 This is State Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. The Honolulu African American Film Festival presents films each February that help to eliminate this imbalance. The Honolulu African American Film Festival takes place every February at the Doris Duke Theater at the Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu's only art house theater and premier platform for independent and international film in Hawaii. Our mission is to celebrate African American cinema and the African cultural diaspora. The Honolulu African American Film Festival provides a platform for black filmmakers, screenwriters and actors to present their art. Emerging talents and established artists are able to contribute to the cinematic legacy of Africans Americans. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Welcome and thank you for joining Sister Power. Our topic for this episode, Seventh Annual Honolulu African American Film Festival, celebrating black cinema throughout the year. Today, we will discuss the film festival with committee member, Sister Power VIP guest David Goldberg and we have John Nichols on the phone with us as well. Thank you so much for having me on the show Sharon. Thank you for coming. We're excited because this is our Seventh Annual African American Film Festival and another thing that's a first for Sister Power, you are our first man to appear, you and John. For real? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm extra honored especially in these days, you know what I mean, given where the climate is, I'm honored to be included and again, I appreciate you inviting me and John to come here and talk about what's going on this year with the festival. Thank you, John. Is there something you would like to say to us and Aloha to our people? Aloha. We are so happy that we've had such success and what a success it has been and the public has really responded to these crossover films and we'd love to invite people to come out on Saturday the 3rd of February to enjoy once again another opening reception. Thank you so much for having us on at this time Sharon. Oh, you're welcome. We're excited and so our film festival is from February 3rd until February the 10th and we're going to dig right into our festival and I'm excited about opening night which is next Saturday, February the 3rd and the film is The Gospel According to Andre and let's talk a little bit about Andre Talley. Andre Talley is a fashion forward person, he is an icon, take it from there. I have to say, this is actually my first year on the committee after getting involved in bringing a short experimental documentary to the festival that got squeezed in last year so I'm actually getting up to speed in a lot of great ways in terms of paying attention to these films because my area I'm coming from is from media studies that's a little further out on the fringes and where people are making stuff up as they go along so for me I'm excited about this festival because some of these films I haven't seen myself you know and what I'm really into is the the diversity that's coming through in this year's program in the sense that on one hand you have a culturally focused festival but in a place as diverse and multicultural as Hawaii the films that we've selected this year actually speak to everybody in the state you know so I'm really psyched about that so the idea that we that we start the festival off with you know this discussion of fashion right knowing full well that we're committed to fashion week here we're committed to investing in our local creatives and there's probably most of the people that are concerned with fashion and style know who Andre is absolutely for this for us to make this debut and really cross those cultures you know which brings gay straight men women you know fashion style and all this is coming together and that's the spirit that I think all of the films are coming from this year well what I like about this that John that you're on board John Nichols was our brain the brainchild for this committee and we're so happy that he's able to join us and John give us your take on our seven years of the Honolulu African-American Film Festival well thank you show and I was a co-founder and I'm very happy that out of a discussion actually with Faye Kennedy that the Film Festival became a reality and the kind of on the top of the food chain in some ways and that we have such diversity and we have such a multicultural atmosphere here and the high end is interested in diversity even if it's on a trending nominal basis you'll find that these films are on the one hand really on the cutting edge if you will you know you have a fashion icon you also have an abstract artist whose name has been synonymous with the high-end art world lately that's Basquiat and it's really neat to be able to even have him on the cover this year and I was just back from the Miami Basel where he was front and center and a lot of different discussions that I was a part of with jury to be exact but I'm really glad that you know everybody will come out and that high fashion best and that's the key it is a fashion statement and it'll be glamorous very stylistic if you will and so get dressed up for next Saturday for sure absolutely the start at 6 30 p.m. and the film the actual opening night starts at 6 30 p.m. but before we start talking about the other films David we should thank our committee because if it wasn't for Taylor Chang absolutely and Sarah and Manette yet at the Honolulu adores Duke Theatre the Honolulu Museum this would not take place and also yet absolutely also let's talk about our members so we have Daphne Barbie Wooten mm-hmm we have Akimi Glenn is a new member new member like me yeah both of you came on board and we have Marcia McFadden and John Nick was you're on the phone Toddy Rice Sandra Sims and of course myself I'm on the committee as well so I'm excited and we want to send a shout out to all our members and thank the Honolulu Museum of Art and let's move forward and talk about what's next we have our opening night which is Saturday night and we're it's gonna be an extravaganza so we're inviting everyone to come out and then we have that's gonna be shown twice I think it's gonna be shown yeah most of the films gonna be shown more than once if you miss me of course you don't want to miss the opening night that's where everybody comes out and that's where you get that energy of everyone