2015 Underexposed Film Festival yc MiniFest Program

MINI-FEST Friday | February 20, 2015 | 7 PM - 9 PM

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE CENTER 249 East Main Street | Rock Hill, SC 29730

PHONE (803) 328-2787 UNDEREXPOSEDFILMFESTIVALYC.ORG

WELCOME TO THE UNDEREXPOSED FILM FESTIVAL MINI-FEST CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH On February 8th, 1915 D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation premiered in Los Angeles. The film chronicled both the Civil War and Reconstruction period in the Deep South. The film was an overnight sensation and lauded for its innovative achievement in filmmaking. In March of that year, it would become the first film ever screened at the White House. Hailed by then President Woodrow Wilson, he likened it to “writing history with lightning.” Considered an instant masterpiece the film depicted black people during the Reconstruction era as heathens, uncivilized, shiftless, unworthy of freedom and as predators towards white women. Despite Griffith’s insistence that the film was fiction, the majority of the movie going public took it as fact. Birth of a Nation is remembered for its cinematic achievements but is also a prime example of the power film has to influence a nation.

Protests by the NAACP about the film’s racist content yielded little result. It was realized that if a film could taint the public’s perception of black Americans, then film would be the best way to debunk these stereotypes. A generation of filmmakers emerged making films depicting blacks in respectful stable professions with secure family relationships which validated black American’s self worth. Oscar Micheaux, one of the most prolific black filmmakers of his time produced and directed over 40 films tackling lynching, passing as white, criminality and religion.

Filmmakers like Micheaux imagined a better world, a better society for black Americans and thru the power of film gave hope to black America.

Tonight, 100 years later, we gather to reap the benefits of the legacy these filmmakers have left us. We will observe and acknowledge moments from a painful past as well as celebrate where we are now. From a female slave being abused, to heroes of the Civil Rights movement, to young black women taking control of their future, we welcome the opportunity to view the talents of this new generation of filmmakers and expose ourselves to the influence that their storytelling will have on us.

- Karen Collins, UFFyc Festival Director

2014 SCFEA Festival Director of the Year

TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from Director..................2 Festival Credits............................3 Screening Schedule.....................4 Films (alphabetical order).........5 Panelist Bios................................11 2

The UFFyc Mini-Fest is brought to you by:

The UFFyc Mini-Fest is brought to you by the following: Arts Council of York County Karen Collins

Producer Festival Director

Debra Heintz Mary Lynn Norton

Executive Director Artistic Director/ CPC Facilities Manager Marketing Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator Graphics Gallery Manager Assistant to the Artistic Director

Melanie Cooper Dorie Lancaster Kristine Tucker Michael Gentry Erica Welzenbach Carolina Fresh Farms Cheesecake Carousel

Festival Sponsors

Support for this project is provided by the SC Arts Commission (which receives funding from the NEA), Rock Hill Accommodations Tax Grant Fund, York County Hospitality & Accommodations Tax & the ACYC Annual Campaign. For visitors information including lodging, contact the York County Visitors Center at 888-702-1320.

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MINI-FEST SCREENING SCHEDULE TITLE RUNTIME RATING CATEGORY PAGE Tobacco Burn

0:17:31

R

Narrative

10

Eyes on the Stars

0:03:17

G

Animation

8

Black Girls Code

0:15:00

G

Documentary

5

The Collegians

0:17:36

G

Narrative

6

INTERMISSION TITLE RUNTIME RATING CATEGORY PAGE Letters From Home

0:10:00

PG

Narrative

9

Friendship 9

0:30:00

G

Documentary

7

PANEL DISCUSSION Immediately following the films, Fr3deR1cK Taylor, 2013 UFFyc In the Limelight winner and director of Friendship 9, moderates a panel discussion focusing on the Black Experience within the world of filmmaking.

Panelists include filmmakers Tim Greene, Karen Keyes & Keva Keyes.

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BLACK GIRLS CODE DOCUMENTARY | 2012 | 15 min. | G

Country

Director Producer

Editor

Cast

USA Shanice Malakai Johnson Janet Robinson Shanice Malakai Johnson Kimberly Bryant, Carol Fife, Kerrie Holley,Yolanda Rankin

[Festival de Cannes – Short Film Corner | Langston Hughes African American Film Festival | San Francisco Black Film Festival | NY Chelsea Film Festival | Miami Sci Fi Film Festival | GE Focus Forward Semi-Finalist]

Black Girls Code will change the world. By introducing young girls of color into the fields of science and technology, they are bridging the digital divide.These girls are the innovators of tomorrow. They can invent, build and create. They can move a nation. They can change the world.

