 festival finally returns the doors to theater in February today to discuss the film sister power guests are attorney Daphne Barbie Wooten and Tadia Rice film festival members welcome to sister power hello hello huh yeah it's it's about time isn't it ladies yes this is going to be absolutely wonderful what I'm loving about this film festival is that everyone's so excited for it we've been waiting for it and so before we before we start discussing the films Tadia please tell our sister power viewers kind of a little african-american film festivals mission you know it's very exciting that we are even facing 11 years now we started back in 2011 thanks to the Honolulu art museum who recognized that there was a peace missing in terms of community outreach and so they offered a group of us very kind of loosely created the opportunity to present a film festival so we started and we started big time and we were very happy to have found great films to line up and we had the whole month of February to fill in so each what we decided was that we would eliminate the imbalance that existed without having a focus on african-americans here in Hawaii so every February at the Doris Duke theater at the Honolulu museum of art which is the only art house theater by the way it's independent and international and a lot of people don't know that but we decided to celebrate african-american cinema and the african cultural diaspora so our film festival took on being a month long to showcase diverse movies and films from around the world that would all reinforce positive images and dispel negative images and stereotypes about african-americans on the golden screen or the silver screen so we work in collaboration with the museum manager and our committee is comprised of the three of us that you see Sharon and Daphne and myself and Ethan Caldwell, Akemi Glenn, Sandra Sims and so together we pull from other film festivals from other information that we receive all about great films that are coming out that feature or are made by african-americans and we want to show the diverse cultures and the lifestyles of Hawaii we want to initiate dialogue and important issues of the time so we have documentaries that focus on topical issues we have panel discussions every now and then we'll have a performance we can bring in very well-known speakers and we provide the platform for black filmmakers screenwriters and actors so that they can present their art whether they're emerging talent or established artists as long as they can contribute to the cinematic legacy of african-americans so that's what we do yay thank you thank you thank you we and we're going to have an opening reception thursday february the second and we're excited that and that comes with food it comes with entertainment but Daphne let's start with the opening night film yes the opening night film is loud loudest county and the road to black power yes um basically it will the film is a documentary and it's shot in the south and it showcases people like fanny lou hammer um voting rights activists uh john lewis and stokely car michael who galvanized the african-american community in the south to rise up and to vote so that they had representatives that looked like them the county was predominantly african-americans yet they had no african-americans in political power at that time so this is one of the films that documents the power black power of people recognizing the power of vote and to change their society for the better yeah very good so absolutely you know was good about it did you want to ask something to that toddy i just wanted to say for those of us who thought we knew the civil rights movement and we knew what happened this film blew our minds and it will surprise everyone and anyone because the courage that was exemplified and the struggle and the suffering i don't think that any of us quite understood the immensity of it until this film really showed the dangers and the risk that people took and it shows that the african-american people were so courageous this is what amazed me about the film and and to follow that daphne your father created a film racial discrimination and housing and that kind of couples with the opening night film tell us about your father's film yes um in 1962 my father was president of the n double acp in a town called madison wisconsin university of wisconsin he was in law school at the time and he um and some friends decided to film racial discrimination in madison wisconsin what they did is they would have testers who were african-american to go to houses that had for rent sign and ask if they could rent the room and were told no that it's already rented or they couldn't rent it to them and then they would have whites coming and following and knock on the same door and ask if the room is for rent and they sure come on in and show them the place they interviewed realtors who explained why they wouldn't rent to african-americans which were really racist doctrine and the thing about the film is that it's going to be a short and it will be paired with laudas county on february 26 at 2 p.m. and we're going to have a panel discussion on discrimination and housing from the experts here in hawaii we're going to have eric farar who is an attorney on maui who has successfully sued landlords and condominiums for discrimination and one millions of dollars and also you will also have a panel discussion from the housing and urban development who will be there and titulani madaraki and he will also be talking about housing and urban development and situations and how he also addressing the homeless issue here so it's going to be a really interesting panel discussion but my father's film was suppressed until 2021 which was fairly recent they first said that it disappeared they wouldn't show it they said it burned in a fire but with perseverance by many people a young archivist the film archivist went down to the depths of the basement and found the film and we unfortunately the whole film can't be shown because some of it is deteriorated but we did show it last year at the chasen museum to rave reviews and it just sparks an understanding and a discussion of discrimination in america yeah yeah he's riveting and you know the honolulu african-american film festival we have 16 films um so let that be known from february the second through february the 26th and i'm excited tati about the film that's going to be shown the inspection the inspection is quite a film um directed by elegance bratton it it's the story of a young gay african-american man who is rejected by his family and community and he's looking for a place to belong so his only option is the military well he joins the marines and he does whatever it takes to be accepted and it's very hard because there's prejudice everywhere he turns there's a grueling routine of basic training that he has to go through and despite the fact that he's facing this discrimination this obvious and not so obvious he finds kind of an unexpected camaraderie and strength in this new community which really gives him a sense of belonging that shapes his identity for the rest of his life it is such