The 29th Black Harvest Film Festival is ending in 2 days. The festival will close out on Thursday night with two sold-out screenings of MAXINE’S BABY: THE TYLER PERRY STORY.
In its 29th year, the festival is Chicago’s annual showcase for films that celebrate, explore and share the Black, African American and African Diaspora experience. The Festival curates both short and feature length films, proudly presenting influential auteurs and emerging filmmakers of color side by side.
Here is the schedule for the remaining two days:
Wednesday, November 15:
6:00 p.m. MAX ROACH: THE DRUM ALSO WALTZES
From the shadows of Jim Crow to the crescendo of the Civil Rights movement, the birth of jazz to the expanses of Hip Hop and beyond, American jazz drummer, composer, and bebop pioneer Max Roach’s life and legacy live on with a resounding and enduring rhythm. Featuring a vanguard of Black legends and luminaries including Roach himself, Abbey Lincoln, Questlove, Quincy Jones, Harry Belafonte, Sonny Rollins, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Abdullah Ibrahim, Randy Weston, and more, this documentary is a testament to musical atonement the midst of cultural evolution and social change. Directors Ben Shapiro and Sam Pollard scheduled to attend via virtual Q&A.
6:00 p.m. Shorts: EXPERIMENTS IN BLACK EXPERIENCE
This collection of experimental shorts takes an immersive journey through radical imaginings and new frontiers. Namir Mustafa Fearce’s I’M BUILDING ME A HOME (4 min.) offers a unique glimpse into the morning routine of Fearce’s two sisters and grandmother before church, blending sound from a negro spiritual with a ballroom track to juxtapose church and ballroom as spaces exalting the Black ecstatic experience. Ja’Tovia M. Gary’s QUIET AS IT’S KEPT (26 min.) presents an introspective exploration of identity and silence in contemporary America. With GHETTO BIRDS IN US…LET THE SKY TOUCH MY SOUL (5 min.), director Lamar Robillard, soars through the black—without restraint. Leah Solomon’s JIGNA (20 min.) is an experimental homage inspired by Monique Wittig’s novel Les Guérillères. In TETHER (16 min.), director kelechi agwuncha pays tribute to childhood memories through a Nigerian masquerade. Asari Precious Aibangbee’s OMWAN’EKHUI [person of Dark Skin] (15 min.) is an experimental documentary highlighting the multifaceted talents and experiences of dDark- sSkinned Black folks. And Joseph Douglas Elmhirst’s BURNT MILK (10 min.) centers around Una, a young Jamaican woman in the UK, as she reflects on her cultural heritage while she makes a traditional dish. Select filmmakers scheduled to attend.
8:15 p.m. HOMESHOPPERS’ PARADISE
November 8 & 15 | In the heart of the trailer park, Lisa, a Black punk, fights to protect her community from corporate vultures. Her overnight transformation to a home-shopping channel television host thrusts her into a fateful reunion with her estranged father, who shares her precarious on-screen stage. Their fiery partnership illuminates the exploitation of corporate interests, a revelation that piques suspicion from the network’s manager. As the truth unfurls, Lisa and her rebel comrades unearth the enigma of her double consciousness, forging a collective fight to protect all they hold dear. Director Nancy Mac Granaky-Quaye scheduled to attend November 8.
8:30 p.m. Shorts: PHENOMENAL WOMEN + Q&A
November 9 & 15 | In this captivating selection of films, we feel through the complex waters of queerness, love, and desire. Searit Kahsay Huluf’s BUNA (18 min.) explores an infatuated chef’s descent into sapphic obsession. In Ashley Versher’s BRIEF EXCHANGES (12 min.), Tanya experiences a daylong affair filled with flirtatious banter in the heart of NYC. In Nana Fobi Duffuor’s CONFIRMATION (12 min.), a God-fearing mother confronts her feelings about her son’s queerness. The complexities of a young couple’s summer love are explored in Ryan G. Cameron’s FORKS IN THE ROAD (15 min.). Tajana B Williams offers a cosmic love story with SALONE LOVE (5 min.), while Taylor Dominique Mason’s GRIST (18 min.) explores the healing journey of a genderqueer musician within an underground community. Content consideration: this program contains themes of abuse. Select filmmakers scheduled to attend. Tickets to any screening on November 9 include a 5:00PM Female Filmmakers Happy Hour with complimentary drinks and light bites, hosted by Chaz Ebert.
Thursday, November 16:
6:00 p.m. Closing Night: MAXINE’S BABY: THE TYLER PERRY STORY + Q&A and Reception (Sold Out)
6:30 p.m. Encore Screening: MAXINE’S BABY: THE TYLER PERRY STORY + Reception (Q&A not included–Sold Out)
Directors Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz scheduled to attend. Followed by a Closing Night reception. Sold Out.
Encore Screening added for Thursday, November 16, 6:30 p.m. Note that the encore screening will NOT include the director Q&A but will include access to the Closing Night reception. (Sold Out)
Thursday, November 16, 6:00 p.m. | Writer, actor, filmmaker, studio head, and media titan, Tyler Perry is America’s consummate multihyphenate. But underneath this entertainment behemoth is a man working humbly to heal his childhood trauma by transforming his pain into promise. MAXINE’S BABY: THE TYLER PERRY STORY, a nod to his mother’s love, is a tender and intimate portrait of visionary and innovator Tyler Perry–his harrowing but faithful road to the top of an industry that didn’t always include him. With unfettered access, directors/filmmakers Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz lead us into the inner-world of a man whose story has never fully been told, as he becomes a father and a media mogul with a mission to pave his own road to the top. The product is a profound lesson on remembering where you came from to know where you want to go. (Amazon) Directors Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz scheduled to attend. Followed by a Closing Night reception. Sold Out
Encore Screening added for Thursday, November 16, 6:30 p.m. Note that the encore screening will NOT include the director Q&A but will include access to the Closing Night reception. Sold Out.
Black Harvest Film Festival: Chicago’s annual showcase for films that celebrate, explore and share the Black, African American and African Diaspora experience. The Festival curates both short and feature length films, proudly presenting influential auteurs and emerging filmmakers of color side by side. View full festival lineup.
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