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Chicago – What happens when one of the more prominent filmmakers in Chicago of the last five years meets a up-and-coming female director? They get together to make a statement in a short film. “An Atramentous Mind” will have its Midwest Premiere at the Black Harvest Film Festival on August 27th, 2017, as part of their “Chicago Shorts” series. The 23rd edition of this vital Chicago festival runs through August 31st at the downtown Gene Siskel Film Center.

“An Atramentous Mind” is a ten minute in-the-moment short film that illustrates a situation that has dominated the headlines in the last couple of years. The issue of law enforcement treatment of African Americans has been an ongoing discussion before and since the incident in Ferguson, Missouri, and continues to define the relationships of the police and black communities in America. Williams and Edwards created a confrontation between a white cop and a black woman,...

With President Trump’s proposed budget, independent film faces the proposed dissolution of the National Endowment for the Arts. This organization has been under attack before, but never as part of a sweeping repudiation of federal support for the arts, the humanities, and social services. IndieWire will continue to cover this developing story in the weeks ahead, but for now here’s a list (extracted from the Nea site) of all Nea independent-film recipients for 2017. In total, the organization funds around $2 million toward media arts organizations in the film space, but as we reported, the federal monies only tell a fraction of the story. For more on that, please read this.)

If you are familiar with any film organizations currently receiving Nea funding and not included on this list, please drop us a line at film@indiewire.com.

African Film Festival

City: New York, NY

Amount: $10,000

Purpose: To support the...

This year the Black Harvest Film Festival – which is held every August at the Gene Siskel Center at the Art Institute of Chicago – will be celebrating its 23rd year. Along with the Pan African Film Festival in Los… Continue Reading →...

Chicago – A sold out Gene Siskel Film Center will be the scene for the Closing Night of the 2016 Black Harvest Film Festival on Thursday, September 1st, 2016. For the last three and a half weeks, the theater has been buzzing with African American-centric films, in a celebration of culture and history. The Closing Night Film is “Agents of Change: Black Students and the Transformation of the American University,” directed by Frank Dawson and Abby Ginzberg. The directors will be in attendance.

Closing Night: ‘Agents of Change: Black Students and the Transformation of the American University’

Photo credit: Black Harvest Film Festival

The Gene Siskel Film Center is part of the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, and presents the Black Harvest Film Festival every year, along with other festival celebrations, restorations, cutting edge new films and discussions/filmmaker appearances with many screenings. For more information, click here.

The Gene Siskel...

Another year has gone by, and next month, as always, in Chicago, at the Gene Siskel Film Center, the annual Black Harvest Film Festival will take place, from Friday August 5 to Thursday Sept 3 (Yes it’s always a month… Continue Reading →...

Chicago – The 21st edition of the Black Harvest Film Festival will open on August 8th, 2015, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. Through film and video, the festival explores the stories, images, heritage and history of the black experience in the United States and around the world. Two passionate short film examples of the festival mission are found in a couple of Chicago filmmakers, Lonnie Edwards (“A Ferguson Story”) and Robert Carnilius (“How to Catch a Criminal”).

Both films, in different ways, take on the current issue of law enforcement interaction towards African Americans. Lonnie Edwards’ “A Ferguson Story” is a lyrical and emotional overview of the clash between black U.S. citizens and authorities in the wake of the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri. “How to Catch a Criminal,” by Robert Carnilius, is a sharp-sticked satire on 1950s era “how-to” short films, capturing with pungent humor the...

Another year has gone by and this August, as always in Chicago, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago, the annual Black Harvest Film Festival will take place, from Saturday August 8 to Thursday Sept 3 (Yes it’s always a month long, longer than even Cannes, Sundance or Toronto). And this year is special since it marks, believe it or not, the 21st anniversary of the festival. You have to admit, that’s a remarkable achievement for any film festival anywhere. The festival organizers have put together a really solid program this year, including some films we have profiled several times already here on S&A, such as Stanley Nelson’s “Black panthers: Vanguards of...

