The 4th Annual Fistup Film Festival May 17-June 4, Various dates and venues
Doin' It in the Park: Pick-Up Basketball, New York City Saturday May 17, 7 pm, The New Parkway Theater, $8
An independent documentary directed by Bobbito Garcia and Kevin Couliau. The film explores the history, culture, and social impact of New York's summer b-ball scene, widely recognized as the worldwide "Mecca" of the sport. Don't miss the after party at Era! Presented By: Broaklyn Film and Theater Co. with Q & A from Bobbito Garcia. Film info: doinitinthepark.com Ticketshere
Inside Out: The People's Art Project, May 20th, 7 pm, The New Parkway
Flex is King May 22th, 6:30 pm, Youth Uprising
Coming Home! Saturday May 31, 7 pm, EastSide Arts Alliance, Free Entry & Refreshments
Coming Home is a documentary film that follows DJ EFN and Garcia, two Cuban-American hip hop artists, as they travel to their ancestral homeland of Cuba for the very first time. The film chronicles their adventures and that of five friends accompanying them. Not only did DJ EFN and Garcia connect with their roots, they also found something very familiar to them: hip hop! The film features commentary from artists highly respected on both sides of the embargoQ&A with Danay Suarez (Star of the film straight from Cuba) Co-Presented by Final Friday Films of Resistance & Solidarity Film info: cominghomedoc.com Don't miss Danay Suarez performing live @ The New Parish May 29th!
African Cypher. The birthplace of ritual celebration, council, story telling and dance,June 4, 7 pm, The New Parkway Theater, $8
Bay Area Premiere and Panel Discussion: "I dance as if I have a gun to my head." - Mada Sthembiso, (Shakers&Movers) Street dance in South Africa is a complex, convoluted underworld; that, like most sub-cultures, exists as a sum of its participants. In Mapetla, Soweto if you steal phones and hand bags you will not live long. The community will kill you. If you do a heist, they will tell the police you are not there. Prince tells me this as we walk back to Mada's place from the shisa nyama. (an informal outdoor fire where you can buy some meat to cook and drink a beer.) Prince is a pantsula. He used to be a tsotsi, a gangster, a thug. Today he walks his streets with pride; he is a pantsula dancer and a little bit famous. Tom London from Soweto's Finest says, "When we dance we find purpose with our bodies". Created By: flyonthewall.co.za
Electro Chaabi, May 30th, 7pm,The Eastside Arts Alliance
Chasing Mehserle, Thursday-Sunday, through May 24. 8 pm Intersection for the Arts, 925 Mission St, SF $25
Playwright Chinaka Hodge wants "folks living in cities like mine to think about place, for a moment, as I do, as a map come to life, all of the memories experienced there held in place by lines of longitude and latitude." The world premiere of Hodge's play, "Chasing Mehserle," is a collaboration between Campo Santo and the Living Word Project and musician/DJ Wonway Possibul) and Marc Bamuthi Joseph (Youth Speaks). A mixture of genres (theatre, music, movement and video) illustrates the changing tectonics of Oakland, especially after the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant by BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle on Jan. 1, 2009. The aftermath of the tragedy is palpable in Hodge's exploration of everything from gentrification to systemic corruption. Info here (415) 626-2787 or www.theintersection.org. SF Chronicle review here
African Liberation Day Saturday May 24, 12 - 4 pm, EastSide Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd, Oakland
Featuring invited local, national and international speakers, as well as cultural performers by Akoma Arts, griot Phavia Kujichagulia with Val Serrant and Tyson Amir. Please wear all white clothing as a show of solidarity. Sponsored by Merritt African American Studies. Info here or[email protected]
Love Balm Institute Sunday, May 25, 10am-2pm, EastSide Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd, Oakland
The Love Balm Project is a theatre of testimony workshop series and performance based on the testimonies of mothers who have lost children to violence. The Love Balm Project is launching an institute for artists and activists who are interested in facilitating workshops Love Balm workshops and learning about the projects methodologies. The institute runs from May 23rd-25th and is free for participants. Info here and lovebalmformyspiritchild.tumblr.com