By highlighting the various BGC workshops and the social issues related to being a minority within the technological field, this short documentary is meant to inspire and educate.

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THE COLLEGIANS NARRATIVE | 2011 | 17 min. 36 sec. | G

Country USA Director/Writer Brian B.A. Lewis Producers Adam Jordan Isaacs,

Brian B.A. Lewis (co-producer) Editor Aaron Nix Cast Alexandria Collins, Stefond Johnson, Roderick Randle, Art Wallace [American Black Film Festival | Newport Beach Film Festival | Palm Beach International Film Festival | Cannes International Film Festival: The American Pavilion | Big Bear Lake Film Festival | San Francisco Black Film Festival | Brouhaha Film Festival | Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival | Sidewalk Moving Picture Film Festival | Urban World Film Festival | College Televison Awards – Blue Ribbon Finalist]

A swinging drama based on the story of trumpet legend, Erskine Hawkins during his college days during the Depression. As a young trumpet sensation with a big ego, he learns the hard way what it means to be a member of the ‘Bama State College band, The Collegians.

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FRIENDSHIP 9 DOCUMENTARY | 2015 | 30 min. | G

Country

Director Producers

Cast

USA Fr3deR1ck Taylor Ellen Barnard, Stacy Mahoney (associate producer), Kristin Raimondi (associate producer) Clarence Graham, W.T. “Dub” Massey, Willie McCleod, James Wells, Brother David Boone, Mayor Doug Echols, Kimberly P. Johnson [Festival Premiere]

Rock Hill, SC - On January 31, 1961, ten students from Friendship College requested service at the McCrory’s Five-and-Dime lunch counter. They were arrested and taken to jail. All but one refused to pay the $100 bail. The nine remaining men remained in jail for a month, refusing to pay the city for bail on sentences they believed unjust. They completed their mandated hard labor at York County Prison Farm. This “Jail, No Bail” tactic, piloted by the Friendship Nine, spread rapidly to other protests in the movement who refused to continue funding city governments that oppressed black citizens.

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EYES ON THE STARS ANIMATION | 2012 | 3 min. 17 sec. | G

Country USA Director The Rauch Brothers Producers Lizzie Jacobs, Mike Rauch Animator Tim Rauch Cast Carl McNair [Langston Hughes Film Festival | 2012 Chicago International Children’s Festival (1st Place prize for Animated Documentary Short | 2013 Annie Award Nomination for Best Animated Short Subject | Montreal International Black Film Festival | DC Shorts Film Festival | Reel Shorts Film Festival]

Carl McNair tells the story of his brother, Ronald, an African American kid in the 1950s who set his sights on the stars. On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams growing up in Lake City, South Carolina.

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LETTERS FROM HOME NARRATIVE | 2009 | 10 min. | PG

Country

Director Producer

Cast

USA Keva Keyes Karen Keyes Wyatt Belton, Bryce Hayes, Mark Hergott, Anthony Paderewski, Aaron Rosendary, Jamie Smithson

[18th Pan-African Film Festival | Charleston Film Festival | Lowcountry Indie Shorts 4 | G. I. Film Festival]

Letters from Home is a 35mm short that introduces a team of U.S. Army soldiers deployed to remote base in Afghanistan. Prior to a mission, the always-anticipated mail call occurs. It’s through this encounter we get to know team members and witness the effects the letters have on them.

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TOBACCO BURN NARRATIVE | 2014 | 17 min. 31 sec. | R

Country USA Director Justin Lieberman Producers Alvaro R.Valente, Nicole Delaney (co-producer),

Julien du Plessis (associate producer) Writers Justin Lieberman, Ajani Josef Jackson Cast Stephen Tyrone Williams, Jaralyn Jay,

Julien Rozzell, Jr., Law Crimlis, Timothy Roselle [Columbia University Film Festival | Mt. Hood Independent Film Festival | Aesthetica Short Film Festival | Boston Film Festival | Urbanworld Film Festival | Montreal World Fest | Sidewalk Film Festival | Woods Hole Film Festival | Cleveland International Film Festival | Ischia Film Festival | Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival | Seattle Shorts Film Festival | Southern Screen Film Festival]

Based on an oral history from the W.P.A. Writers, Tobacco Burn is set thirty-five years before the Civil War, at the height of American slavery. When two of the enslaved weigh the complexities of killing their brutal overseer, each develops a different understanding towards violence – which could cost all of them their lives should they take action.

