The Masculinity Project
Location(s)
Presented in partnership with Film at International House
The American black male character is often the product of a popular culture image without true context. The Masculinity Project is a new media project conceived and produced by the National Black Programming Consortium,which tells an intergenerational story of black maleness intended to broaden the very definition of the word "masculinity."
The Program:
BmX (10 min)
Produced by Tesfaye Negussie, Jed Kim & Tristan Ahone
Rob, a twenty-something extreme BMX bike riding enthusiast from the Bronx, balances a less than stellar financial position with the overwhelming desire to be the next best extreme BMX biker.
Harlem Greenthumb (8:30 min)
Produced by Kay Shaw, Nonso Christian Ugbode & Tate Nova 
On the corner of 131st Street and Madison Avenue in Harlem, a group of retired men meet every other day to cultivate vegetables and friendship. When a developer buys the lot they have lovingly tended they must face the loss of not only their garden but the community they have created.
Remix: Outside Looking In (10 min)
Produced by Phil Bertelsen & Sabrina S. Gordon
Filmmaker Phil Bertelsen explores his layered heritage through his own trans-racial adoption and that of his young nephew, also named Phil, who is living a parallel existence. Together uncle and nephew explore the changing fault lines of black male identity which still continue to evolve.
Barack & Curtis: Manhood, Power & Respect (10:40 min)
Produced by Byron Hurt
Filmmaker Byron Hurt (Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes) conceived of this short doc just as Barack Obama was emerging as a presidential front-runner and rapper/mogul Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent was named Forbes Magazine's top-earning rapper. On the surface, Obama's manhood appeared to be the polar opposite of the image of black masculinity we've come to expect from hip-hop and popular culture. Yet both are rock stars, feared and admired. This juxtaposition is intended to stimulate conversations about how these black men have taken different paths to achieve manhood, power and respect.
Beirut Boys (2008, 27 min)
Directed by El Sawyer ● Produced by Eugene Martin
Living in North Philadelphia, 17-year-old Derrick Toler navigates two worlds, shifting between "corner boy" and aspiring college student. Filmmaker El Sawyer collaborates with Derek and the other self-dubbed “Beirut Boys” of the Fairhill neighborhood to create vivid portraits of their lives. Central to the film are Derrick’s video diary entries as he transitions to a life out of his neighborhood and the riveting spoken word interludes performed in the streets.
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Phil Bertelsen works in both fiction and non-fiction. His narrative feature debut, Rock the Paint, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival where it received the Creative Promise Award. He also produced the Peabody Award-winning Chisholm ’72 – Unbought & Unbossed.
Nonso Christian Ugbode, a writer, producer and web conceptualist, is the new media director for the National Black Programming Consortium His other work includes the documentary on black painters, Colored Frames. His writing can be found online at www.blackline.tv.
El Sawyer is a filmmaker with deep roots in community and youth media. Since 2003 he has worked at the Village of Arts and Humanities developing their digital arts program for young people. He has collaborated with documentary and narrative filmmakers Glen Holsten and Eugene Martin. He is currently working with Martin on 2 films, a documentary on the only all girls African-American soccer club in the US and a feature length version of Beirut Boys.