Reunion Tonight – Slam: A 15th Anniversary CelebrationPosted by Wilson Morales
December 13, 2013
Tonight, the Maysles Cinema brings you the film that captivated critics and judges from Sundance to Cannes and turned slam poetry into the global phenomenon it is today: Marc Levin’s SLAM. Join acclaimed poet and performer Saul Williams, Sonja Sohn (The Wire), Bonz Malone, Bob Holman, Liza Jessie Peterson, Richard Stratton and Marc Levin at the Dempsey Auditorium in Harlem (127 W. 127th Street) for the 15th Anniversary of this seminal film and the first gathering of the talent behind it since 1998.
DJ Spooky is moderating and Michael K. Williams will also be attending. Tickets for tonight can be purchased at https://www.maysles.org/.
In the nights to follow, the Maysles Cinema will journey back through Levin’s decades of filmmaking with works that explore defining themes in our collective psyche: race, class, politics, religion and urban identity—themes that provide a lens through which to examine social and cultural dynamics at every level in modern America. In addition to SLAM, the Masterclass will include the following screenings: WHITEBOYZ, a humorous take on the no man’s land where black and white meet in popular culture; GANG WARS: BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK and its follow-up; a preview of Levin’s in-progress documentary FREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM, followed by MR. UNTOUCHABLE, for a look at the world of gangster capitalism through the stories of real American Gangsters, LA’s “Freeway” Rick Ross and Harlem’s own Nicky Barnes; clips from BRICK CITY, CAPTURED and CHICAGOLAND, as part of Sunday’s session on Documenting Urban America; and PROTOCOLS OF ZION, Levin’s journey to unfold the ancient conspiracy theory that re-emerged after 9/11: blame it on the Jews.
Stars, producers and writers from each film will join Levin for post-screening Q&As, including Piper Perabo (of USA’s hit series Covert Affairs), who was cast in WHITEBOYZ shortly after graduating from college. “Freeway” Rick Ross, who stood at the center of crack epidemic and CIA/Contra/Cocaine connection, and Joseph “Jazz” Hayden, an original member of Nicky Barnes’ Heroin Council, will also join us for the FREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM & MR.UNTOUCHABLE evening—two generations of drug kingpins turned activists, live in the same program.
