"Pan African Film & Arts Festival"
2000-02-10 until 2000-02-21
PAFF
Los Angeles, CA, USA United States of America

The 8th Pan African Film & Art Festival (PAFF) will light the way for the new millenium with the first Black film festival for the Y2K. Scheduled for Thursday, February 10 through Monday, February 21, 2000 the festivities once again take place at the Magic Johnson Theatres and the adjacent Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza located at 3650 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Los Angeles. This is an amazing exhibition of films created by Black film artists and an exhibition of over 80 of the top Black visual artists in the United States. Multi-dimensional film and screen actress, CCH Pounder (End of Days, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and NBC-TVs ER) will serve as this years celebrity spokesperson. In addition, Artisan Entertainments Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, starring Forest Whitaker and directed by Jim Jarmusch, and Warner Bros. International Orfeu set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival and directed by one of Brazils top directors, Carlos Diegues. will be specially presented during the Opening Night Gala. The New Line Cinema release, Love and Basketball, starring Omar Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Alfre Woodard, and Debbi Morgan, is the Closing Night Film feature.

Artist Keith Williams, whose work was chosen as part of the Levi-Strauss Y2K advertising campaign, is the featured artist for the Festival. Varnette Honeywood, Nathaniel Bustion, Olu Jimi Adeniyi, Aziz Diagne, Marvin Sin, and Karen Roach are just a sampling of the additional artists that will also attend.

As PAFFs executive director, Ayuko Babu asserts, The Pan African Film Festival is honored to spearhead the new millenium with the screening of over 75 films representing the wealth and beauty of Black culture here and abroad. Over 100 fine artists and craftspeople will display their talents, along with a vast selection of panels, forums and workshops. There will be poetry, performance art and fashion as we light the way for the next 1000 years!

Additional festival highlights include the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran actress Beah Richards, along with the presentation of awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Jury Award and Audience Favorite. A Saturday Morning Childrens Festival for kids aged 4 through 12, and a StudentFest hosting over 4000 Los Angeles area students, is also planned, featuring Sirga from Cote dIvoire/Mali/Zimbabwe/ and France and Saikati: the Enkabaani from Kenya.

Important films include, Third World Cop, a cops and robbers Jamaica-style drama, accompanied by a high tech, high-energy soundtrack hailing direct from Jamaica. Island magic continues with the premiere of Babymother from the United Kingdom, while the comedy Chikin Biznis: The Whole Story heralds from South Africa. Other African selections include Buud Yam, winner of the 1997 Best African Picture Award at FESPACO, Comedia Infantil from Mozambique, The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun, the last film by the late Djbril Mambety Diop, from Senegal, the Egyptian masterpiece, Destiny by Youssef Chahine and the West African classic, Mortu Nega directed by Flora Gomes of Guinea Bissau. Kirikou and the Sorceress , a feature length animation, will delight young and old alike.

Statewide features include Courtney B. Vance, Regina King, Ed Asner and Kathleen Turner starring in Love and Action in Chicago, The Arrangement by newcomer H.H. Cooper, Ritual by Stanley Bennett Clay and Compensation by Zeinabu irene Davis.

The Rev. DoWrong Aint Right, Cold Feet, and Retiring Tatiana cover the elements of comedy and romance. Offering something for everyone, hip hoppers will appreciate Bounce by Adam Watstein, Eazy-Duz-It: The Impact of a Legend Straight Outta Compton by Matthew McDaniel and Nobody Knows My Name by Rachel Raimist.

Others films to note are Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist narrated by Morgan Freeman and Unbowed a turn of the century love story between a young Black woman and an Indian Brave, directed by Nanci Rossov.

The Pan African Film & Art Festival is proud to be partnered with a new media technology company, Streamcasters, Inc. to create the first live webcast from the event. To access the live webcasts visit our website at www.PAFF.org

The Pan African Film & Art Festival is the largest festival in the United States dedicated to the exhibition of Black films. The festivities are sponsored by AT&T, The Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, Target Stores, Blockbuster Entertainment, Pacific Bell, the Magic Johnson Theatres, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Washington Mutual, KABC-Channel 7, The Walt Disney Company, BET Movies, Bank of America, Crown Royal, The Hansen Beverage Company, Images Magazine, Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and The Los Angeles Times.

Tickets for regular screenings are $4.95 (matinees, seniors and children) and $7.75 (adults). Opening Night Gala tickets are $40.00 which includes the screening, and after party. Forums, Saturday Children Festivals, and Art Exhibits are free. Festival attendees can enjoy special room rates at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel by calling toll free (877) 216-1504. Fundraisers and group sales are available. For more information and festival itinerary call (213) 896-8221 or (323) 295-1706, or e-mail at lapaff@aol.com.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of California

Other Important Exhibitions in Los Angeles