“1st Annual Pinkster Joy is an Act of Resistance” Celebration Screening of 1993 Classic Film
Weds. June 8 7:00 PM
$10 / $6 members | NR | 2h 5m | Drama
A self-absorbed Black American fashion model on a photo shoot in Africa is spiritually transported back to a plantation in the West Indies where she experiences first-hand the physical and psychic horrors of chattel slavery, and eventually the redemptive power of community and rebellion as she becomes a member of a freedom-seeking Maroon colony.
Sankofa is a historically inspired dramatic tale of African resistance to slavery has won international acclaim, awarded first prize at the African Film Festival in Milan, Italy, Best Cinematography at Africa’s premier Festival of Pan African Countries known as FESPACO, and nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film festival where it competed with other Hollywood movies. This film captured the imagination of huge audiences across the United States and defied the notion that signing with mainstream distributors was the only option for filmmakers to have the public see their films. Guided by an independent philosophy, Gerima practiced an innovative four-walling strategy in distribution whose success remains unprecedented in African American film history.
Haile Gerima is an independent filmmaker of distinction who has served as a distinguished professor of film at Howard University in Washington, DC since 1975. Born in Ethiopia, Haile is perhaps best known as the writer, producer, and director of the acclaimed 1993 film Sankofa.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Filmmakers Series is presented with support from the J.M. McDonald Foundation.