San Francisco Black Film Festival | San Francisco, CA

The mission of the San Francisco Black Film Festival (SFBFF) is to celebrate African American cinema and the African cultural Diaspora and to showcase a diverse collection of films – from emerging and established filmmakers. This is accomplished by presenting Black films, which reinforce positive images and dispel negative stereotypes, and providing film artists from the bay area in particular and around the world in general, a forum for their work to be viewed and discussed. SFBFF believes film can lead to a better understanding of and communication between, peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while simultaneously serving as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.

An early proponent of the global perspective, the festival has always been ahead of its time. “The San Francisco Black Film Festival was designed to draw international participation,” says SFBFF founder Ave Montague (See Note). “Long before popular culture paid lip service to ‘going global’, we were walking the walk, presenting global motifs and topics from filmmakers around the world”.

From its modest beginnings in 1998 with $3,000 in funding, SFBFF has grown from a one day event with an audience of 300 to an five day multiple venue cultural celebration drawing over 2,000 people. Comprised of film screenings, panel discussions, hands-on workshops, the Ueban Kidz film series, opening and closing programs, and the Melvin Van Peebles Award ceremony which recognizes an emerging filmmaker for risk taking. Under the leadership of founder Ave Montague, the San Francisco Black Film Festival is managed by a dedicated Advisory board of 15 artists, business people and film professionals. For more information, visit SFBFF’s official website.

Special Note: Ave Montague, a noted promoter of arts organizations in San Francisco and founder of the San Francisco Black Film Festival, passed away on January 30, 2009. In addition to running the annual SFBFF, Montague publicized many nonprofit groups over the years, including the Lorraine Hansberry and Oakland Ensemble theaters, the Bay Area Black Journalists Association, the Omega Boys Club and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD). Born in East Orange, N.J., Montague moved to San Francisco in the 1980s, Montague started her own public relations firm, representing artists and nonprofit groups like the United Negro College Fund and the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Out of the latter came the San Francisco Black Film Festival. Montague received the Business Woman of the Year Award from the San Francisco Business and Professional Women’s Club in 1994, and, with the late Faith Fancher, was a founding member of Friends of Faith, an organization that educates women about breast cancer. Montague is survived by a son, Kali Ray, of Atlanta, and two grandchildren.

Robert Moses Kin Dance Company | San Francisco, CA

A phenomenon since its inception in 1995, the San Francisco-based Robert Moses Kin (also known as RMK Dance Company) boasts a mix of sheer athleticism and visceral lyricism. The company’s mission is to produce work which speaks to what is specific and unique in human nature. The company performances are combination of athletic techniques, rhythmic complexity and gestural details. They are fusion of different styles and genres like jazz, light hip hop, gospel music and balletic movements. Robert Moses also often explores the issues of race, gender, class and other social topics like biographies. Visit the organization’s official website for informatin on upcoming performances, times and venues.

Robert Moses Kin
870 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 252.8384
Official Website: www.robertmoseskin.org
Map & Driving Directions

Hollywood Walk of Fame | Los Angeles, CA

Located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine, the fabled Hollywood Walk of Fame features a star for just about every famous African American film, music and television personality in modern times. Over 120 African Americans have been so honored, including (in alphabetical order):

A – C

Muhammad Ali, Debbie Allen, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Marian Anderson, Louis Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Anita Baker, Count Basie, Harry Belafonte, George Benson, Chuck Berry, Halle Berry, James Brown, LeVar Burton, Mariah  Carey, Diahann Carroll, Benny Carter, Ray Charles, James Cleveland, Natalie Cole, Nat “King” Cole, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Sam Cooke, Don Cornelius, Bill Cosby, Scatman Crothers, Andrae Crouch.

D – G

Destiny’s Child, Dorothy Dandridge, Billy Daniels, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Fats Domino, Earth, Wind & Fire, Billy Eckstine, Duke Ellington, the Fifth Dimension, Stepin’ Fetchit, Ella Fitzgerald, the Four Step Brothers, the Four Tops, Jamie Foxx, Aretha Franklin, Morgan Freeman, Errol Garner, Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, Danny Glover, Berry Gordy, Louis Gossett, Jr.,Robert Guillaume.

H – K

Arsenio Hall, Herbie Hancock, Al Hibbler, the Harlem Globetrotters, Jester Hairston, Lionel Hampton, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Hall, Billie Holiday, Linda Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Lena Horne, Janet Jackson, Mahalia Jackson, Michael Jackson, the Jacksons, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Etta James, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Eartha Kitt, Gladys Knight.

L – R

Patti LaBelle, Cleavon Little, Little Richard, Frankie Lymon, Bob Marley, Larry McCormick, Johnny Mathis, Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Micheaux, the Mills Brothers, Thelonious Monk, Eddie Murphy, Nichelle Nichols, the Nicholas Brothers, Brock Peters, the Pointer Sisters, Sidney Poitier, Charley Pride, Richard Pryor, Queen Latifah, Lou Rawls, Della Reese, Lionel Richie, Chris Rock, Paul Robeson, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross.

S – Z

Isabel Sanford, John Singleton, Wesley Snipes, the Spinners, Donna Summer, the Supremes, the Temptations, Tina Turner, Cicely Tyson, Sarah Vaughan, Dionne Warwick, Forest Whitaker, Billy Dee Williams, Joe Williams, Vanessa Williams, Nancy Wilson and Stevie Wonder.

Upcoming ceremonies in 2008 will include Angela Bassett, among others.

Address: 6299 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Map & Driving Directions
Official Website: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

Monterey Bay Blues Festival | Monterey, CA

Dedicated to perserving this unique American art form, Monterey Bay Blues Festival is considered one of the premier blues festivals in the country, attracting not only world-renowned blues artists, but young up and coming artists of the future.

Highlights of this year’s line-up include B.B. King, Charlie Musselwhite, Susan Tedeschi, Homemade Jamz Band, Blind Boys of Alabama, Taj Mahal, James Cotton, CJ Chenier, Keb’ Mo’, Joe Bonamassa, Teeny Tucker, Volker Strifler Band, Bettye LaVette, James “Blood” Ulmer, and more. For full details of this year’s program, please visit the Monterey Bay Blues Festival website.