Pan African Film Festival Rocks

Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) Andrea Rademan You woke? Then don’t miss the 26th Annual Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), the largest black film festival in the world with dynamic global impact. Catch it from now till February 18 at the Cinemark Rave 15 Theatres/Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza (3650 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd) in Los Angeles, California. There’s ample free parking and some paid valet parking. What you’ll find: Movies and more, including ArtFest; SpokenWord Fest (the Hottest, Hippest Spoken Word Artists ANYWHERE!); STUDENTFEST (screenings for students); SENIOR CONNECTIONS (screenings for seniors); SATURDAY MORNING CHILDREN’S FESTIVALS (for children 4-12 years); and PAFF FASHION SHOW (Sun, Feb18@ 2pm-4pm). Don’t miss Comedy Night (Feb 15@8pm) with some of Americas Funniest Young Comedians at The J Spot (5581 W. Manchester Ave. Los Angeles (310) 337-9057) and the Filmmakers’ Awards Brunch (Mon, Feb19@10am-12pm) in the PAFF Party Tent (2d Level BHC Parking Structure). A few highlights: Behind the Movement. A retelling of how Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Stars Meta Golding, Roger Guenveur Smith & Isaiah Washington; Brooks People. An exploration of the life, legacy and impact of Gwendolyn Brooks, the first Black person to win a Pulitzer Prize. Features Cornell West, Nikki Giovanni, Haki Madhubuti; From State Prisoner To State Professor (US) The inspirational story of Najjar Abdul-Musawwir who, after 20 years of incarceration, goes to college and becomes a well-respected professor at a prestigious university; Malcolm X: An Overwhelming Influence on the Black Power Movement. Malcolm’s early life and his legacy in the struggles for freedom, justice and equality. Aside from many foreign films, including several nominated for Oscars, South Africa’s film industry is well represented with The Wound (Inxeba) Xolani, a lonely factory worker of the Eastern Cape helps initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood; Call Me Thief (Noem My Skollie); Based on the true story of a young inmate who uses storytelling to barter with the prison gangs; Catching Feelings. A jaded academic and his beautiful journalist wife have their lives turned upside down; Kalushi, A true story of a 19-year-old street vendor who is brutally beaten by police, then joins the liberation movement after the 1976 Soweto uprisings and becomes a hero; Krotoa. In 1652, a feisty Khoi girl is sent to live in the fort of her uncle’s Dutch trading partner and becomes a woman of influence. On CLOSING NIGHT, Sunday, February 18, the film is The Forgiven (South Africa, UK) Directed by Roland Joffé. Starring Forest Whitaker and Eric Bana. When Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Whitaker) is appointed to head a nationwide investigation, he’s summoned to a maximum-security prison by a notorious murderer seeking clemency (Bana). Inside the brutal prison walls, Tutu is drawn into a dangerous, life-changing battle with the cunning criminal. Complete festival schedule: https://www.paff.org/pdfs/2018/ Screening_Schedule-2018-2.pdf