It's amazing that The Black Harvest International Film Festival in Chicago has been in existence for over 20 years already. Where does the time go? But it's another year, and so that means it's another festival, and therefore Black Harvest has officially started soliciting submissions for this year's event, which will be held, as always, this summer at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago. And as always, it takes place during the entire month of August, this year from August 7 until the September 3, which makes it, perhaps, the longest film festival in the countryand perhaps the world Last year the festival celebrated its 20th anniversary and it broke all...

Darious Britt is the writer and director of the terrific indie feature film Unsound, based on his own personal experiences, dealing with a young filmmaker and his struggles with a mother who suffers from schizophrenia. It’s a powerful and moving film but with a subtle and low keyed approach which makes the impact of the film even greater. The film has been playing the film festival circuit for the past year such as the Black Harvest Film festival in Chicago this past summer. And to his credit Britt not only has been chronicling his experiences traveling with the film on his own YouTube channel he calls D4Darious (Here). But he has, as well, some 70 short videos (and...

The Venezuelan drama "Bad Hair" (Pelo Malo), which has won several awards along its international film festival tour, will premiere stateside starting November 19 at NYC's Film Forum theater. The film, written and directed by Mariana Rondon (read our interview), made its festival debut the Toronto International Film Festival last September (read our review).  Before it makes its way to NYC, "Bad Hair" will first screen at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago on Sunday, August 17th and Monday, August 18th. The provocative and touching film follows Junior, played convincingly by Samuel Lange, a young boy who dances to his own tune. Junior is obsessed...

Just a reminder folks, that the 20th anniversary edition of the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, starts this Friday, and ends on Thursday, August 28th.. As mentioned previously (here), on opening night, the festival will be honoring Roger and Chaz Ebert; and, later, during the festival, there will be a special screening of Bill Duke’s "A Rage in Harlem," with Duke himself doing a Q and Aia Skype, after the film (read more on that here). And with some 50 films - including features, shorts and documentaries - that will be screened (the largest number, even in the history of Black Harvest), such as James Richard’s wonderful and endearing feature,...

Alas! How time flies! Another year has gone by. And this August, as always in Chicago, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago, the annual Black Harvest Film Festival will take place, from Friday August 1 to Thursday August 28 (Yes it’s always a month long, Longer than even Cannes, Sundance or Toronto). And this year is special since it marks, believe it or not, the 20th anniversary of the festival. You have to admit, that’s a remarkable achievement for any film festival anywhere. And during those 20 years that I’ve been personally involved - since the beginning – when I consider all the pain and sorrow, good things and bad things, the joys and heartaches...

The Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, will honor both Chaz Ebert and (posthumously) her late husband, film critic Robert Ebert, on the opening night of the festival, set for Friday August 1st . They will be awarded with the annual Deloris Jordan Award for Excellence in Community Leadership, which is a fitting tribute for them for the 20th anniversary of the festival. Both Roger and Chaz were enthusiastic supporters of the film festival, and continue to be, as well as long-established supporters of and advocates for black filmmakers. Previous recipients of the award have been actor/rapper Common, and, last year, the...

Writer/director Katherine Nero's dramatic feature film "For The Cause" will be screened in New York as part of the New Filmmakers New York Summer Series on Wednesday, July 2nd. The film last year made its film festival circuit run after its world premiere at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago. Starring Charlette Speigner, Shariba Rivers and Eugene Parker, the dramatic feature film deals with Mirai Scott (Speigner), a civil rights attorney who is contacted by her father (Parker), a former Black Panther that went underground 30 years prior to escape a murder charge, and who urges her to take his case. The plot thickens since "Mirai is hesitant to defend a man she...

It was officially announced today that Chaz and Roger Ebert (posthumously) will be awarded the annual Deloris Jordan Award for Excellence in Community Leadership at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.Roger Ebert was, of course, up until his death in spring 2013, one of most important and influential film critics and political essayists of our time, inspiring generations of film critics who followed in his path, entertaining and educating regular film lovers for decades. However just as important was his advocacy and support of important and talented filmmakers, as well as being a long time vocal supporter of...

