In the Spotlight
American Black Film Festival at Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market
September 25 – 27
www.abffpopup.com
In 2015, media strategist and DEI advocate April Reign went viral for her #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, vociferously calling out the conspicuous lack of diversity in the nominee list for the 87th Academy Awards.
When the same thing happened the following year, Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee advocated a boycott of an awards show that they felt wasn’t doing the work required to be fully representative of the abundance of Black talent in the American film industry. Jeff Friday, Warrington Hudlin and Byron E. Lewis had known about this troubling tendency for years. They founded the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) in Acapulco in 1997 in response to the very same absence of recognition of Black talent that Reign, Pinkett Smith and Lee were condemning because, as the festival’s original tagline put it, “Holly wouldn’t”–a pointed reference to Hollywood.
ABFF’s senior manager of event productions and operations Raeshon Morris is part of the team that’s been tasked with bringing the best of the ABFF to DC over three days at Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market at the end of this month. “I’m a little biased because I get to work here every day, but it really is a very communal experience where you get to share your own story and meet other filmmakers and artists. It’s like a big family,” says Morris of the spirit of the festival, now in its 30th year.
The ABFF is held every summer in Miami’s South Beach. Festival goers enjoy a smorgasbord of documentary and feature films, series, panel conversations and visual art from across the US and the African diaspora in addition to comedy showcases, heritage tours, masterclasses and networking events.
Thanks to NICE CROWD’s Jeff and Nicole Friday and local partners like EventsDC and Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market, we’re set to get a taste of the festival right here in Chocolate City.
While smaller in scale than the South Beach festival (which this year saw over 8000 attendees soaking up 94 independent films and attending 66 events), the ABFF pop-up at Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market will still offer up a platter of delectable delicacies guaranteed to tantalize even the most discerning film afficionado’s palate.
ABFF pop-up DC highlights
The Stories We Inherit: A Conversation Inspired by “The Heir”
Saturday, September 26th, 2 p.m.
DC’s own Tia A. Smith’s “The Heir” is an exploration of the decisions that a young woman must make when she returns to her grandmother’s home in a DC neighborhood undergoing transformation. The film won the Screening Committee’s Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. On Saturday, you’ll get the opportunity to participate in a moderated post-screening group discussion with the filmmaker.
2029 HBO® Short Film Showcase
Saturday, September 26th, 8 p.m.
The ABFF’s HBO® Short Film Showcase launched “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler’s career back in 2011. This year’s showcase highlights five short films that embody the best of contemporary Black writing, directing and acting. Highlights include Modupe Thompson’s “The Façade” and Carlton Daniel Jr’s “FLY”.
On Right Now
“The Score”
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Showing September 11 – October 18
www.abffpopup.comhttp://www.abffpopup.com
Brian Cox is arguably best known for his formidable character in HBO’s “Succession.” Cox’s Rupert Murdoch-esque Logan Roy packs a punch on screen, but he’s also an accomplished theater actor who’s graced both Broadway and West End stages for more than sixty years.
While Cox, playing Johann Sebastian Bach, is without doubt the headliner of English actor and playwright Oliver Cotton’s humorously dramatic “The Score” – opening to American audiences for the first time this month at the Shakespeare Theatre Company after a rousing run at Theatre Royal Bath last year – there’s a pantheon of other stage stars that sparkle alongside him.
One of them is Jamie Wilkes, who plays alongside Cox as Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the court musician to the Prussian King Frederick the Great in 1747. “I’d class Brian as one of the acting legends,” Wilkes says. “Johann is very much Carl’s hero. At drama school you see the actors you aspire to be and the work you want to create, and Brian’s always been up there for me.”
Directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, “The Score” follows the late Baroque composer’s journey from his home in Leipzig to the court of King Frederick (played by Stephen Hagan) in the spring of 1747 to visit his son. The narrative is based on an actual encounter; during Bach’s visit, he’s challenged by King Frederick to improvise a complex melodic theme, known today as “The Musical Offering.” It’s also a story about conflict between leaders, between rationalism and romanticism, atheism and religion, art and politics.
Carl Bach was an accomplished musician in his own right, Wilkes says. “Without him, there wouldn’t be a Mozart, a Beethoven. Frederick was obsessed with music and art. His palace at Potsdam was filled with the best musicians and Carl was one of them.” The younger Bach was instrumental in the transition of music from the Baroque to the Classical era in the 18th century. He also popularized the incorporation of the thumb into keyboard playing, now a foundation of modern keyboard technique.
It turns out that, much like Carl Bach, Wilkes is also a talented artistic leader. He co-founded Belt Up Theatre as an 18-year-old drama student, which won the Edinburgh International Festival Award in 2008 at the Edinburgh Fringe. Wilkes then founded his second acting company, The Wet Mariners, while studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Behind the Scenes
Penn Quarter’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has a new artistic director. Reggie D. White took over from Maria Manuela Goyanes in January this year, stepping into an institution that’s had only three artistic directors in its almost 50-year history. White caught up with Hill Rag in between rehearsals for a quick chat (Interview edited for clarity and length).
How are you feeling in your new role?
White: The last seven or eight months has really felt like I’ve been drinking out of a fire hose! There’s never a great time to transition artistic leadership, but I’ve been so moved by the work the institution has done to make me feel welcome.
You’ve stated Steve Yockey’s “Venus” sets the tone for your inaugural season at Woolly Mammoth. What are you most looking forward to when “Venus” opens to audiences on September 9?
White: I’ve been a fan of Steve’s writing since the beginning of my theatrical career. His fisheye lens on universal humanity is what we need at this moment. He’s such an imaginative writer and his writing presents so many access points. Also, Kimberly Gilbert (playing Beth alongside Regina Aquino as Nicole) hasn’t been on Woolly’s stage in almost seven years. She’s back and that’s been a lovely moment to bridge Woolly’s legacy and its future.
How are you hoping your work at Woolly will reframe audience’s perspectives?
White: Humor is a powerful and underutilized tool that helps people shift their paradigms. I love comedy. The conditions under which we’re living, we need to laugh. People can expect to see plays that allow them to observe questions being asked about our humanity. Audiences can expect to be charmed but also challenged.
How will you shake things up in your new role?
White: More new work for sure, and a deep investment in DC’s arts ecosystem. The talent in DC is unmatched, and I want audiences to see that talent up front and center. More new writers, more ideas and new voices with new things to say.
