Street Movies at Friends Housing Cooperative
Location(s)
In collaboration with Friends Neighborhood Guild & Friends Housing Cooperative
Emcee: Khalif White; Filmmakers in Attendance!
Screening is outdoors; indoors at Friends Neighborhood Guild - 701 N. 8th Street in case of rain
The Doll by Dante James, is set in the early 1900s and tells the story of Tom Taylor, the black proprietor of the Wyandot Hotel Barbershop. Taylor’s humanity, his dignity, and his responsibility to family and community are severely challenged when he realizes that he has an opportunity to avenge an injustice that was inflicted on his father decades earlier. Emmy award winning independent filmmaker Dante James based the screenplay on a short story by Charles W. Chesnutt . (2008, 20 mins). This film is available for purchase, on a DVD that includes a classroom educational component, at www.DMDfilms.com. Ideal for schools, churches, social service organizations and other educational outlets.
The 13th Amendment by Michael Dennis
A 90 year old great-great grandmother on her trek to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 Pennsylvania Primary. Having voted all her life, this is the first time she's had the opportunity to vote for a Black man for the office of President of the United States. (2008, 5 mins)
Oscar’s Comeback by Lisa Collins and Mark Schwartzburt
Witness all the behind-the-scenes drama of a unique annual mom-and-pop film festival -- held in a remote, all-white, town, in rural South Dakota -- dedicated to the town’s native son, controversial black film pioneer Oscar Micheaux. Trailer for a work-in-progress feature film. (2008, 10 mins) More info
Dreaming by Village Arts Challenge media program at the Village of Arts and Humanities
Tired of being told what to do, a young boy wishes to be grown. He quickly discovers, however, that being an adult is not all it’s cracked up to be. (2007, 6:40 mins)
Ile Ife: Renaissance on Sacred Ground
by The Arthur Hall African American Dance Ensemble Alumni Association, Village of Arts and Humanities & Scribe Video Center Community Visions Program
Renaissance on Sacred Ground is a documentary about the healing power of African cultural art forms, including music and dance, to transform the lives of everyday people. It tells the story of Ile Ife, the House of Love, an African cultural center located on Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia and created by famed dancer choreographer, Arthur Hall. The young people who entered the doors of Ile Ife in the 1960s, drawn in by the sound of the African drum, over time became the members of the internationally known Arthur Hall Afro American Dance Ensemble.
Produced collaboratively by the alumni of Ile Ife/the Arthur Hall Afro American Dance Ensemble and young people from the Village of Arts and Humanities, which now occupies the same site, Renaissance on Sacred Ground looks at how a four decade tradition of cultural expression – rooted in African music and dance, has helped nurture and sustain a community. This documentary combines contemporary interviews, video journaling and extraordinary archival footage of performances from the Arthur Hall Collection and Ile Ife films.(2009, 21:30 mins)
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About Friends Neighborhood Guild
The Friends Neighborhood (the Guild) was founded in 1879 and is a settlement house and neighborhood center. It exists to serve and respond to the needs of the people in its community, particularly those people who are less able to help themselves. Pursuant to that mission, the Guild provides social serves, seeks to improve the quality of life of its neighbors, and assists in the development of leadership and organization through which community residents may more effectively pursue their common objectives.
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About Friends Housing Cooperative
Friends Housing Cooperative was founded in 1952 by Quakers with a mission of creating affordable, urban housing for a diverse community. It is colectively owned by resident members who work together for the continual prosperity of the complex. Friends Housing Cooperative encompasses an entire city block of 1860's brick townhomes surrounding landscaped grounds with courtyard.
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Street Movies! is made possible with support from H. Fred and Karen Clark, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, Independence Foundation, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Juliette Goodfriend, Ann Greene, and Laurence Saltzman. Media partner: Media That Matters