The 2017 Pan African Film Festival 25th Year Anniversary Begins Feb. 9-20Posted by Wilson Morales
Februay 10, 2017
Last night was the start of The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF)’s 25 Anniversary aka PAFF 25 with Ncredible Entertainment’s KING OF THE DANCEHALL, written and directed by Nick Cannon, serving as the Opening Night Film. The festival runs from Feb. 9 through Feb. 20 at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza’s Rave Cinemas.
KING OF THE DANCEHALL is the feature film directorial debut of actor, producer and consummate entertainer, Nick Cannon who also stars in this high-energy musical about a young man from Brooklyn who gets caught up in the vibrant Kingston music scene during a visit to Jamaica. When Tarzan (Cannon) hatches a scheme to cover the costs of medical care for his sick mother, he has to decamp from his native New York to Kingston, Jamaica. Once on the Caribbean island, he solicits the help of his fast-talking cousin and makes quick headway in the world of weed. But there’s another, much tougher scene that he’s not prepared for: the dancehall. In addition to Cannon, the film stars, Academy Award nominee, Whoopi Goldberg, Academy Award winner, Louis Gossett Jr. and Grammy Award nominee, Busta Rhymes. KING OF THE DANCEHALL will debut exclusively on YouTube Red later this year.
The Centerpiece of the festival will be TV ONE’s MEDIA, a new original film from Radio One founder Cathy Hughes and Susan Banks. The film will revolve around a wealthy and powerful family battling the competitive challenges of keeping their status and position in the communications industry, and is scheduled to premiere in February 2017. The Centerpiece will screen Wednesday February 15 at 8pm.
The cast includes Penny Johnson Jerald, Brian White, Gary Dourdan, Stephen Bishop, Pooch Hall, Chrystee Pharris, Blue Kimble, Finesse Mitchell, Denise Boutte, Jimmy Gonzales, Stelio Savante, Jillian Reeves de Ortiz, Jasmine Kaur and Dane Kirby.
Penny Johnson Jerald (Castle, 24) stars as Jackie, the founder of Jones Universal Media Properties, aka JUMP, the world’s premier urban media conglomerate. A family tragedy forces her son, prominent lead city attorney and prosecutor Michael Jones (Brian White, Stomp the Yard), to abandon his political aspirations and take over the company just as a ruthless rival challenges JUMP’s longtime domination of this lucrative industry.
The Closing Night film will be the World Premiere of THE PREACHER’S SON, directed by Trey Haley and starring Chrsitian Keyes, Drew Sidora, Valarie Pettiford, Clifton Powell, Kellita Smith and Vanessa Bell Calloway. It will screen on Sunday February 19 at 8pm.
This film is the first of New York Times bestselling author, Carl Weber’s “Drama in the Church” trilogy – The Preacher’s Son, The Choir Director and The First Lady.
Bishop T.K. Wilson, popular pastor of the largest African American church in Queens, New York, has decided to run for borough president. But his family values platform is on shaky ground. In public, his wife and two children are a shining example of respectability. Yet privately, the Wilson kids are giving in to the same temptations as any other young adults. And their parents have no idea what’s going on behind closed doors—including the closed doors of the church offices.
Also at Closing Night will be a Lifetime Achievement Award tribute to legendary actress Alfre Woodard.
In addition, PAFF 25 Special Screenings includes; Sankofa PAFF 25th Anniversary Gala, screening CHASING TRANE, a moving documentary on the music of John Coltrane. Monday, February 20 held on the closing night of the festival.
In Chasing Trane, veteran documentarian John Scheinfeld (last at the Festival with The U.S. vs. John Lennon) explores the life and work of this singular artist. From his childhood in the Jim Crow South to his hallowed tenure with Miles Davis — which pushed Coltrane to conquer his heroin addiction — to his triumphant run as leader of one of jazz’s most fiery and revered quartets, Chasing Trane digs deep, chronicling a story of harrowing lows and interstellar highs.
Scheinfeld makes inspired use of archival materials, animated murals, readings of Coltrane’s own words by Denzel Washington, and a wealth of new interviews. The list is catnip for music lovers: jazz elder statesmen Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, and Reggie Workman; rock legends Carlos Santana and John Densmore; and younger artists such as Common and Kamasi Washington, whose work renews the spirit of Coltrane for a new generation. Scheinfeld also speaks with critics Ben Ratliff and Ashley Kahn, philosopher Cornel West, and former US president Bill Clinton.
Other Special Screenings include; TANNA, based on a true story of young love against all odds. The film is a lush and exotic film which recently won the Directors Guild of Australia award for Best Director and is a 2017 Oscar Award Nominee for Best Foreign Film.
Tanna, an extraordinary Australia/Vanuatu co-production, is a Romeo and Juliet story set in one of the world’s last true tribal societies. It is the first feature film shot entirely in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, in a village called Yakel. The people of this remote community, high in the mountain rainforests near a spitting volcano, truly wear grass skirts and penis sheaths and have rejected colonial and Christian influences in favor of their traditional and pure “Kastom” system of laws and beliefs.