that's celebrating that you know the opening night of the festival but most of these films are gonna screen at least twice yes so that includes the the Andre film you know the the Basquiat documentary what's the other one mud mudbound mudbound mudbound that's hold it there for a sec right because that's that's exciting we have Mary Jade Blige who is up for a nomination am I correct? Supporting actress right I think I think she's she's got that best supporting actress best supporting actress I'm so proud of the sister to come she's excellent songwriting musician yeah and continuing that tradition of crossing over out of other areas of entertainment into film which is also a great marker you know of progress and opportunity for a lot of our artists that are you know getting out of the the narrow ranges and taking advantage of you know how a lot of our artists are operating at higher levels you know than ever before he knows it's great to see that that happening which I think is really the spirit you know the festival and well can I talk about the whole like the scope across the year because we have a track we have a trailer to show right right I mean I think you know in this in this first bit I think it's important for people to know that one of the the purchase from the usual festival formula that we're doing is looking at spreading out this appreciation of black cinema black visual culture across the year right so it's not just February that we're doing this but we're also looking at having a program in June or July which celebrates the idea of Juneteenth which is the African African American historical marker that has to do with the fact that when the Civil War ended and emancipation was declared it didn't travel instantly because we didn't have the internet back then you couldn't just hop on Twitter and say oh we free right so it took some time for that message to travel from say Atlanta to you know the Panhandle of Texas right so there was a wave of awareness and so no one could really decide which day we became free so therefore Juneteenth right it's June-ish right June-teenth June-ish so we're actually gonna be doing some programming during June and then folks might not know that August is a budding month that we're looking for at black futures so we're trying to tap into stuff that Akimi is doing in terms of the Popolo project here and also the the global effort to look at blackness in the Pacific to look at Afrofuturism to look at the the sort of future of black culture as you move forward so we're really looking at how to spread this festival out over the course of the entire year because 28 days is you know never enough to celebrate at all and we and we hope that it'll become a model that takes off here in Hawaii to recognize that we can look at our individual cultures and the history that we bring but why do we have to confine them to like one space when really the point is that we should be constantly celebrating each other's culture each other's cuisine each other's presence each other's cinema right so the I think the African- American film festival is trying to take that lead and say that you know we can break out of the we have a rich history yeah this is phase one and so does everybody else you know I believe this is everybody's stuff braiding together yeah you know I mean over the course of 365 days you actually get this diversity and this change and this rich texture of what people have to offer all the way all the way year-round well let's show a trailer on the Honolulu African-American film festival we have a quick trailer that we would like to show our audience so they can just get a sneak peek of what's coming up next it's not wonderful we gotta talk about Anita right we've got to talk about you know let's talk about Anita Hill is so present which he experienced what was it 20 years ago or I think so 20 some years ago and we're dealing with the me too movement right now let's talk about that film Anita Hill John you want to jump in on that before we yeah you know I just want to say that we in the past we've partnered with the Jewish Film Festival initiative they're going to do the Sammy Davis a documentary which is kind of a crossover again but I do like the idea of the community outreach and being able to cross-pollinate if you will mm-hmm so Anita Hill Anita she was like the OG right yes I mean here's a woman who you know historically you know has to go before this grueling committee 14 white men and she was gracious yep and then select you all and spoke her truth yep and and here we had and mean it I mean you know I was I think I was I still in high school 20 years ago rub it in we me were you in oh you know so I mean after admit that you know Anita story I was I was kind of at the dawn of my political awareness right so I have to admit that you know what she went through I didn't really come to appreciate I understand it so much later right and I think there's a lot of folks that don't really recognize the pioneering effort that she put forth just by going through it right and when you think about the bind that she was put in where you have Clarence Thomas as the first black Supreme Port Justice and we're supposed to make that decision of like well who do we throw under the bus mm-hmm you know do you throw the black woman under the bus do we throw the black man under the bus did we do the judge do the right you know how are we going to work this out and I think that the the fact that her knowledge kind of went underground and it's something that people in schools in the Academy sustain but her story kind of faded from mainstream memory right so for us to show her story again to recognize how long this problem is going on I mean it's like it's not really a surprise right now sexual harassment you know the hierarchy over women I mean it's it's in the DNA of this country right yeah you know but but her story is really remarkable because once again you have the situation where it's an African-American person that's at this crossroad and it's not often until decades later that we look back and we realize all y'all are like the canary in the coal mine on that one so here we are again you know trying to present this opportunity you know for people to understand how long this struggle has been going on and also to see this film to understand like you were just saying what grace what humility but what's inner strength and commitment really looks like you know because we're still dealing with these repercussions so you know we're really trying to figure out the best way to make the African-American visual and cinematic experience relevant to everyone and demonstrate that day-to-day we will be panel discussion be on the Anita film film on Anita Hill film that will be Sunday panel discussion oh the panel discussion yes it's on Sunday February the 4th at 4 p.m. and I'm glad you did bring it up John we we do have a panel and that will discuss this amazing amazing woman is directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Frieda Mock and the film is both a celebration of Anita Hill's legacy and for the people who need to catch up like you know you were in high school now that she did have to speak up tell the people a little bit about what happened to Anita Hill back then John it was it was it was a I believe it was a moment in history that was a watershed moment and the Me Too movement right now is it's really nice to see how it is the momentum is continuing with the Me Too movement and I'm really delighted that we're able to be on the forefront again as it relates to bringing relevant issues to the forefront and this is certainly one that should garner a lot of attention and I'm really excited about attending as well I mean she was effectively put on trial I mean that she was put on trial as the victim you know which shows you the the core imbalance of how our system looks at these issues right well the entire country was transfixed when she was telling her truth her story and I just so admire her and I'm so glad we're able to show Anita Hill's documentary at the Honolulu African-American film festival agree all right well let's just move I'm sorry John no truly I you know I was on a panel in Philadelphia this past summer where she was one of them I was none not on the panel with her but I was with a very powerful position female positions and one of them was a Vivian Pin who they named a couple universities after medical schools after and she was on that panel with Anita and it was just really neat to see that Anita is getting a lot more attention in different regions as well as in different genres of our culture as well well good with this film she will be on the documentary discussing you know her truths and she'll be openly talking about it so I'm so very very excited about showing this film and we can move on because I could just talk about Anita Hill on it I'm so excited when I am excited about that we are going to come back and we're going to pick up David where we left off and we're going to continue to talk about the seventh annual African-American film festival very good all right I'm going to the game and it's going to be great early arriving for a little tailgate I usually drink but won't be drinking today because I'm the designated driver and that's okay it's nice to be the guy that keeps his friends in line keeps him from drinking too much so we can have a great time a little responsibility can go a long way because it's all about having fun on game day aloha my name is mark schlau I'm the host of think tech Hawaii's law across the sea law across the sea comes on every other Monday at 11 a.m. please join us I like to bring in guests that talk about all types of things that come across the sea to Hawaii not just law love people ideas history please join us for law across the sea aloha welcome back to sister power and we are discussing the seventh annual Honolulu African-American film festival here with my special guest David Goldberg thank you so much all right this is exciting so this is our seventh year and we are holding it at the door stoop theater and please come and purchase your tickets at the Honolulu Museum of Art yep and it starts February 30th through the 10th and so we were discussing the various films and so let's talk about we covered opening night with the the gospel according to our great yep let's talk about boom so this is a documentary by Sarah driver who looks at the early life of Jean-Michel Basquiat and as John was saying in the first part I mean Basquiat is an African-American artist of Haitian American descent who single-handedly kind of transformed the contemporary art world he came to a tragic and early end due to heroin addiction but it's a very complicated story because he engaged street art the gallery system Andy Warhol the the major collector museums you know there have been several films both documentary and dramatic that are made about him you may have seen the Jeffrey right Jeffrey right played him in his biopic so I mean Basquiat is a significant significant figure in the art world people are still writing books about him to this day they go back to his paintings they discover new hidden messages in them you know because he integrated music and history African spiritual systems I mean he's this young man was was was brilliant and this is a special film because it's the first look at his early life sort of before he got famous well we have an art the artist John Nichols on the phone one of the committee members and John give us your take on this film boom for real the late teenage years you know something as a committee member uh we all have an opportunity to screen these films in advance and I can tell you you're not going to want to miss this one especially if you appreciate abstract art expressionism I happened to a little bit yet I was in I did two shows in Paris in the early 90s and Basquiat had just passed away and his work was in Paris it was a huge retrospective and I recall going in and seeing phenomenal large format pieces that were just really uh are inspiring and to see his productivity at that age and to see how he would bring into his art things that he would experience in the city and he was in Soho I would imagine Soho had its own hundreds won't say it layers of sophistication and I had been in the Bronx I was at graduate of Syracuse University and several of my roommates who were New York artists and residents of the Bronx as well as Manhattan we all respect and appreciate seeing someone who can go from the primary market to the secondary market to the tertiary market and by that I mean Basquiat is now being sold through galleries and museums and his works are now being collected throughout the world so that's um it's really quite a wonderful opportunity to see a a young person who really expressed himself in a beautiful way get that type