HARLEM STAGE PRESENTS 2019 FALL SEASON OF FILMS AND SHOWS BY VISIONARY BLACK ARTISTS

HARLEMSTAGE1

[Entertainment News\Harlem Stage]
Harlem Stage is proud to host the opening night of the Harlem Doc Fest, a documentary film festival that explores the cultural richness and history of Harlem along with critical issues impacting the community. This weekend-long curated festival of feature and short documentary films will present screenings throughout Harlem and include conversations with filmmakers, actors and scholars.
Photo: Hana Raskin

Harlem Stage, the legendary uptown venue that for over 35 years has promoted the creative legacy of Harlem and artists of color from around the corner and across the globe, is proud to present its Fall 2019 season of performances.

The season is curated by Monique Martin, Director of Programming for Harlem Stage. This season, Harlem Stage will reflect on and celebrate the past, present and artistic future of Harlem and explore how the Harlem Renaissance continues to be a rich source of inspiration across the globe while Afrofuturism continues to push the boundaries of our artistic imagination.

Harlem Stage is proud to host the opening night of the Harlem Doc Fest, a documentary film festival that explores the cultural richness and history of Harlem along with critical issues impacting the community. This weekend-long curated festival of feature and short documentary films will present screenings throughout Harlem and include conversations with filmmakers, actors and scholars.

On November 15th, Harlem Stage will present a screening of The Remix: Hip-Hop X Fashion and a Q&A with Elena Romero and Alice Walker (Walker Wear) among other special guests.

As hip hop music was taking off in the late 80s and 90s, associated fashion trends and styles were also making their voice heard. And both were largely dominated by men. But as the voices of Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, and Lil’ Kim grew louder, so too did the influence of their female designers and stylists working behind the scenes. The Remix: Hip-Hop X Fashion tells their stories.

The full schedule is below.

The festival is presented in association with The Documentary Forum at The City College of New York, Maysles Documentary Center, New York Latino Film Festival and Third World Newsreel.

HARLEM DOC FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Friday, November 15

OPENING NIGHT: THE REMIX

7:30pm

Harlem Stage Gatehouse

150 Convent Avenue (at West 135th Street)

Free with RSVP

Film: The Remix Hip-Hop X Fashion

Director: Lisa Cortes, Farah X

Year: 2019

Time: 67 Min

As hip hop music was taking off in the late 80s and 90s, associated fashion trends and styles were also making their voice heard. And both were largely dominated by men. But as the voices of Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, and Lil’ Kim grew louder, so too did the influence of their female designers and stylists working behind the scenes.

TICKETING INFORMATION

Box Office Location: Harlem Stage Gatehouse (150 Convent Avenue at West 135th Street, Manhattan).

Box Office Hours: Regular box office hours are 10AM–3PM Monday through Friday, except on performance days when the box office remains open until one hour after the start of the performance.

By Phone: 212.281.9240 ext. 19

Online: www.HarlemStage.org

Saturday, November 16

THE PRISON IN 12 LANDSCAPES

2:00 pm

Maysles Documentary Center

343 Lenox Ave. between West 127th and 128th Streets

Film: The Prison in 12 Landscapes

Director: Brett Story

Year: 2016

Time: 54 min

More people are imprisoned in the United States at this moment than in any other time or place in history, yet the prison itself has never felt further away or more out of sight. The Prison in Twelve Landscapes is a film about the prison in which we never see a penitentiary. Instead, the film unfolds as a cinematic journey through a series of landscapes across the USA where prisons do work and affect lives, from a California mountainside where female prisoners fight raging wildfires, to a Bronx warehouse full of goods destined for the state correctional system, to an Appalachian coal town betting its future on the promise of prison jobs.

Q&A with filmmaker Brett Story to follow screening

CLEAN HANDS

3:30pm

ImageNation’s Raw Space

2031 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd

A Presentation of the New York Latino Film Festival in collaboration with Third World Newsreel and ImageNation

Film: Clean Hands

Director: Michael Dominic

Year: 2019

Time: 98min

Shot over the course of seven years, 2011-2018 in Nicaragua, Clean Hands is a feature-length fly-on-the-wall documentary which tells the story of the Lopez family surviving against the backdrop of Central America’s largest garbage dump, La Chureca and beyond. It is about family, extreme poverty, the hope and innocence of children, rescue and salvation, and the challenges we all face.

