Hollywood Black Film Festival 2008

As the face of AIDS changes, challenging traditional systems of prevention and awareness are crucial. 'In 2006, AIDS in America is a black disease,' said Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that about 1.1 million Americans are infected with HIV, with blacks making up 47 percent of them. Of new AIDS diagnoses by race and ethnicity, 67% of the women are Black. In major cities around the country, Black women have the highest infection rates of HIV/AIDS. Seen, But Not Heard will explore the historical antecedents, current trends, and emerging activism concerning HIV/AIDS and women of African decent. Through raw and revealing personal accounts and comprehensive investigative journalism, 'Seen, But Not Heard' seeks to challenge, inform, and inspire viewers to look past the daunting HIV/AIDS statistics - to see and hear the real stories of women of color whose lives are affected by HIV/AIDS. This documentary reflects an innovative effort that strategically uses media to raise AIDS awareness within our target audience of African Americans specifically Black women. By threading interviews into a discussion, personal stories will be melded into a cinema-verite slice of life demonstrating the devastation of this disease on African Americans. Behind the statistics lie the personal stories of three African American women, each whom face the challenges of HIV and AIDS in their own unique way.

'Streets of Color,' Calypso's version of the old Roman Bacchanalia, reflects the resources of multi-ethnic Trinidad and Tobago. It symbolizes the culture of a people who derive their energy and lifestyle from a pre-Lenten carnival called 'mas' (masquerade). The documentary features Peter Minshall, a designer who gained fame as an artistic director for the opening/closing ceremonies at three Olympic Games - by expounding on his controversial works in the mas. The dichotomy of today's festival pits his theme, 'Tapestry' - about the interconnection of man, his environment, his gods - against presentations by new-wave designers of minimalist (bikini-styled) costumes that appeal to neo-pagan celebrants. Minshall, a traditionalist, stands his ground, invokes satire, shoves a mirror in their faces, and says, 'That's you.'

This 66-minute film--TRIBUTE: Stanley Tookie Williams, 1953-2005--is a powerful documentary that examines death row prisoner, Crips gang co-founder, children's book author and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stanley Tookie Williams. The international campaign for clemency to save him from death by lethal injection ended on December 13, 2005, at 12:35 a.m., when he was pronounced dead after clemency was denied by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. TRIBUTE includes scenes from a staged reenactment of that execution. The reenactment--as well as TRIBUTE--were produced and directed by writer Barbara Becnel and producer Shirley Neal, longtime friends of Stanley Tookie Williams. It was based on their real-life experience at San Quentin's death chamber witnessing his botched execution--it took him 35 minutes to die. The two women filmed the staged reenactment, enabling TRIBUTE to offer a very intimate view of capital punishment. 'We created and staged a play that replicated the execution because we wanted people to see exactly what the State of California does in the middle of the night in the name of the people of the State of California,' explains Barbara Becnel. TRIBUTE includes provocative eulogies by Snoop Dogg, Tony Robbins and Louis Farrakhan--speaking at the memorial service of Stanley Tookie Williams--and never-before-seen footage of his ashes scattered by Becnel and Neal in Soweto, South Africa. This was his last wish.

'Turning a Corner' was created in a media activism workshop that director Salome Chasnoff facilitated with 15 women who were street prostitutes in Chicago. The women were trained to use video cameras, conduct interviews, analyze the issues surrounding prostitution, and tell their stories. Shot on the street corners across Chicago where they once traded sex, the film features the women's survival and triumph over sexual abuse, homelessness, violence and discrimination.'Turning a Corner' gives rare insights into Chicago's sex industry, and documents the women's efforts to raise awareness of the injustices experienced by those who struggle to survive in this underground world. They include Lucretia Clay, whose mother sold her to a pimp when she was 12 years old. Lucretia takes us to the seedy motel where she spent most of the 26 years during which she was trapped in the world of street prostitution. 'A lot of the girls that I worked with are not here to come back and tell their story,' she reflects. Also profiled is Brenda Myers, who takes the viewer on a tour of Chicago where the sex industry thrives. 'When women were in prostitution and get out of it, they never tell anybody because of the way people judge them, because of the 'scarlet letter.' I think somebody should, and that's what I do,' Brenda explains. 'The women's compelling analyses of prostitution and the effects of its criminalization will surprise even the most knowledgeable viewer,' says Chasnoff.

Walking Tall: The Life and Wife of Walt Walker, artist, businessman and entrepreneur. The late Walt Walker, who passed away five years ago at 84, created the most extensive collection of paintings, murals, drawings, sketches and graphic arts and holds the distinction of being one of the first African Americans to to open an art gallery featuring black images in Los Angeles. This documentary will inspire artists to first learn the art of business, then the business of art to steer clear of a life of the starving artist. Walking Tall exhibits the most comprehensive body of Walt's popular work as well as little shown works including his sketches and murals.By Walt's own admission, were it not for the efforts of his business-minded wife, Jane Walker, and their 62 year marriage, we may never have known his name. In addition to his wife, Jane, interviews include Charles Bibbs, renowned artist and owner of the 626 Gallery, Cecil and Miriam Fergerson, art curators, Ayuko Babu, Pan African Film Festival co-founder and Walker's eldest son Russell. He pioneered the black arts movement by opening the LeJan Gallery in the early 1960's and later was known for exhibiting his own art at Ray's Redwood Kitchen on Western Avenue in Los Angeles for 10 years. After exhibiting at community art shows and outdoor festivals, Jane insisted that they invest in prints so that 'the mother in Watts could buy some art for her apartment.' Now, many people own a Walt Walker original.