IU Day 2023
On April 20, the BFCA joined other programs across the Indiana University campuses and alumni worldwide in recognizing IU Day. In addition to open house tours of our office throughout the afternoon, we also participated in the IU Day block party by the Showalter Fountain, where we met hundreds of undergrads and passed out BFCA-branded pens, magnets, buttons, bookmarks, and other cool swag. Thank you to everyone who donated or stopped by our table to say hi! If you missed us, feel free to stop by our office at Wells 044 and pick up some swag!
Jerald Harkness visit/Steppin’ screening
On April 6, the BFCA, in partnership with the Media School, hosted a special screening of IU alumnus Jerald Harkness’s 1992 documentary Steppin’ as part of the Past and Present screening series, curated by Media School senior, Taiah Wilson. Filmed on the IU Bloomington campus, this 55-minute film examines step shows then popular among Black fraternities and sororities. It won the Gold Apple Award for the National Educational Film and Video Festival and remains a unique document not only of IU campus life in the 1990s, but also of African American music and dance history.
The screening was followed by a discussion and Q&A lead by Taiah Wilson with Mr. Harkness and Tony Favors, who appeared in the documentary. The discussion included topics such as Harkness’s filmmaking practices, why he chose to document step shows, the on-going legacy of step shows, Favors’s experiences making the film, and how the process of making Steppin’ impacted their future lives and careers.
Prior to the screening, Mr. Harkness paid a return visit to the BFCA office, where he toured our facilities and reminisced about the many changes in film production since the 1990s.
Frame by Frame podcast
Frame by Frame is a limited podcast series of conversations with scholars and filmmakers who visited the BFCA between 2018 and 2020 (including Numa Perrier, Philana Payton, Jessie Maple, Esther Figueroa, and TreaAndrea Russworm). Hosted by former BFCA director Dr. Terri Francis and edited/produced by BFCA graduate assistant David Carter, each episode overviews the interviewees’ professional careers and published work. Available to stream for free on your podcast app of choice.
https://bfca.indiana.edu/the-center/podcast.html
InLight Film Festival
Curated by graduate students Cole Nelson and Mallika Khanna of The Media School, with support from IU Cinema and Center for Documentary Research and Practice
InLight (Human Rights Documentary) Film Festival is an entirely student-run festival aimed at promoting interaction between students, scholars, and practitioners who all share an investment in the many struggles for human rights occurring around the world. Inaugurated in 2015, the fifth edition of ILFF, took place on April 14–16, 2022, and featured eight screenings and a series of lectures, workshops, and roundtables by filmmakers, scholars, and community members. Their mission is to promote powerful films that speak to contemporary issues and to bring the knowledge and experience of a diverse group of filmmakers to the attention of the IU and Bloomington communities. Guest filmmakers and scholars were present at each screening to participate in a post-film discussion. Additionally, Pamela Sporn who is a Bronx-based documentary filmmaker, educator, and producer of Detroit 48202: Conversations Along a Postal Route among other incredible films made a special visit to the BFCA, for a tour. Thanks for coming by!
Visit InLight Film Festival’s website for more information on the festival.
Social media highlights
Boots Riley
On April 1, we recognized the 51st birthday of activist, filmmaker, and The Coup vocalist Boots Riley. Mr. Riley visited the IU campus in October 2018 as part of the Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Series for a screening of his acclaimed debut feature Sorry to Bother You. As part of the visit, he sat down with IU Cinema founding director Jon Vickers to record an exclusive conversation on his influences and career: Final Draft: Boots Riley on Film
Billy Dee Williams
On April 6, we wished a happy 85th birthday today to Billy Dee Williams, star of The Final Comedown (1972), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Hit! (1973), Mahogany (1975), and The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Mr. Williams was handprinted by artist Casper Banjo in 1984 during his induction into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and the BFCA retains this handprint along with dozens of other Black film artists who were inducted into the Hall of Fame from the 1970s through the 1990s.
Duane Jones
On April 11, we celebrated the birthday of actor Duane Jones (1937-1988). In addition to his groundbreaking role in Night of the Living Dead (1968), Mr. Jones was a respected theater director who lent his acting talents to Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess (1973) and Kathleen Collins’s Losing Ground (1982).
Souleymane Cissé
On April 21, we wished a happy 82nd birthday to Malian director Souleymane Cissé, whose Finye (1982) and Yeelen (1987) are masterworks of world cinema. Appearing here as guest of BAMPFA in March 2020, where he was photographed by BFCA director Akin Adesokan. (Yeelen poster from the Josef Gugler African and Middle Eastern Film Collection.)
Giancarlo Esposito
On April 26, we wished a happy 64th birthday to prolific character actor Giancarlo Esposito, born in 1958. Best known in recent years for his TV work in series like Breaking Bad, Dear White People, and The Mandalorian, Esposito has also had many fruitful collaborations with Spike Lee, appearing in the director’s early films School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), and Malcolm X (1992). (Promotional photograph of Esposito in Do the Right Thing from the BFCA’s General Collection. Headshot photo courtesy of Super Festivals.)
Bridgett M. Davis’s Naked Acts premiere
On May 5, we recognized the 26th anniversary of Bridgett M. Davis’s film Naked Acts, which premiered at the Boston Festival of Women’s Cinema in 1996. A landmark feminist exploration of Black women’s sexuality and body image, the film would play to critical and popular acclaim at festivals throughout the late 90s, breaking box office records for a single-screen release at the Thalia Theater in New York City during its four-week run in 1998. Davis donated the original production elements for Naked Acts to the Black Film Center & Archive in 2013 and was honored with a two-day symposium at Indiana University in 2014 on the film’s legacy within the history of independent African American cinema.
Gabourey Sidibe
On May 6, we wished happy birthday to Gabourey Sidibe, born in 1983! Acclaimed for her debut performance as the title character in Precious (2009), a role which earned her Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, Sidibe has also co-starred in the television series American Horror Story and Empire, as well as films such as Yelling to the Sky (2011), White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), Come As You Are (2019), and Antebellum (2020). A pencil and acrylic portrait of Sidibe in her iconic Precious role, painted by artist Adele Stephenson in 2012 under commission for the journal Black Camera, proudly hangs near the entrance of our BFCA office.
For more information about the BFCA, please visit our website www.bfca.indiana.edu. To subscribe to our blog, please visit our blog page https://blogs.iu.edu/bfca/ and click on “Subscribe” in the bottom right of the screen. Please consider ways to give, to continue our efforts and supporting our mission. We sincerely thank you all for your support. We would not be able to complete all of our wonderful programs and awesome events, without your help.
Warmest regards,
BFCA Interim Director and Staff
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