Harlemwood Film Festival’s Three Films

[HARLEMWOOD FILM FESTIVAL]

New Heritage Theatre Group is very pleased to partner with the New York Academy of Medicine to present the 13th Annual Harlemwood Film Festival featuring three exciting films.

This Festival celebrates the work of filmmakers that explore the experiences by people of color in varied and unique ways. This screening highlights documentaries and a feature that focuses on the medical conditions experienced by the lead characters in each of the films. The films selected will inform, educate, and entertain and connect with the mission of the New York Academy of Medicine. Join us and view films that document persons, ideas, and events not seen in your usual movie going experience.

Voza Rivers, Executive Producer, HARLEMWOOD FILM FESTIVAL.

“I’D RATHER BE DANCING DANCING” is a short film by Yvonne Farrow. The film tells the story of an African American paralyzed dance star who shows that the spirit of a dancer does not have to die with the use of her legs. The film was one of five top dramatic shorts chosen to participate in the Pan African Film and Television Arts Festival in Bukina Faso, West Africa and won a Special prize for “Special Interest Short Drama’ at FESPACO. The filmmaker, who is also an award winning actress, is also a recipient of ABC Entertainment’s Talent Development Scholarship/Grant program.

“WHEN HARLEM SAVED A KING,” produced by Alphonso Cohen and JIREH productions and directed by Anthony Jones, is a work in progress that examines the time and the events leading up to and following September 20, 1958, the day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was stabbed in the chest with a letter opener by a black woman named Izola Curry. The stabbing occurred in Harlem during Dr. King’s signing of his book, (Stride Towards Freedom), at  Blumstein’s Department Store on 125th Street. This film contains interviews and historic footage on Dr. King’s life saving operation at Harlem Hospital.

“STILL BILL,” is an intimate portrait of multi GRAMMY-award-winner Bill Withers, best known for his classic songs: “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day,” “Grandma’s Hands,” and “Just the Two of Us.” Withers has written songs that resonate deeply within the fabric of our times. Filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack offer a unique and rare look inside the world of Withers through concert footage, interviews with music legends, his family and closest friends. Bill Withers was a serious stutter until he was 20. The most emotional scenes in “Still Bill” show him accepting an award from a stutterers’ association and then talking with a roomful of kids who stutter. Withers identifies with them and observes that stuttering can make other people nervous. He says “we have to go just that little bit further to help them feel at ease.”

THESE FILMS WILL BE SHOWN AT NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, 1216 FIFTH AVENUE @103RD STREET, SATURDAY JUNE 1, 2013.

COMPLIMENTARY ADMISSION – OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. REGISTER AT WWW.NYAM.ORG/EVENTS OR CALL (212) 822 7211.

Supported in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs New York City, New York City Council, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City Council Member Inez E. Dickens, The New York City Council Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations, Jimmy Van Bramer, Chair, The New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, Community Works, CommunityMattersNYC, the Arlen Charitable Trust.

New Heritage Theatre Group is a proud members of The Harlem Arts Alliance and The Coalition of Theatres of Color

 

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