a good film well worth seeing yeah i understand that gabriel union you know has a nice part in that film as well yes it's got incredible cast incredible i'm excited about blurring the color line my dear friend crystal crystal is a filmmaker and he's taken her five years and let me tell you a little bit about blurring the color line follows director crystal as she unpacks the history behind her grandmother's family who were neighborhood grocery store owners in the black community of augusta georgia during the jim crow era and this is this this documentary serves to disrupt racial narrative narratives and rich device and what i'm enjoying about this february the ninth thursday february the ninth at the pacific club we're going to have a panel discussion and we're going to show short film clips and what i'm loving about this movie and with sisters in par and hawaii is is producing a strange food expressed with sequoia car brown crystal we build bridges not walls so this is what's going to happen attorney daff attorney andre wilton daffy sassman is one of the guest speakers in rear adam roll broke out Alma is one of the panel speakers as well so breaking racial burials panel discussion and tasting event will happen thursday february the ninth so there you have it now let's just keep it going because we're giving a sneak peek um we're giving the sneak peek of the hundred little african-american film festival and right now let's speak with let's talk about one of my other favorites golden hearted the legacy of ambassador diane e watson i love her i i i miss the times that we almost have tea parties at uh mary bradley's home tell us about it oh my goodness so many of us know diane watson so well she's been a senator she's been a congress woman and she ended her career lengthy career as ambassador to the federated states appointed by bill clinton she is such a remarkable individual she's now 88 years old still living in los angeles in her community that she represented for so many decades she's just a remarkable individual and as a young black girl growing up in la in the earlier part of the 20th century she had lessons to learn and she's been able to be such a strong advocate for not just black people or women but everybody whether it has to do with health or education or political rights and civil rights a remarkable individual and finally the definitive authorized documentary about her life is being done and i'm very proud to be one of the segment producers for this film so that is going to air on friday night february 17th i mean friday afternoon february 17th at 2 p.m. and closing saturday february 25th at 2 p.m. uh we are very very proud she and the production team will be in hawaii and we're just very happy that she'll be with us and we can celebrate her many accomplishments and her support for all of us she's a living legend she's going to be here at honolulu yes i'm excited this is the premiere of the documentary the world premiere of this documentary so we're very very proud of that i'm so excited the last time we were all together was at the inauguration of president barack obama and so yeah that was a good fun time good memories and yes so we have you know 16 films we'll go over a few other we have time but i'm also excited about this next film screening that daffy is going to tell us about the invitation um that's a film that was produced by an organization of a predominantly african american women um and the organization is called the links incorporated and it's a short film but it's it's it's it's thrilling in the sense that um it shows the meaningful impact that organizations especially african american organizations can have on our community um it highlights some of the more illustrious people who are um part of the organization and highlights such as akamala iris i might say by our vice president um but it also shows how when a community can come together and help with scholarships um and help each other to get um more uh just all kinds of things um you can become a politician or help politicians if you want educators um that was really nice to see the the various educators doctors um the organization is just not just in america but it goes and expands to south africa and um jamaica they go to jamaica and haydie and i was particularly um thrilled and they did a brief discussion about how they have gone to haydie and give medical supplies especially when um the earthquake occurred but anyways it's a short but members from the links chapter in hawaii will be there as well so it's it's a very dear friend sandra sims is a link wendy taylor is a link uh willy bennermer and benerman is a leak ava beeman and a couple others that daffy name a few others i am also you but uh yes and but um marcia mcfadden marcia mcfadden is also a link absolutely um so we have health professionals lawyers um teachers a lot of educators um but basically the theme is that a group of african american women can get together and find out ways to help the community and to uplift and rise everybody in the community yeah keep hope alive this is what's one this is what i love about these sororities that when they come together it's all about you know reaching back and lifting up and so tadia congratulations on your behind bars prison women speak yay for you and yay thank you yeah thank you beyond bars prison women speak is really an outgrowth of the 10 years that i spent volunteering inside of women's correctional facility in kailua and this year i'm very proud to say it is no longer inside it is now a major reentry health and wellness program for women coming out of prison this very short film is going to really highlight the fact that over 75 percent of hawaii's incarcerated women are mothers and many have substance abuse problems 40 percent are native hawaii and pacific islanders 60 percent are victims of childhood physical mental and sexual abuse and that's what's so important to talk about because we here in hawaii locally need to understand that the women going in are our neighbors their children go to school with our children they're women who were often professional some of them are fifth grade readers some of them are attorneys and bank managers everybody gets to go to prison it's a very equal opportunity incarceration you know since in 40 years women in prison have increased by 700 percent and that's what's so shocking and so these five women that are featured in this film are going to tell you their stories and you will begin to re-perceive who the women are that are in prison right here in hawaii some you may know some you may not but the stories are very compelling and their messages to other women are critically important because if we can stop some of these young girls from getting into trouble early on then we don't get them in prison so this is very important there will be a panel discussion with the subjects inside the the in that were interviewed in the film too and a chance for people to get up close and personal if they've never been around people who were incarcerated especially women so this is an opportunity for hawaii to take a look at its own statistics and what can be done