It's amazing that The Black Harvest International Film Festival in Chicago has been in existence for 20 years already. Where does the time go?But it's another year, and so that means it's another festival, and since it's now officially the festival has already started soliciting submissions for this year's event, which will be held, as always, this summer at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago.And as always, it takes place during the entire month of August this year, from August 1 until the 29th.Needless to say, since this year will mark the festival’s 20th anniversary, there are already plans afoot to make this year’s festival a special and memorable event.Any...

It's amazing that The Black Harvest International Film Festival in Chicago has been in existence for 20 years already. Where does the time go?But it's another year, and so that means it's another festival, and since we're well deep into January, it is time, once again, for the festival to start soliciting submissions for this year's event, which will be held, as always, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago.And as always, it takes place during the entire month of August this year, from August 1 until the 29th.Needless to say, since this year will mark the festival’s 20th anniversary, there are already plans afoot to make this year’s festival a special and memorable...

In a few weeks, the 22nd annual Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles, taking place Feb. 6-17 2014, will announce their highly anticipated selections for next year’s festival.But we already know what one of the films to be screened at the upcoming event will be.Writer/director Katherine Nero's feature film, For The Cause, will make its West Coast premiere at the festival after world premiering this past summer at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago.Starring Charlette Speigner, Shariba Rivers and Eugene Parker in the leads, the dramatic feature film deals with Mirai Scott (Speigner), “a civil rights attorney Mirai Scott (played by Speigner 0 who is contacted by her...

We have written about writer and director Jono Oliver’s remarkable and moving feature film Home, several times on S & A (including a rave review from me Here), and now you may finally get a chance to see it for yourself.After numerous film festival screenings across the country, including most recently the Black Harvest Film Festivalin in Chicago this past August, and winning several best feature awards, Home is set to open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 22nd.The film, which was recently picked up for distribution by eOne, will be opening at the Arena Theatre in Los...

We have written about writer and director Jono Oliver’s remarkable and moving feature film Home, several times on S & A (including a rave review from me Here), and now you may finally get a chance to see it for yourself.After numerous film festival screenings across the country, including most recently the Black Harvest Film Festival in in Chicago this past August, and winning several best feature awards, Home is set to open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on November 22nd.The film, which was recently picked up for distribution by eOne, will be opening at the Arena Theatre in Los Angeles for a limited one-week run, as well as in New York at the Quad Cinema on...

Coming up in the first weekend of October, the 4th -6th, is the return of Fan Days, presented by Dallas Comic Con! The guest line-up covers the whole gamut of popular sci-fi/fantasy genre, featuring Hellboy himself, Ron Perlman, Torchwood and Arrow’s John Barrowman, Harry Potter’s Tom Felton, Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun, Defiance’s Grant Bowler and Stephanie Leonidas, Star Wars’ Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Tom Kane, Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff and Jamie Bamber, Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito and Charles Baker, Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum, Green ranger Jason David Frank, comic legend Neal Adams, legendary artist Simon Bisley, horror artist icon Bernie Wrightson, 30 Days of Night writer Steve Niles, FaceOff artist Rj Haddy, and so many more!

Make sure you can get in to see your fave stars, artists, and creators and buy your tickets online by Monday, September 30, 2013 to guarantee pre-registration for your admission tickets.

I had a pretty amazing comedy-themed Labor Day Weekend. Setting the table was the closing night of the Black Harvest film festival, featuring a preview of Whoopi Goldberg’s Kickstarted Moms Mabley documentary, I Got Something to Tell You, which will be on HBO November 14.Goldberg, who once did a Mabley tribute show, does a wonderful job creating not so much a portrait, but a satisfying survey/appreciation of one of the greatest stand up comics in American history. Because the Mabley character was a coy construct and she did not break character in interviews, there is really not enough available material to present a true biography of Mabley a/k/a/ Loretta Mary Aiken, who (like Grandpa Jones...