of recognition oh wonderful so we wanted the audience know John boom for real when it's going to air when it's going to be shown at the Honolulu Museum Sunday February the fourth at 1 p.m and it's going to be screened again at 7 30 p.m also it's going to be Wednesday February the 7th at 1 p.m and again before we discuss further we're going to show a quick trailer of the Honolulu African-American film festival so everyone can see the excitement that we're going to display I'm excited we have so much information for folks so you have to forgive us if things come at you at a slightly um out of order but obviously you can go to the website Honolulu Museum dot org to get everything you need to know but there's some other stuff we want to definitely point out and one of that is that we have a special green room event on February the 10th to 7 with the US poet laureate Tracy K Smith and you know if you're familiar with the way we do the festival we always try to bring out a special guest and offer our members the museum members something special they can spend some time with people and and these are folks that are true movers and shakers and innovators so in this case we're looking at having Tracy K Smith here to for the green room special so don't miss that definitely don't miss that and we also have a facebook page Honolulu African-American film festival go to our facebook page you can find all the information um that we've covered today and it's just an exciting time for us as I said seventh annual the number seven seven that's a mystery it is a good number so it's from February 3rd to the 10th and we have John Nichols the artist on the phone one of the co-founders of the film festival and John you want to add a little bit about Tracy Smith I'm looking forward to hearing her and I'm really delighted that we were able to cross over once again and bring her in through the green room because it is a February event and it really peered rather nicely with our offerings as well so it's it's a real seamless momentum that we have continued to expand upon so I'm really looking forward to hearing what she has to say as well yeah I'm excited about that and that is again Saturday February 10th February the 10th at what time is that again 7 p.m 7 p.m get your tickets and we want the people to know that every year we sell out this is a sold out event so get your tickets early do not wait we've had cheaper for members I mean there's always something to the door but definitely if you're a member of the museum you know you get that discount I think you buy online if I'm not mistaken yes absolutely but definitely definitely get them now because people come out for the stuff they do it's always a good party it's always a good party definitely especially come out in your high fashion best for Saturday next Saturday night because it will be a film about fashion and iconic films be attacked and what I like about the our opening nights you know we don't always have a the opportunity here in Hawaii to dress up and and just come and mingle with your peers and this is the time and place to do it and also I want to again if you missed our first segment is think are the Honolulu African-American Film Festival committee absolutely and again Tadia Rice, Daphne Barbie-Wilton, Marcia McFadden, Sandra Sims and our new member Akimi Glenn and a shot goes out to Taylor Chang and her crew there we are we they're so wonderful to work with I mean Taylor you know Taylor manages an amazing she manages an amazing group of singular individuals like that's what I've been so impressed by you know my meetings it's just like the degree of commitment to film and cultural representation you know on this board and I mean not that that's unique to ours but I have to say okay you know you just say it I'm gonna say it yeah and for ever someone like Taylor you know to be able to to manage these very strong personalities and true visionary folks you know it's a testament to the folks that are working at that museum and the and the vision that I think the museum has for supporting everybody in the community on this island I'm excited about that so very quickly let's just go over the films and so I'm gonna run down the list real quick yeah run down the list right so it's good so we've got on February 3rd the 6th and the 7th the 3rd is the opening night we have the Gospel according to Andre on February 4th and 7th we have Boom for Real which is the documentary about the young Michelle Basquiat on February 4th and 5th we've got the documentary about Anita Hill and we didn't get to talk about this a lot but that's what the internet is for we've also got Mudbound running on the 8th and the 10th so for our first leg of our sort of three-part celebration of African-American film we have a really great suite of four films that cover a broad range of the African-American experience by male and female directors I mean we really tried to represent and make sure that we were not being hypocritical that we were trying to address the fact that even within communities that we're diverse and we're trying to get as many voices and stories told as we can so we've got history we've got art we've got politics we've got fashion we're trying to do it all inclusiveness inclusiveness is what it's all about well I'm excited about this and if they again is on Ward Avenue at the Honolulu Museum of Arts and the Doris Theater Doris Duke Doris Duke Theater and this is our seventh year and we have celebrated so many wonderful documentaries over the years from Nina Simone to Nat King Cole James Baldwin last year people came off without me right Muhammad Ali black lives matters right sold out so we're keeping it rolling keeping it rolling staying on the high street this is just and then so opening night when you come in they're gonna have photo booths so you can you know style and so I mean I gotta talk to my wife about how I'm gonna address for this because you know I tend to be a little academic casual so I have to consult with her to see how we're gonna arrive okay everyone is welcome no matter what everyone is welcome no pressure right no pressure but we're so happy to have you John on the phone I'm glad you could join and David Goldberg thank you so much pleasure and we look forward to seeing everyone out for the seventh at a Honolulu African American film festival February 3rd through February the 10th oceans of Aloha peace and boy blessings Aloha