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And I plan to attend some of these screenings… so maybe I'll see ya there.

Oh yeah, did I mention the showcase is FREE?

The 2012 installment of the Women of African Descent Film Festival is right around the corner – a one-day film festival that takes place tomorrow, May 5, right here in Brooklyn, NY.

Included in the lineup are Little Brother by S&A contributor Jasmin Tiggett and Nicole Franklin, Ja'tovia Gary's Deconstructing Your Mother, Rachel Johnson's White Sugar In A Black Pot, Hemamset Angaza's In Our Heads About Our Hair, Femi Agbayewa's Brooklyn Shakara and many more gems. 

Some of those films will be familiar to you folks because we've covered them on S&A in the past. And you can now see them… if you haven't already.

The day's full lineup follows below:

10:00 AM Reel Works Teen Filmmaking showcase – 80min

11:20 Q&A with Jackie and filmmakers – 30min

Noon: Reception

12:30-12:45: Remarks, President/Arts Facet Chair

1:00 PM: FIRST SHORTS PROGRAM

Love Me Through It, Writer, Sundi Lofty, Director. Robert Holley, Prod., Emmanuel Baptist Church, 2008, 41 mins.

Love Me Through It follows one woman's journey toward overcoming the limitations of living with HIV/AIDS and the limitless love of God that helps her do it. The film has been used in partnership with the Balm in Gilead, a national HIV/AIDS advocacy organization, to promote dialogue about HIV and AIDS in churches and communities across the nation.  

One People, Director, Al Santana, Producers Laura L. Fowler/Al Santana, 30 mins

Against the backdrop of a gentrified Harlem community, the story centers on two sisters who have opposite views about social responsibility and the role of artists. Aliyah, a self-styled revolutionary filmmaker, is producing a documentary about the 1960′s black power movement. Her sister, Valerie, is a poet whose work centers on themes of sensuality and love. They challenge each other on the purity of art and the need for art to inspire social change. Together, they discover a politicized Lorraine Hansberry.

Q & A: First Shorts Program, 2:25 – 2:45 PM

3:00 PM: SECOND SHORTS PROGRAM

Little Brother: Things Fall Apart, Directors/Producers, Nicole Franklin/Jasmin Tiggett, 18 mins.

Set in Camden, New Jersey, well-known as one of the nation’s most dangerous cities, the film takes a look at boys growing up amongst extreme violence, poverty and crime, and explores their feelings on love and relationships set against impossible odds. This is the filmmakers’ first installment in the groundbreaking Little Brother documentary series.

Taharuki (Suspense), Director, Ekwa Msangi-Omari, 14 mins.

Set against the backdrop of the start of the devastating post-election violence that took place in Kenya  in 2007/2008 and has left tens of thousands of Kenyans homeless, traumatized or dead, Taharuki (Suspense) is the fictional account of a man and woman from opposing ethnic tribes who’re working for an underground liberation movement to expose a child-trafficking cartel when something goes wrong, and they’re forced to make tough choices in order to stay alive and complete their mission. Time is running out, lives are at stake, and every second counts. What they choose could change the course of history.

White Sugar in a Black Pot, Director, Rachel L. Johnson, Producers, Rachel L. Johnson/Amanda Ross,18 mins.  

 White Sugar in a Black Pot is a family drama that showcases a diligent mother who is forced to make a tough decision that will affect not only her future but also her family. The film expresses her struggle to come to terms with her reality and emphasizes the love and strength that holds her family together. 

Brooklyn Shakara, Director, Femi Agbayew, 21 mins.

Brooklyn Shakara takes a lighthearted look at what it means to marry well. Emeka Nwandu (played by HBO The Wire's Gbenga Akinnagbe ) thinks he has his "American Dream" all figured out. He is in line for a promotion and his girlfriend, Jumoke, has agreed to marry him. Everything is going perfect until Jumoke's father refuses to let her marry outside their tribe and Emeka's boss puts a zany condition on the new promotion. A condition that will jeopardize the whole wedding if it does ever happen. As if these pressures weren't enough, Emeka also has a big secret he’s been keeping from his bride to be.

Q & A: Second Shorts Program, 4:15-4:30 PM

 

4:45 PM: SHORT & FEATURE FILM  PROGRAM

Deconstructing Your Mother, Director, Ja’tovia Gary, 15 mins.

Your mother is the first person you meet. For the majority of your life she is the primary nurturer. As a child we hold our mothers in high regard. Often elevating them to icon status, as they are generally the most important person in our lives. My mother was always a central figure in my life. I saw her as a strong, almost superhuman figure that raised my brother and I after her marriage to my father ended when I was still a toddler. This film is about unraveling these childlike perceptions of our parents and seeing them as actualized human beings in order to better see ourselves.

In Our Heads About Our Hair, Director, Hemamset Angaza, 80 mins.

In Our Heads About Our Hair is a doc that looks at “Black women’s issues” regarding hair and self-esteem, and advocates for the acceptance of all hairstyle choices.

Q & A: Short Program & Feature Film, 6:20 – 6:35 PM