Directed by Jeffrey Morse and Dorothy Darr, the latter who is Charles Lloyd's painter/filmmaker wife, the documentary Charles Lloyd: Arrows Into Infinity chronicles the influential saxophonist and composer's life and career range. Arrows Into Infinity, which will cover the musicians' Memphis roots and counterculture crossover in the 60's, will premiere at this year's 19th Annual Chicago Black Harvest Film Festival, which has unveiled its lineup (see our post Here). Here's more about the film: Charles Lloyd was one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 1960s. His music crossed traditional boundaries and explored new territories. Catapulted into...

I can’t believe two things: 1) that another year has gone by, and 2) it’s been 19 years already, but this August, as always in Chicago, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago, the 19th Annual Black Harvest Film Festival will take place from Friday August 2 to Thursday Aug 29th.(Yes it’s always a month long, Longer than even Cannes or Sundance or Toronto) And during those 19 years that I’ve been personally involved - since the beginning - I know two things for sure; that 1) in some ways it gets easier to put to it together, and 2) it gets harder as well.But I think we have put together a really solid festival this year, including some films we have profiled...

When you think about it, one subject that black filmmakers have basically overlooked is the subject of mental illness.Of course, there are exceptions, such as filmmaker Jono Oliver’s quite moving and powerful recent indie feature, Home (which will be screened at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago this August). But aside from Oliver’s film, black films that deal with mental illness are few far and far between.There’s no one reason why for this. Perhaps because the subject of mental illness is still a touchy one among black people, or possibly because it’s considered to be “dirty laundry” that shouldn’t be exposed in the public. Who knows?But there’s a newly completed film...

It's amazing that The Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago has been in existance for 19 years already. Where does the time go? But it's another year and so that means it's another festval, and since we're well deep into January, it is time once again that the festival start soliciting submissions for this year's event which will be held, as always, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago. And as always, it takes place during the entire month of August this year, from August 2 until the 29th. Any and all films completed in 2012 or 2013 dealing with any aspect of the black experience worldwide, are requested, whether it's a short or a...

We covered filmmaker Mohamed Dione's short film Maffe Tiga - starring Dione and Marie Josephine Zoumanigui - exactly a year ago, last November, and since then, it's been screened at several film festivals around the world. So far, it's been shown at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, the 7th edition of the Kenya International Film Festival in Kenya, The Soul Bliss Festival, and the 15th annual African American Women in Cinema Film Festival. And on top of that, it was nominated for an African Movie Academy Award in Nigeria. Dione describes his film as a "romantic dramedy about a young African woman who finds that love is the true...

Spike Mendesohn is one celebrity chef with a lot on his plate. He currently has a reality show that takes a behind-the-scenes look at his family's restaurant business called Life After Top Chef on Bravo. He is a contestant on the latest season of The Next Iron Chef on the Food Network, and he has recently teamed up with Captain Morgan to create fall recipes with their latest formula, Black Spiced Rum.

I had the chance to speak with Spike about his many ongoing projects. Check out what he had to say about being on Top Chef versus The Next Iron Chef, and what it's like to work with Captain Morgan Rum below!

What can people expect to see on your new show, Life After Top Chef?

Well I think people will be really interested to see the team that’s behind me, and it’s family. So people that...

"What?" I can hear you saying already... "Another web series? When is it going to stop?" Most likely never. You can wait around for network or cable TV to change their ways, or you can do it yourself. And if Issa Rae did it herself, to fame and... almost fortune, why not you..or me? So here's a new one, the Nashville made web series Diva Divorcee, starring and produced by Mary McCallum, Alicia Haymer, Molly Breen and Tamiko S. Robinson. The series was written by Ms McCallum, who also wrote the powerful indie feature film Black Girl Lost, which we selected for this year's Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago. The series...