COLLEGE BEHIND BARS

7:30 pm

Maysles Documentary Center

343 Lenox Ave. between West 127th and 128th Streets

Film: College Behind Bars

Director: Lynn Novick

Year: 2019

Time: 60 min (selections from the film)

College Behind Bars, a four-part documentary film series directed by filmmaker Lynn Novick, produced by Sarah Botstein, and executive produced by Ken Burns, tells the story of a small group of incarcerated men and women struggling to earn college degrees and turn their lives around in one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the United States – the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI).

Q&A with filmmakers and formerly incarcerated graduates of the Bard Prison Initiative featured in the film.

Sunday, November 17

TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM

1:00pm

Documentary Forum

Shepard Hall rm 291 on the City College Campus

259 Convent Avenue at West 140th Street

Film: Toni Morrison: The Pieces I am

Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Year: 2019

Time: 119 min

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am offers an artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature. Inspired to write because no one took a “little black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed works, including novels “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula” and “Song of Solomon,” her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.

Q&A with Sandra Guzman and Special Guests

BLUE NOTE RECORDS: BEYOND THE NOTES

4:00pm

Documentary Forum

Shepard Hall rm 291 on the City College Campus

259 Convent Avenue at West 140th Street

Film: Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes

Director: Sophie Huber

Year: 2019

Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes explores the unique vision behind the iconic jazz record label. Through rare archival footage, current recording sessions and conversations with Blue Note artists, the film reveals a powerful mission and illuminates the vital connections between jazz and hip hop.

Q&A with special guests from the film to be announced!

HARLEM YOUTH SHORTS

4:00pm

Maysles Documentary Center

343 Lenox Ave. between West 127th and 128th Streets

Film: I Could Tell You ‘Bout My Life

Director: Michael Martin

Year: 2018

Time: 26 min

On April 10th, 2017 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law inspired by the “Raise the Age” movement and New York is now raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years old, no longer prosecuting and incarcerating 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. When Michael Martin got arrested at age 17, this law did not exist. As a result, a judge sentenced him to jail time on Rikers Island.

Other shorts to be announced

RECEPTION

6:00pm

Documentary Forum

Shepard Hall rm 291 on the City College Campus

259 Convent Avenue at West 140th Street

MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF COOL

7:00pm

Documentary Forum

Shepard Hall rm 291 on the City College Campus

259 Convent Avenue at West 140th Street

Film: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

Director: Stanley Nelson Jr.

Year: 2019

Time: 115min

Miles Davis: Horn player, bandleader, innovator. Miles was a singular force of nature, the very embodiment of cool. The central theme of Miles Davis’ life, and of this film is Davis’ restless determination to break boundaries and live life on his own terms. This documentary feature explores archival photos and home movies shot by Miles and his colleagues, his manuscripts and Miles’ original paintings, to explore the man behind the music. Featuring interviews with some of the most well-known musicians on the planet, including Jimmy Cobb, Lee Konitz, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Carlos Santana, The Roots, and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers; the film explores why Miles continues to be a relevant voice in today’s world. Introduced by Stanley Nelson Jr.

ABOUT HARLEM STAGE

Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas. For over 35 years Harlem Stage has been one of the nation’s leading arts organizations, achieving this distinction through its work with artists of color and by facilitating a productive engagement with the communities it serves through the performing arts. With a long-standing tradition of supporting artists and organizations around the corner and across the globe, Harlem Stage boasts such legendary artists as Harry Belafonte, Max Roach, Sekou Sundiata, Abbey Lincoln, Sonia Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri, Maya Angelou and Tito Puente, as well as contemporary artists like Maimouna Youssef aka MuMu Fresh, Jason ‘Timbuktu’ Diakité, Bill T. Jones, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Tamar-kali, Vijay Iyer, Mike Ladd, Stew, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jason Moran, José James, Nona Hendryx and more. Its education program each year provides over 2,000 New York City children with an introduction and access to the rich diversity, excitement and inspiration of the performing arts. In 2006, Harlem Stage opened the landmarked, award-winning Harlem Stage Gatehouse. This once abandoned space, originally a pivotal source for distributing fresh water to New York City, is now a vital source of creativity, ideas and culture. Harlem Stage is a winner of the William Dawson Award for Programming Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming (Association of Performing Arts Presenters). For more information on Harlem Stage, visit: www.harlemstage.org. For a full list of donors, please visit: https://www.harlemstage.org/donate

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *