New Details about The East Bay Hip Hop Film Fest Now Posted!:
Monday July 14-Thursday July 17 at the Black Box Theater
1928 Telegraph Avenue @ 19th St,
Oakland CA
Tel. 510.451.1932
Opening Night Monday 7/14
6 p.m Straight Outta Hunters Point
Director: Kevin Epps
Kevin Epps directed this acclaimed stark and revealing portrait of the volatile and neglected ghetto 'hood perched on the edge of SF. This film recently won best documentary at the 2003 Pan African Film Fest held in Denver in May.
7 :45 p.m Annie B. Real (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Lisa France
A remarkable and well done hip-hop flavored film about a young girl who wants to be a rapper and is inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank. Presented in association with The San Francisco Black Film Fest where this film garnered rave reviews last month.
9:15 p.m Resistencia: Hip Hop In Colombia (Oaktown Premiere)
director: Tom Feiling
A rare look at the Hip Hop street subculture in Cali, Medillin, Bogota and the port city of Buenaventura in Colombia. It's an intimate insight into youth living amidst military conflict, cultural crisis & the global Cocaine trade in the barrios of a very volatile country. Caught between the "left wing" guerrilas and "right wing" paramilitaries, the kids use Hip Hop as a route of expression to avoid the brutal civil war and violence ... This film listens to their points of view on the realities, compromises and sacrifices they've had to make to survive, and bears witness to how Hip Hop culture lives far from the "bling bling" of the U.S music industry. Features: Asilo 38, Poetas de la Oscuridad, Atomic Rockers Crew, Cescru Enlace, Stormbob 75, DJ Fresh and more.
Day Two : Tues 7 / 15
6 p.m The World Famous
Director: Don H. Williams II
The careers of Sway & Tech, two Bay Area DJ's that rose to media prominence are explored in this documentary. See their unique role within the Hip Hop industry breaking new artists and revolutionizing the radio with their freestyle heavy Wake Up Show.
6 p.m Sydewayz
Director : Yazaboi
Spawned on the streets of the east bay, this controversial pasttime known as Sideshows is covered in this gritty streetwise flick.
Community dialogue & panel follows.
9:15 Something To Say-Beats By The Bay (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Bobby Mardis
A provocative documentary that takes you on a journey through America's largest flourishing independent rap scene. Featuring top selling recording artists MC Hammer E-40 and Too Short along with 100 other Bay Area rap artists. Witness how the artists rise above adversity to successfully distribute their music and set the trends of the future.
Filmmaker in attendance.
Wed July 16th
6 p.m Youth Multimedia Program
See amazingly well done & unique contributions from youth media makers from East Oakland, Hunters Point , Berkeley and more...
7 :45 Cubamor (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Joshua Bee Alafia
A spellbinding romantic rollercoaster ride coming to you via the Cuban Hip Hop underground. The colorful cast creates an atmosphere filled with music and love in the streets of Havana. From crazy Cuban freestyles to Yoruban spirituality, this flick takes it's viewers on a flight of fancy with feast of food for thought.
9:30 "Life Is..." (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Renee Moncada-McElroy
With over twenty years of success and millions of discs sold, bawdy Oaktown underground hero Todd Shaw,
a.k.a Too Short, has laid down the blueprint for longevity in a business known for its revolving doors. Exclusive interviews with fans, friends and professional playas like Chuck D, Sway, E-40, Danyel Smith, Money B, Davey D and more tell all, from his independent days of trunk hustlin' in the streets of Oakland to chart sucess. Viewers see firsthand how Too Short's fame in the game has evolved.
Filmmaker in attendance.
Closing Night of Hip Hop Film Fest @ Black Box - July 17
6 p.m Battlesounds (Oaktown Premiere)
director: John Carluccio
Shot over a period of three years, ending in 1997, the project debuted at the Whitney Museum in New York, and captured the grass root movement efforts of Turntablism. Director Carluccio was later brought in as a consultant to the producers of the big budget flick Scratch, this quality in depth flick is the homemade predecessor that delves deep into the turntablist scene. Many top name DJ's appear and share technique and history including Afrika Bambattaa, Invisible Scratch Piklz, Roc Raider, Kid Capri and many more.
-----------------------------------------------------
7:30 Award Winning Hip Hop Shorts Program ( 90 min +)
The B-Boy Connection dir: Beto Lopez (10 min)*
A short of amazing dance footage partially shot by the director on rollerblades to capture the fluid moves of his subjects. From the the streets of Philly & SF and beyond, locales range from Brooklyn classrooms to subways & projects, you get connected with the underground B-Boy scene.
"This film is showing b-boying in its purest and rawest form," says K-Won, one of the NYC street legends captured herein "This will help people look at
it as a culture not a trend."
Digitize or Die - Digital Diary of Chuck D dir: Lathan Hodges (22 min)*
Covering 1998 to the present and shot in the U.K, Spain and across the U.S, follow the evolution of Public Enemy's frontman in his latest role as a
digital visionary using technology to get his message out .
Groove Monkee dir: Sam Hood (3 min) * Groove Monkey was the first ever hip-hop webtoon and a top ten download on
the Cartoon Network site awhile back. It's a silly animated DJ romp from a local animator dedicated to battling the studio system to get a cartoon up
on the tube that reflects what's actually going on in these crazy times
we're in.
Take The A Train dir: Amyn Kaderali (16min)
This short, shot on 35 mm Playing hooky on the A-Train leads to unexpected adventures involving the opposite sex.
Crutch dir: Sachi (4 min)*
an amazing film about a guy with arthritis in his hips, who has learned to dance and skate using crutches.
Cycle: dir: Minh Chiu Nguyentran (7 min) *
Order becomes chaos during an adrenaline filled stolen bike chase through
the gritty outer boroughs of NYC.
plus many more if time allows
--------------------------------------------------
Thurs July 17 - 9:15 Straight Outta Hunters Point dir: Kevin Epps
A complex depiction of ghetto community perched on the edge of S.F, the film covers the turf wars between rival gangs, the vital underground hip-hop
scene, the history of how the neighborhood was transformed into a toxic dumping ground, and the everyday life of the community living there. It's a
raw, street-level look at life in the projects as seen by an insider. The result is a dramatic portrait of a community in crisis, but one that has persevered. It doesn't get any more real than this, and the film offers no easy solutions. Winner of numerous awards including most recently, Best Documentary at the 2003 Pan-African Film Festival
-hiphopfilmfest.com
Anyway, I don't work for these fools, but I believe in what they're doing.
Get all your suburban white kids to see it too. It's important that this shit permiates.
Monday July 14-Thursday July 17 at the Black Box Theater
1928 Telegraph Avenue @ 19th St,
Oakland CA
Tel. 510.451.1932
Opening Night Monday 7/14
6 p.m Straight Outta Hunters Point
Director: Kevin Epps
Kevin Epps directed this acclaimed stark and revealing portrait of the volatile and neglected ghetto 'hood perched on the edge of SF. This film recently won best documentary at the 2003 Pan African Film Fest held in Denver in May.
7 :45 p.m Annie B. Real (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Lisa France
A remarkable and well done hip-hop flavored film about a young girl who wants to be a rapper and is inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank. Presented in association with The San Francisco Black Film Fest where this film garnered rave reviews last month.
9:15 p.m Resistencia: Hip Hop In Colombia (Oaktown Premiere)
director: Tom Feiling
A rare look at the Hip Hop street subculture in Cali, Medillin, Bogota and the port city of Buenaventura in Colombia. It's an intimate insight into youth living amidst military conflict, cultural crisis & the global Cocaine trade in the barrios of a very volatile country. Caught between the "left wing" guerrilas and "right wing" paramilitaries, the kids use Hip Hop as a route of expression to avoid the brutal civil war and violence ... This film listens to their points of view on the realities, compromises and sacrifices they've had to make to survive, and bears witness to how Hip Hop culture lives far from the "bling bling" of the U.S music industry. Features: Asilo 38, Poetas de la Oscuridad, Atomic Rockers Crew, Cescru Enlace, Stormbob 75, DJ Fresh and more.
Day Two : Tues 7 / 15
6 p.m The World Famous
Director: Don H. Williams II
The careers of Sway & Tech, two Bay Area DJ's that rose to media prominence are explored in this documentary. See their unique role within the Hip Hop industry breaking new artists and revolutionizing the radio with their freestyle heavy Wake Up Show.
6 p.m Sydewayz
Director : Yazaboi
Spawned on the streets of the east bay, this controversial pasttime known as Sideshows is covered in this gritty streetwise flick.
Community dialogue & panel follows.
9:15 Something To Say-Beats By The Bay (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Bobby Mardis
A provocative documentary that takes you on a journey through America's largest flourishing independent rap scene. Featuring top selling recording artists MC Hammer E-40 and Too Short along with 100 other Bay Area rap artists. Witness how the artists rise above adversity to successfully distribute their music and set the trends of the future.
Filmmaker in attendance.
Wed July 16th
6 p.m Youth Multimedia Program
See amazingly well done & unique contributions from youth media makers from East Oakland, Hunters Point , Berkeley and more...
7 :45 Cubamor (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Joshua Bee Alafia
A spellbinding romantic rollercoaster ride coming to you via the Cuban Hip Hop underground. The colorful cast creates an atmosphere filled with music and love in the streets of Havana. From crazy Cuban freestyles to Yoruban spirituality, this flick takes it's viewers on a flight of fancy with feast of food for thought.
9:30 "Life Is..." (Oaktown Premiere)
Director: Renee Moncada-McElroy
With over twenty years of success and millions of discs sold, bawdy Oaktown underground hero Todd Shaw,
a.k.a Too Short, has laid down the blueprint for longevity in a business known for its revolving doors. Exclusive interviews with fans, friends and professional playas like Chuck D, Sway, E-40, Danyel Smith, Money B, Davey D and more tell all, from his independent days of trunk hustlin' in the streets of Oakland to chart sucess. Viewers see firsthand how Too Short's fame in the game has evolved.
Filmmaker in attendance.
Closing Night of Hip Hop Film Fest @ Black Box - July 17
6 p.m Battlesounds (Oaktown Premiere)
director: John Carluccio
Shot over a period of three years, ending in 1997, the project debuted at the Whitney Museum in New York, and captured the grass root movement efforts of Turntablism. Director Carluccio was later brought in as a consultant to the producers of the big budget flick Scratch, this quality in depth flick is the homemade predecessor that delves deep into the turntablist scene. Many top name DJ's appear and share technique and history including Afrika Bambattaa, Invisible Scratch Piklz, Roc Raider, Kid Capri and many more.
-----------------------------------------------------
7:30 Award Winning Hip Hop Shorts Program ( 90 min +)
The B-Boy Connection dir: Beto Lopez (10 min)*
A short of amazing dance footage partially shot by the director on rollerblades to capture the fluid moves of his subjects. From the the streets of Philly & SF and beyond, locales range from Brooklyn classrooms to subways & projects, you get connected with the underground B-Boy scene.
"This film is showing b-boying in its purest and rawest form," says K-Won, one of the NYC street legends captured herein "This will help people look at
it as a culture not a trend."
Digitize or Die - Digital Diary of Chuck D dir: Lathan Hodges (22 min)*
Covering 1998 to the present and shot in the U.K, Spain and across the U.S, follow the evolution of Public Enemy's frontman in his latest role as a
digital visionary using technology to get his message out .
Groove Monkee dir: Sam Hood (3 min) * Groove Monkey was the first ever hip-hop webtoon and a top ten download on
the Cartoon Network site awhile back. It's a silly animated DJ romp from a local animator dedicated to battling the studio system to get a cartoon up
on the tube that reflects what's actually going on in these crazy times
we're in.
Take The A Train dir: Amyn Kaderali (16min)
This short, shot on 35 mm Playing hooky on the A-Train leads to unexpected adventures involving the opposite sex.
Crutch dir: Sachi (4 min)*
an amazing film about a guy with arthritis in his hips, who has learned to dance and skate using crutches.
Cycle: dir: Minh Chiu Nguyentran (7 min) *
Order becomes chaos during an adrenaline filled stolen bike chase through
the gritty outer boroughs of NYC.
plus many more if time allows
--------------------------------------------------
Thurs July 17 - 9:15 Straight Outta Hunters Point dir: Kevin Epps
A complex depiction of ghetto community perched on the edge of S.F, the film covers the turf wars between rival gangs, the vital underground hip-hop
scene, the history of how the neighborhood was transformed into a toxic dumping ground, and the everyday life of the community living there. It's a
raw, street-level look at life in the projects as seen by an insider. The result is a dramatic portrait of a community in crisis, but one that has persevered. It doesn't get any more real than this, and the film offers no easy solutions. Winner of numerous awards including most recently, Best Documentary at the 2003 Pan-African Film Festival
-hiphopfilmfest.com
Anyway, I don't work for these fools, but I believe in what they're doing.
Get all your suburban white kids to see it too. It's important that this shit permiates.