That's a long title for this item, but that's the only way I could tell you the confirmed news that actress S. Epatha Merkerson will be in attendance for the screenings of her new documentary The Contradictions of Fair Hope next week at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago The film, which she co-directed with Rockell Metcalf and which is narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, will be screened on Sunday August 19 at 5:15Pm and the following day on Monday August 20 at 6:15Pm at the Gene Siksel Film Center in downtown Chicago. The film sheds light on the unqiue Southern institution known as "benevolent societies"  which were forrmed by former...

We've already sung the praises of Ya'Ke Smith's feature film directorial debut Wolf many times on S&A - a film that Vanessa and I saw for the first time at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, where it made its debut (read my review Here if you missed it). As Sergio announced last night, Wolf will be screening at the Black Harvest Film Festival in August, so Chi-town S&A readers will be able to check it out if they haven't already.  It's still without distribution, which I'm not entirely surprised by (even though it's unfortunate). Distributors aren't exactly always rushing to pick up dramas with all-black casts, even if...

Too many films, a record number, will be screening at this year's 18th annual Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago running from Aug 3-30 so I intend, in this piece, to highlight just the documentaries.  And among them are filmmaker Barrie Gavin's wonderful and quite moving film Chi-chi: Tales from the Bass Line about double bass player classical musician Chi-chi Nwanoku which chronicles her truly inspiring life and career. Also playing at the festival this year are John Paley's film Ballplayer Pelotero about the murky and opportunistic baseball industry in the Dominican Republic where young and...

Well Vanessa already spilled the beans about The Kill Hole at this year's Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago next month, but that's all good. In fact the official schedule list for the festival, its18th year, which runs next month Aug.3-30 at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago  was announced yesterday and will screen close to 50 films (features, shorts, documentaries) making it the largest number of films in the festival's history. Aisde from the The Kill Hole among other features will be Ya'Ke Smith's (and knowing the Chicago audience sure to be controversial) Wolf, Matthew Cherry's The Last Fall, Alfons Adetuyi's High Chicago. ...

A film we first profiled back in January of this year, the action drama The Kill Hole picked up critical acclaim when it premiered in January at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival; last month, the film won the best feature narrative award at the New Jersey International Film Festival. Written and directed by Mischa Webley, the film about a troubled and guilt-ridden Iraqi war vet will screen next at Chicago's Black Harvest Film Festival (August 3-30) and at the Montreal International Black Film Festival, (September 20-30). The film is also set for an official screening on August 17th at the Columbia Gorge International Film Festival in Washington. The Kill Hole,...

The Australian Directors’ Guild (Adg) presents a masterclass with documentary filmmaker Bob Connolly (Mrs Carey’s Concert, Rats in the Ranks, Facing the Music and Black Harvest) on Saturday 6 August, 10am – 4pm (venue Tbc).

Connolly will explore his approach to long form documentary making, including the facing, and overcoming of ethical and logistical hurdles. Screening work by both himself and others, Connolly will explain how what has shaped and influenced his career.

Attendees are invited to submit a short synopsis of a documentary piece they are working on for critique and advice from Connolly and address problems faced in development.

To apply to attend, submit your CV and a short synopsis of your project (max 1 page/400words) to rsvp@adg.org.au. Applications must be received by Saturday 23 July and will be confirmed early the following week – Adg members will be given priority.

Adg member price: $150

Non member price: $300

to apply for,...

After a long absence, director Bob Connolly returns with Mrs. Carey’s Concert. Miguel Gonzalez spoke with him about his life in documentary.

Connolly was not the type of child that dreamt of working on TV or film. When he dropped out of an Arts Law degree in 1964, he joined the ABC as a cadet journalist. He did “reasonably well” and ended up doing a stint in New York. When he returned in 1968, he joined a current affairs program, first as an assistant producer, and ultimately working as an on camera reporter.

“But I was hopeless at the studio, like a stunned mullet, terrified of live stuff. My brain used to go blank!” he admitted.

So Connolly was sent to work on the show’s “Sunday stories”, doing five-minute reports until, three years later, he was asked to do a half-hour story for the documentary series A Big Country. It was his first observational work,...

