Miami to host African American Film Festival

March 6, 2009

All three campuses of Miami University will host an African American Film Festival March 17-20.

The free event includes screenings of four films, Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans; Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North; Revolution ’67, and Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican? A Cape Verdean American Story.

Producers, directors, writers and cinematographers associated with the featured films will lead discussion of their work. They are Lolis Eric Elie, Juanita Brown, Marylou Tibaldo-Bonngiorno, Jerome Bongiorno and Dr. Claire Andrade-Watkins.

Elie, writer and co-producer of Faubourg Tremé, is a national award-winning metro columnist, author and recognized expert on New Orleans food and culture. Juanita Brown, co-producer of Traces of the Trade, co-designed that movie’s transatlantic journey and also served as a facilitator during some of the family discussions shown. Bongiorno and Tibaldo-Bongiorno are Emmy-nominated, award-winning husband-and-wife filmmakers. She produced and directed Revolution ’67. Andrade-Watkins is a historian, filmmaker and second-generation American of Cape Verdean descent.

"The films are entertaining with strong educational, cultural, and political value,” said Dr. Babacar Camara, Miami University faculty member and festival convener. “They aim at fostering a greater appreciation of African American culture and the spirit of social change we are witnessing.”

The festival will begin in Middletown with a news conference at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17. The program on Wednesday, March 18 will begin with lunch at noon, followed by screenings and discussion of Revolution ’67 at 1:30 p.m., Traces of the Trade at 3:45 p.m., and Faubourg Tremé at 6:30 p.m. All of Wednesday’s events will be held in Room 142 of Johnston Hall’s Campus & Community Center at Miami Middletown.

The festival moves to the Hamilton campus on March 19 and includes a roundtable discussion with the filmmakers at 10 a.m. in 408 Mosler Hall, screenings of Traces of the Trade at 11:30 a.m., and Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican at 2 p.m. in 200 Wilks Hall. The last two screenings, Faubourg Tremé at 4:10 p.m., and Revolution ’67 at 5:30 p.m., will be held at Miami Hamilton Downtown, 221 High St.

The festival will be in 102 Benton Hall in Oxford on March 20, beginning with a meet-and-greet at 9 a.m. Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican will be screened at 10 a.m., with a 1 p.m. roundtable discussion with the filmmakers and screenings of Revolution ’67 at 2 p.m., Traces of the Trade at 4:45 p.m., and Faubourg Tremé at 6:45 p.m.

For more information contact Dr. Babacar Camara, (513) 727-3358, camarab@muohio.edu.