Celebration of Toni Cade Bambara's Film Work Expanded!
On Friday, December 14, starting at 2:00 pm Scribe will be having an Open House and Free Screenings of documentaries featuring interviews with Toni Cade Bambara (Midnight Ramble and Brincando el charco), a narrative short based on one of her short stories (My Man Bovanne) and films where she contributed as scriptwriter (Cecil B. Moore and W.E.B. Du Bois - A Biography in Four Voices). Read more for the schedule and film descriptions.
2:00 pm - Midnight Ramble (1994, 60 mins) Written by Clyde Taylor and directed by Bestor Cram and Pearl Bowser, this documentary originally aired as an episode of the PBS television series The American Experience. Narrated by James Avery, the program recounts the history of the black film industry from 1910 to the 1940s. Highlights include a profile of Oscar Micheaux, film footage from rare movies, and commentary by various people including author Toni Cade Bambara.
3:15 pm - Cecil B. Moore (1987, 58 min) Produced by Louis Massiah for WHYY TV 12 is this biography of Cecil B. Moore, a prominent civil rights activist in Philadelphia. The script was edited by Toni Cade Bambara.
4:30 pm - W.E.B. Du Bois - A Biography in Four Voices, Part Three: A Second Reconstruction (1995, 30 min excerpt) by Louis Massiah
The long and remarkable life of Dr. William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois (1868-1963) offers unique insights into an eventful century in African American history. Du Bois was the consummate scholar-activist whose path-breaking works remain among the most significant and articulate ever produced on the subject of race. Bambara wrote and narrated Part Three: A Second Reconstruction? (1934-1948) during which time Du Bois, dismissed from the editorship of The Crisis for his radical views, was forced to resume his academic career at age 68. It was now the Depression and he became more open to leftist ideology as reflected in his magnum opus, Black Reconstruction.
5:00 pm - Brincando el charco (1994, 55 min) by Frances Negrón-Muntaner contemplates the notion of "identity" through the experiences of a Puerto Rican woman living in the US. Layers of fiction, archival footage, processed interviews and soap opera drama. Features an interview with Bambara.
6:00 pm - My Man Bovanne (1986, 30 mins, pictured left) is based on Bambara's short story of the same name about growing older the way one wants to, not the way others expect you to. Directed by C.R. Portz, the film features performances by Theresa Merritt and Bill Cobbs.