Opposite Of Life made its rounds on the festival circuit, including the Black Harvest International Film Festival in Chicago, and now you can watch the complete film for free.

Written and directed by David N. Fontane, the film is about two women who consider terminating their pregnancies. It stars Sarah Kopp, Michelle Ivy, Harold Davis and Zach Hawkins.

Below is the trailer for the film and the complete film can be viewed at WelcomeToMyShow.tv.

Any long time resident of Chicago will no doubt fondly remember All Jokes Aside. The black comedy club located in the South Loop neighborhood that was in operation from 1991-2000 and literally the Mecca for any up and coming black comedian during that period. Name any black comedian today; go ahead name one: Chris Rock. Bernie Mac, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric The Entertainer, Mo’Nique, Jamie Foxx, Dave Chapelle and Mike Epps just to name a few who all got their start at All Jokes Aside.

So it shouldn’t surprising that there’s a lot of great footage of those comedians during their early hungry days and an equally great story about the club as well which brings us to the new documentary Phunny Business: A Black Comedy. The film, co- produced along with John Davies and Reid Brody by Raymond Lambert who founded the club and directed...

Josh Howard's indie title Black Harvest has returned to print courtesy of Image Comics. Originally published by Devil's Due, the miniseries has been reissued in a single volume, featuring relettering and a new five-page ending. The storyline follows a young girl named Zaya, who returns to her home town of Jericho to solve the mystery behind its UFO sightings. "I've always loved stories that mix sci-fi and supernatural elements together. That was really the genesis of the concept," Howard told Newsarama. "As I was building (more)...

Chicago – In the 1970s, there was a period in history when the civil rights movement began to splinter and disintegrate. Government infiltration, internal divisions and lack of direction especially hurt organizations like the Black Panthers movement, a focus of Writer/Director Tanya Hamilton’s new film, “Night Catches Us.”

In 1976, after years of absence, Marcus (Anthony Mackie of “The Hurt Locker”) returns to his Philadelphia neighborhood, where he was a member of the Black Panther movement. His reappearance arouses new suspicions regarding his sudden vanishing, his colleagues suspect he sold out a fellow Panther. The only acceptance he seems to find is from his old friend Patricia (Kerry Washington). Together, they must somehow come to terms with a past from which they can’t seem to escape.

Tanya Hamilton makes her feature film debut with Night Catches Us, several years after after winning Best Short Film at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival for “The Killers.

Ebony on-line today has my interview with filmmaker Tanya Hamilton of Night Catches Us which opens Dec. 3 through Magnolia Films.

Unfortunately I couldn’t write the entire interview because it went on much longer than planned simply because Ms. Hamilton is a truly engaging and wonderful person and who has a lot to say. But the interview I think it does a good job of covering what we talked about.

You can read the interview Here and the picture of her was taken by me last month at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago.

Here’s a picture I took earlier this evening of Night Catches Us writer and director Tanya Hamilton, taken during a break at the closing night of the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago.

Don’t let the rather pensive look on her face mislead you. She’s a truly delightful and wonderful person who loves films and filmmaking. Her film played to an enthusiastic sold-out house, and opens December 3rd nationwide via Magnolia Films.

As Tambay reported last month (Here), Sean Baker’s film Prince of Broadway (which I have to brag we screened at last year’s Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago), will be released theatrically in New York (Sept. 3), La (Sept. 24), and Chicago (Oct. 1), through Elephant Eye, thanks to Lee Daniels, who is a huge fan of the film, and who is also using his clout to promote the film.

Today, vet industry journalist Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood, posted a videotaped interview on her site recorded by Sophia Savage, with Daniels and Baker talking about the film. Here’s the interview is four parts:...

Not interested in seeing Angelina Jolie and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Salt this weekend?

Previously profiled on this blog… Tamra Davis’ Sundance selection, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, which, in short, centers on a rare interview that Davis shot with him 20+ years ago, chronicling the meteoric rise and fall of the young artist, with interviews (Julian Schnabel, Fab 5 Freddy, and countless others).

