in its 17th year, is the nation’s largest black film festival. Established in 1992, PAFF is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression. PAFF’s stated goal is to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. PAFF has an ethos of using film and art to create a better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles. PAFF mission also uses film as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues.

Some of this year’s highlights include:

Blood Done Sign My Name (Opening Night Film)

Jeb Stuart’s Blood Done Sign My Name, is an epic civil rights drama based on the acclaimed book of the same name by prize-winning author and scholar Timothy Tyson. Part autobiography and part history of the civil rights movement in the south, the movie recounts the small town murder of Henry Marrow, a 23 year-old black Vietnam veteran, who was shot and beaten to death by a prominent white businessman and his grown sons. In response to the crime, and the sham trial that followed, many young African American men took to the streets, engaging in riots and vandalism. However, Ben Chavis, Marrow’s cousin, decided that the best way to protest the injustice would be to organize a peaceful march on the state capitol. What began as a small group of outraged friends and relatives grew to a crowd of thousands over the three-day, fifty-mile trek to Raleigh. Ten years old at the time, Tim Tyson watched as his father, pastor of the all-white Methodist church, tried to get his congregation to accept the inevitability of integration.

Nate Parker, (who played a leading role in The Great Debators and stars in George Lucas’ forthcoming Tuskegee Airmen saga, Red Tails,) stars as Dr. Ben Chavis, (who went on to become head of the NAACP). Golden Globe-winner Rick Schroder, (Lonsesome Dove, NYPD Blue) stars as Tyson’s father, Reverend Vernon Tyson. Stuart, (screenwriter on such classic action thrillers as Die Hard and The Fugitive), is a North Carolina native and, more importantly, the son of a white Southern minister who lived through the very events portrayed in the film. The large ensemble cast includes, Afemo Omilami (Forest Gump), Lela Rochon (Waiting to Exhale), Omar Benson Miller (Miracle at St. Anna), Nick Searcy (Cast Away), Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), Darrin Dewitt Henson (Stomp the Yard) and Gattlin Griffith (The Changeling) as the young Tim Tyson.

2010 Night of Tribute Honorees

Emmy award-winning actor Glynn Turman (Cooley High, The Wire) will be the recipient of the 2010 PAFF Lifetime Achievement Award honoree.  Other distinguished honorees include: Pioneer Award recipient film director F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job, A Man Apart); Beah Richards Award recipient actress Tatyana Ali (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Love That Girl); Canada Lee Award recipient actor Nate Parker (The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, Blood Done Sign My Name); Nigerian filmmaker and founder of the influential African Academy of Motion Pictures Peace Anyiam-Fiberesima, recipient of the PAFF/African Channel Visionary Award; and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Community Service Award recipient.

Centerpiece Presentation….41st & Central: The Untold Story of the L.A. Black Panthers

“41st & Central: The Untold Story of the L.A. Black Panthers”, a two part documentary series by filmmaker Gregory Everett, follows the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party from its glorious Black Power beginnings through to its tragic demise.  Despite the Party’s formation of free medical clinics and a successful breakfast program for children, the L.A. chapter was also known as the most violent Black political group in the United States.  “41st & Central: The Untold Story of the L.A. Black Panthers” explores The Black Panther ethos, its conflict with the L.A.P.D., and the US Organization as well as the events that shaped the complicated and often contradictory legacy of the L.A. Panthers.  The film contains interviews with former Black Panther Party members along with archival footage detailing the history of racism in Los Angeles, including the Watt’s uprising from the perspective of the participants who “engaged with the L.A.P.D.

As usual, this year’s PAFF will also feature panel discussions, industry workshops and seminars in addition a diverse selection of Black films, including features, shorts, documentaries as well as studio/network releases. Visit the Pan African Film & Arts Festival official website for more information.

BLOOD DONE SIGN MY NAME

41ST & CENTRAL

FREEDOM RIDERS