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Fr3deR1cK Taylor PANEL DISCUSSION MODERATOR

DIRECTOR | PRODUCER FILMOGRAPHY - [After the Fall: HIV Grows Up | Boxing Chicks | Friendship 9] Fr3deR1cK is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who graduated from Temple University’s documentary film program and has a M.A. from Georgia State University in Communications. His projects span the globe from the U.S. to Zambia, Romania, and Mumbai, tackling subjects such as the pediatric AIDS epidemic in Romania, a redeemed Gangster in Watts, and now the world of women’s boxing in his latest film Boxing Chicks.

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TIM GREENE MINI-FEST DISCUSSION PANELIST

WRITER | DIRECTOR | PRODUCER FILMOGRAPHY - [Film: Creepin | The Turn Up Squad | Ya Grandma’s A Gangsta (Parody rap music video) | LiL Homeez | LiL Homeez 2 (Summer Vacation) | LiL Homeez 3 (Back 2 School) || Television: Dance City From Hollywood | Rap Tracks | Rap City | And The Carolina Countdown] Film director Tim Greene managed the career of 73 year old Rappin Granny of South Central Los Angeles as well as booked her on almost every news & talk TV show in the US. Tim has also booked Granny on Television shows in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and London England. Tim discovered and signed Rappin Granny during his community appearances as a popular Los Angeles radio personality. You may have seen Rappin Granny on America’s Got Talent (Over 40 million votes!), The Steve Harvey Show, The Arsenio Hall Show, Every Body Hates Chris, Montel, Regis, Good Day LA, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, America’s Talking, E! TV, 3 seasons of the kid’s TV show Big Bad Beatleborgs on The Fox Network, Don’t Be A Menace and tons of other films and TV commercials worldwide.

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KAREN KEYES MINI-FEST DISCUSSION PANELIST

PRODUCER FILMOGRAPHY - [The Patriot | Cold Mountain | Radio | The Notebook | The Water is Wide | The Strangers | Dear John | CBGB | Veep | Letters from Home | Yet Another Raid | The Legacy: From Gary Graham to Shaka Sankofa | The Angel Isaac Perez Documentary] Karen Keyes was introduced to the film industry while attending Charleston Southern University. After graduation she was hired on a Disney movie of the week and has not looked back since. She has worked on catalog shoots, commercials, music videos, documentaries, movies of the week, TV series and feature films in positions ranging from Office PA to Costume Designer. This experience has made her well-rounded and respectful of production functions.

Throughout her career, Karen has primarily worked in the Costume Department.

Projects Keyes has worked on include The Patriot, Cold Mountain, Radio, The Notebook, The Water is Wide, The Strangers, Dear John, CBGB and HBO’s hit comedy series Veep.

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KEVA KEYES MINI-FEST DISCUSSION PANELIST

WRITER | DIRECTOR | PRODUCER FILMOGRAPHY - [Letters from Home | The Patriot | Cold Mountain | Radio | The Notebook | John Adams | Dear John | The Hunger Games | Lincoln | The Hunt for the Golden Cobra | Elliot] Keva Keyes is a filmmaker from South Carolina, who in 2009 wrote, directed and executive produced the well received 35mm short LETTERS FROM HOME. While attending Charleston Southern University Keva was introduced to the film industry. She has since worked primarily in the Costume Department of projects such as The Patriot, Cold Mountain, Radio, The Notebook, HBO’s award winning series John Adams, Dear John, The Hunger Games and she was a member of the Academy nominated Costume Department for Lincoln.

Keva’s short screenplay, The Hunt for the Golden Cobra, was a Finalist in 2010 at the 15th Annual International Family Film Festival and her feature screenplay, Elliot was honored as a Semi-Finalist at the same festival.

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NOR T CAR H OLI NA B A o r RO c c QU en ha h e se m b st E r

BRAVO! Series Baroque Orchestra

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SUNDAY | MARCH 8, 2015 | 4:00 PM 2015 UFFyc ADVANCE: $20 MEMBERS | $25 GENERAL PUBLIC | $30 AT THE DOOR

COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE CENTER 249 East Main Street | Rock Hill, SC 29730

NOVEMBER 5 - 7, 2015 ROCK HILL SOUTH CAROLINA

CALL FOR FILMMAKERS Accepting submissions through Friday, July 17, 2015 For official guidelines and entry forms visit the UFFyc website

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THANK YOU!