The film’s story is performed predominantly by the people of Yakel in their native Nauvhal language (with English subtitles). On the stunning tropical island of Tanna, the conviction of two star-crossed lovers will change their tribe’s culture forever. Wawa, being readied for the ceremony that will recognize her as a grown woman, is in love with the handsome grandson of the tribal chief. When, as part of an effort to prevent a war, Wawa is betrothed to a man from another tribe, she must choose between loyalty to her clan and her own heart.
93 DAYS, chronicles the little known story of a Nigerian couples work to stop the Ebola virus starring Danny Glover, Bimbo Akintola, Somkele Idhalama, Tim Reid, Alastair Mackenzie, Keppy Ekpenyong, Abimbola Mary-Anne Akintola, and Okeke Gideon Echezonachi.
93 Days is based on the true story of men and women who risked their lives and made sacrifices to save us all from the consequences of an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria.
When a foreign civil servant lands in Lagos on a flight from Liberia with a high fever, the first, hopeful response is that it’s only malaria. But Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh (Bimbo Akintola) of the First Consultant Hospital knows the man is afflicted with something far more serious. Despite opposition from colleagues, officials, and the man himself, she denies his release. Once the man is confirmed as Nigeria’s index case of the Ebola virus, Adadevoh, her team, the Nigerian government, and the World Health Organization scramble to deal with a potential doomsday scenario.
Besides Adadevoh, a dedicated mother and wife, there is also Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri (Danny Glover), who is on the verge of retirement when the virus hits, and Dr. Ada Igonoh, who is hoping to conceive a child despite this time of peril. Dr. Igonoh is played Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama.
NETFLIX’ A BURNING SANDS is about a student enduring harsh hazing while he pledges a fraternity at an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and is torn by the physical and emotional mistreatment he receives from his peers, the hazing’s historical implications, and its questionable place in the modern world.
Directed by Gerard McMurray from a script written by Christine Berg & Gerard McMurray, the film stars Trevor Jackson, Alfre Woodard, Steve Harris, Tosin Cole, DeRon Horton, Trevante Rhodes, Christian Robinson, Rotimi, Octavius Johnson, Malik Bazille, Mitchell Edwards, Imani A. Hakim, Serayah, and Nafessa Williams.
In his freshman year of college, it seems Zurich has everything going for him; he has the respect of his teachers and university administration, the love and devotion of a wonderful girlfriend, and he’s been selected for admission to a prestigious Black fraternity on campus. But as Zurich embarks on the Hell Week of pledging his fraternity, the harsh trials of entry into brotherhood begin to test the limits of his self-worth. As the intensifying abuse begins to become untenable, Zurich struggles to honor the fraternity’s code of silence, and the scaffolding of his life outside the frat begins to dismantle.
Making its Los Angeles premiere is writer/director Corey Grant’s thriller ILLICIT, starring David Ramsey, Shireen Crutchfield, McKinley Freeman, Michele Weaver, Lanett Tachel, Dean Cain, Vivica A. Fox, Dionne Gipson, Michael Monks, Essence Atkins, Vincent A. Ward, Sade Kimora Young, Durrell “Tank” Babbs, Charlie Farrell, and Adam Senn.
Breaking Glass is planning a theatrical release in Atlanta and Chicago in early May and a VOD/DVD release on May 23.
Written by Grant and co-star Lanett Tachel, the film centers on a well-liked parole officer (Ramsey) and a beautiful former model (Shireen Crutchfield) who enjoy a successful marriage until she gets the itch to go back to work. As the wife forms a friendship with an emerging photographer, the husband is dealing with a parolee who proves to be more than he bargained for.
SPECIAL EVENTS In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the festival, a series of diverse female trailblazers are featured in the festival’s “Conversations With…” series and industry panels during the programming lineup.
Sunday, Feb. 12 at 3pm, PAFF 25 will spotlight “Conversations with Alfre Woodard”
Film, stage, and television actress, producer, and political activist, Alfre Woodard has been named one of the most versatile and accomplished actors of her generation. As the recipient of the 2017 PAFF Lifetime Achievement Award, she will sit with director and friend Neema Barnett and share her thoughts on her illustrious career, the many memorable roles she has brought to life, and what she believes to be the future for Pan African Cinema.
Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 5pm PAFF 25 will spotlight “Conversations with Mara Brock with Salim Akil”
Moderated by Britni Danielle (Ebony Magazine)
Discuss what’s in store for the couple in 2017 and the lessons they’ve learned last year. Mara Brock is the creator of BET’s Being Mary Jane, which premiered in 2013. Brock Akil first began her career in 1994 writing for the critically acclaimed but short-lived Fox series South Central. In 1999, she served as supervising producer and writer on The Jamie Foxx Show after writing for Moesha for four seasons. In 2000, Brock Akil created and executive produced (along with Kelsey Grammer) another UPN series Girlfriends. She also created and executive produced the spin-off series The Game.
Saturday, Feb. 18 at 3pm, PAFF 25 will spotlight “Conversations with Sanaa Lathan”
On her new role on FOX’s new series Shots Fired with Reggie ‘Rock’ and Gina Prince-Bythewood and what led her to television. Sanaa Lathan has starred in many films, including the box-office hit The Best Man and its 2013 sequel, Love & Basketball, Brown Sugar, Alien vs. Predator and The Family That Preys. Lathan was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun. From 2009 to 2013, she voiced Donna Tubbs in The Cleveland Show. In 2010, she starred in the all-black performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre in London.
