Oak Park Black Film Festival opens its annual five-day run. Here’s what’s showing
The Oak Park Black Film Festival opens its annual five-day run Wednesday night screening short, feature and documentary works by an array of African-American filmmakers.
The Guild Theater, 2828 35th St., is the setting for the second annual festival with its mix of film showings, interviews and discussion. The festival is 5-9 p.m. daily through Sunday, Oct. 15. Tickets are $15 to $100.
Nearly 20 films are on this year’s program including “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” the documentary feature on the influential poet and activist. The feature, awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, was recently picked up by HBO Documentary Films. The film screens at 5 p.m. Friday.
Also featured Friday, “One Pint at a Time,” the feature documentary by Florida filmmaker Aaron Hosé following the lives of three Black craft beer makers and the challenges of gaining a foothold in an industry where fewer than 1% of brewers are African American.
His film inspired former Sacramento mayor and Oak Park Brewing Co. owner Kevin Johnson to found the National Black Brewers Association, a trade group of African-American brewers from across the country. The group is a sponsor of the Peoples Beer Festival, billed as the state’s largest showcase of Black-owned breweries.
Hosé, originally from Aruba, said early research for the film came from his and his wife’s experiences at brewpubs.
“Why aren’t more people like me making the beer or pouring the beer or welcoming us?” he said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. “My research led me down that path.”
Saturday features a showing of “Eve After Dark,” the legendary Los Angeles teen club and early-1980s cradle for the artists who would come to dominate the scene: Dr. Dre, Eazy E, and Ice Cube.
“Black Barbie: A Documentary,” closes out the festival Sunday night.
The documentary made news this week when its worldwide rights were acquired by Netflix and producer Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland umbrella. Rhimes signed on as an executive producer for the project.
The film both traces the story of the development of the first Black Barbie doll. The documentary is also is a meditation on Black female representation through the history of the storied doll and the perspective of director Lagueria Davis’ aunt, who worked at Mattel and pushed to see the toy on stores’ shelves.
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