to assist these women who deserve a shot everybody deserves a second chance nobody's perfect yeah i really like the rehabilitation part of that film and i look forward to hearing what the women say and i think that the more people that assist people in rehabilitating themselves once they are released from prison the better our society will be there be less relapses and i don't think people deserve to live in a cage you know certainly if it's a serious crime but if it's just drug and majority is drug related and so let's just help them keep off of drugs and absolutely and our way our way of beyond bar's way of reducing recidivism is to offer 28 medical services for mental and physical health and 24 module curriculum for training and job training and skills development this is what they need is skills development for competency um reading uh and and treatment really treatment thank you for making those points absolutely that's vital information and but i want to go back and commend you Daphne for your your perseverance and your persistence and getting this your father's film out to the public you know racial discrimination and housing and and you know when you look on the social media people are still going through this today in 2023 well 2022 up to 2023 so thank you for you know pushing it forward but this is what we need it shows the young women that you cannot be silent when it comes to you know the mistreatment of other people so thank you for that and especially in hawaii um they need to be people need to be more aware that housing is a very serious problem there's a lot of people who are houseless or homeless and um you know sometimes when you go to apply for an apartment they you know want to know your income and so if you don't have a job or you have a job to slow pay you don't get the apartment so what happens you become houseless again and and it's only the wealthy people are able to get these apartments or these homes that are being bought up um what did they say lanai larry ellison owns a whole lot of lanai and um kawaii a whole bunch of kawaii is owned by mark zuckerberg those we need to have a more equitable society with respect to allowing people to have a decent house that's my every job application and housing application will ask you are you a convicted felon well we tell the girls do not lie say yes and have your explanation ready but that is definitely another layer of discrimination that faces these women wow so let's go over the since we've given our viewers a sneak peek we have just 16 films and the annual hannah movah african-american films that returns let's talk about the other films if we can you know four women can we chat a little bit about four women it's so beautiful it's a visual treat i was amazed it's how julie dash came up with this concept it's amazing it's just a delight for the eyes musically visually every which way i love it yeah it's a treat for everybody and um also we have um the uh richard william's story not the wil smith version but the richard william's um and that should be fascinating for people to see richard william's in his own words talk about his life and his daughter's um the stellar rise in tennis you know there's also two other very short documentaries one on uh called uh jasmine is a star about a young woman who suffers from albinism and what she has faced and what she's trying to do as a performer and then angels on diamond street again women women in cafeterias in schools feeding the homeless women who are willing to get their hands dirty and go out into the community and work and help others the it all the films are very inspirational we even have an african film called tug of war which comes out of tanzania and i tell you it is a coming of age story that puts colonialism in perspective very very well worth the watch uh daphne well how about let's talk about family sunday exactly family sunday sunday sunday february the 19th at 2 p.m talk about that daphne family son right i i believe it's a um akila the spelling bee and akila and the bee and it's really timey because akila has been in the news uh at least sorry the person who plays akila has been in the news lately as she's a rising star but also it's about the importance of spelling bee and spelling bees and how um family it's family oriented in that her family helps her through the spelling bee and she wins the spoiler alert but she wins and it's just wonderful to see the support and to see um the portrayal uh that the family has and the love that they have for learning and teaching their daughter to love learning i myself enjoy spelling bees and um this it's very it's going to be a delight um one other film i wanted to talk to talk to you guys about is dear mama uh that's that was a sleeper i didn't realize how good that was but it starts off as though it's about tupac Shakur and it ends out with a homage to the mother i just love it yeah and what about little trumpet little trumpet is about it you know a nine year old loner wants his brother to teach him how to play the trumpet in New Orleans yeah and the story that unfolds in that family dynamic and the bond between two young brothers so all of these films have very strong themes that weave together that have created a tapestry of family stories of relationships of bonds um under the weight of discrimination and prejudice and the strength and resilience of the black community around the world and i just one other thing what is interesting about the films that were picked for this um session is that there's a lot of local ties for example tadia is the producer for um the women incarcerated and my father was one on racial housing but also um you mentioned little trumpet well it's a 19 year old uh young lady who was raised in Hawaii so and i believe she will be your she may be 20 now but uh a young and up-and-coming um producer and um and the inspection was based upon a man who was in the marine corps in kaniohi ha ha chrystal quawks film with the chinese asian spin on african-americans in the united states these are all subjects we need to be talking about and the one thing about the african-american film festival upon lulu is we talk about these things we are committed we're committed to promoting our local talent and we're committed to talking about the things that might feel uncomfortable to others yeah so you see an outstanding lineup of features documentaries and short from throughout the african-american diaspora alongside important panel discussions on relevant issues impacting our society today so i would like to thank you tadia rice and thank you attorney daphne barbie wooten for sharing your wisdom and especially your talents in creating these films so on behalf of think tech Hawaii and the hannah lulu african-american film festival and sister power thank you for joining us thank you for tuning in i'm your host sharon tomas yaw bro aloha thank you so much for watching think tech hawaii if you like what we do please like us and click the subscribe button on youtube and the follow button on vimeo you can also follow us on facebook instagram and linked in and donate to us at thinktech hawaii dot com mahalo