New Yorkers can now see the film, which opened this week at Film Forum, where it’ll run through August 3rd, so you really have a couple of weeks to see it. After that, it’ll travel to about 25 cities, screening for limited periods of time in each, through October. Click Here to find it if your city is on its itinerary.

I know it’ll be playing at the Black Harvest Film Festival next month, so Chi-Town folks can see it then.

I’ll check it out this weekend,...

Along with its screening next month at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, Clayton Broomes Jr.’s satirical film about the crisis in black leadership today, Pro Black Sheep, will be screened in Washington D.C. on Sunday July 25 starting at 5:30Pm, at the National Geographic Museum located at 1600 M Street Nw

The filmmaker himself will also be in attendance for a Q and A afterward.

It took a while, but finally the complete and final 2010 Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago has been announced. Over 40 movies in every category from feature film to shorts, documentaries, dramas (such as Bilal’s Stand pictured), comedies and everything else in between. All the films will be screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago located at 164 N. State St in the heart of downtown Chicago.

Opening night is Friday August 6th and the festival continues throughout the month until Thursday Sept. 2 with a special advance screening of Tanya Hamilton’s Night Captures Us with Ms. Hamilton present. Of course I will be there too on most nights, so if you ever had the desire to punch me out for any of my articles on S & A now here’s your chance. (Not that I encourage it though…)

The complete list below:

The Gene Siskel Film Center welcomes...

I haven’t seen specific related statistics to make any claims, but the general consensus appears to be that the American Black Film Festival (Abff) is considered to be the most prominent black film festival in the country. Agree or disagree? I’m sure the Pan African Film Festival in L.A., and The Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, and even UrbanWorld in New York would all likely have something to say about that.

Regardless… we’ve talked black film festivals on this blog quite a bit, and opinions from both posters and commenters usually lean towards the negative; so how about we take on a different Pov this time around, and consider whether there’s a responsibility required of black celebrities to help prop up some of these festivals – especially the more influential ones.

By most accounts, this year’s Abff was a resounding success – maybe its best year ever!

It’s been announced that Common will be this year’s recipient of this year Deloris Jordan Award for Excellence in Community Leadership on opening night of the Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago on Friday August 6th. (You see, we didn’t hold Just Wright against him.)

Also there’s a rumor, though at this point unsubstantiated, that Mrs. Jordan’s son, someone I think by the name of Michael or something like that, might make a special appearance in a show of support for Common and his efforts, as well as being a long time friend.

It can now be finally announced that the schedule for the 2010 Black Harvest Film Festival from August 6-Sept. 2 at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the Art Institiute of Chicago is done. Well almost…I’ll get to that in a minute.

Some of the films that will be shown this year have already been revealed on S & A (here and here), but among the other 40-plus films, including features, documentaries and shorts, will be the Civil War-set family film, Dog Jack, the civil rights documentary Neshoba: The Price of Freedom, Rik Cordero’s Inside a Change, Sultan Sharrief’s Bilal’s Stand which premiered at Sundance, Carmen Madden’s drama Everday Black Man (pictured left), and the world premiere of Joshua Conro’s documentary about the totally weird, totally strange, otherworldly, stream-of-consciousness, cult fave rapper Sharkula in Sharkula: Diarrhea of a Madman.

Oh yes, aside from the previously announced...

It was just confirmed today that Tamra Davis’ documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child about the pioneering and tragically self destructive artist, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this winter, will be screened at this year’s Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago (starting on Aug. 6) before its theatrical run. Here’s the trailer for the film:

Also making it’s world premiere at the festival is Chicago filmmaker and TV producer Beverly Price’s documentary India of K Town about the unique friendship between India Meadows, a young woman who’s lived a rough and tragic life, and acclaimed fashion designer Barbara Bates. “K-Town” by the way is a local slang expression for a section of the West side of Chicago in which all the street names begin with the letter “K”. Here’s the trailer for that film:...