Street Movies! @ Fotterall Square

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Location(s)

Street Movies! presented by PNC Arts Alive
August 3, 2011 - August 27, 2011

Join Scribe, Uptown Entertainment & Development Corporation, and African American United Fund for the opening event of Street Movies! featuring short films about music, dance and culture in the black diaspora.

Wednesday, August 3 - 7:45PM
Fotterall Square - 11 & W. York Streets
FREE & Open to the public
Opening performance by acclaimed poet Ursula Rucker and guitarist Tim Motzer
RAIN LOCATION: African American United Fund Conference Center. 2231 N. Broad St.

The Legend of Ngong Hills
by Kwame Nyong’o
Based on a Maasai folktale, this animated short is the creation myth of the majestic Ngong Hills that backdrops present day Nairobi. The humungous and frightful Ogre of the forest, with a habit of attacking the Maasai village, falls in love with the beautiful young maiden Sanayian in this story of greed, betrayal and courage. Winner of the East African Talent Award at the 2011 Zanzibar International Film Festival. (Kenya, 2011, 10 min)

Percussion is Rhythm & Rhythm is Life
by Scribe’s 2009 Documentary History Project for Youth
Young filmmakers take a fresh look at Philly’s diverse traditions and practitioners of percussion. (2009, 7 min)

Mestre Doutor: The Heart of Philadelphia Capoeira
by Walker Zavareei
Mestre Doutor is a master of Capoeira. Students move here from other parts of the country to study in his school in South Philly. (2010, 5 min)

Investing in the Vision: Perspectives on the Uptown
by Uptown Entertainment & Development Corporation and Scribe Video Center
Musicians, patrons, an architect, and North Philadelphia neighbors tell the story of the famed but closed Uptown Theater. From 1951 to 1978, the Uptown was Philly's vaunted home on Broad between Susquehanna and Dauphin for the biggest R&B, Soul, and Funk acts of the day. The area around the club was a vibrant entertainment district plush with restaurants, stores, and clubs, and the Uptown was its anchor. Although the building closed its doors in 1991, residents and musicians are working to revive this show place that played a critical role in the Rhythm and Blues cultural revolution of the 1950s and 60s. (2005, 10:15 min)

Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ilê Aiyê by Carolina Moraes-Liu
Three women compete to be the carnival queen of Ilê Aiyê, a prominent and controversial Afro-Brazilian group with an all-black membership, in this award winning film. The selection is based on Afro-centric notions of beauty, in counterpoint to prevailing standards of beauty in Brazil, a country famous for slim supermodels and plastic surgery. Contestants for the title of Ebony Goddess dress in flowing African-style garments, gracefully performing traditional Afro-Brazilian dances to songs praising the beauty of black women. (Brazil/US, 2010, 20 min, Portuguese w/ English Subtitles)

Brooklyn Racine
by Jeremy Robins & Magali Damas
Musicians of DJARARA reinvent the ancient tradition of Rara music on the streets on New York in this portrait of survival and cultural activism in the Haitian-American community. Rara dates to the time of slavery, and is part Vodou ceremony, part social protest, and part carnival. Banned by slave masters, shunned by Christians elites, violently attacked by dictators, and feared by outsiders for its affiliation with Vodou, Rara survives as the soul of Haitian "racine," or roots, culture. Follow the band as they rehearse in a scrap yard in Crown Heights to leading 10,000 in a thunderous procession through Prospect Park. (2006, 12 min)