Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl: The Life of Vertamae Smart

Posted on May 2, 2015 by blackchickmedia

Photo credit via blogs.indiewire.com

Julie Dash, the amazing director behind Daughters of the Dust, Illusions and The Rosa Parks Story has created a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to support her latest film, Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl. To continue production, the team needs to raise $55,000, which is no small feat with only three days left. This documentary tells the overlooked and often forgotten life story of culinary anthropologist, actress, writer and poet Vertamae Smart Grosvenor.

We had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Dash in 2007 at a film festival in Columbus, Ohio, and to say we’re excited she is releasing another film would be an understatement. As we so often mention here at Black Chick Media, the lives of African-American women are hardly ever told…And don’t even get us started on the lack of recognition and support for women filmmakers (African-American or otherwise).

Please join us in supporting this fabulous project and legendary director. Follow the film on Twitter at @SocialGeechee and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vertamae?fref=ts

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Call for Entries: The 14th Annual Women of African Descent Film Festival

Posted on January 16, 2015 by blackchickmedia

Call for Entries: The 14th Annual Women of African Descent Film Festival

The 14th Annual Women of African Descent Film Festival brought to you by The Brooklyn Chapter of The Links, now opens its call for entries. If you would like to see an example of the lineup from WADFF 2014, click here. Please contact wadffbklyn@gmail.com with questions regarding the festival.

MISSION & OBJECTIVE To showcase films which are centered around the theme of Linkages: Women, Their Families, Neighborhoods, and the Global Community, and to support the artistic development of Women filmmakers of African Descent by providing a supportive exhibition platform, offering stipends to participants, and seeking industry opportunities that will help to expose the filmmakers’ works and further their careers.

Still from 2014 WADFF “Hill and Gully” directed by Patrice Johnson Chevannes

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL The Women of African Descent Film Festival (WADFF) is celebrating its 14^th Anniversary in 2015. The media constantly bombards us with negative images of people of African descent. Our positive accomplishments, uplifting experiences, and gifts to humanity get little attention. The Brooklyn Chapter believes it is vitally important that our legacy be maintained, nurtured and preserved and it is our responsibility to shape the public’s perception of who we are as a people. Through the medium of film, filmmakers of African descent document and relay the stories of our past, present, and future. They have become the new historians –“preservers of our legacy.” The Brooklyn Chapter realizes that many societal misconceptions start with how we are portrayed in the media. To counteract the adverse portrayal of African Americans in the movies and media, the Brooklyn Chapter in 2002 initiated Linkages: Women of African Descent Film Festival. By choosing and screening films that depict the positive linkages women of African descent have to their families, neighborhoods and communities, the film festival is able to effectively influence peoples’ perceptions through the medium of film.

Photo credit: Bennie Harris. (L - R) Rich Pierre-Louis and Edythe Davis in "Reflection Day"

Photo credit Bennie Harris: Still from 2014 WADFF “Reflection Day”

GENERAL RULES & SUBMISSION GUIDELINES All films must be produced, written or directed by a female filmmaker of African descent, and must have been completed on or after June 1, 2010. Original submission deadline is Friday, March 13th. Extended deadline is Friday, March 20th. Jurors Choice Awards and stipends will be presented to the participating filmmakers.

Filmmakers are encouraged to submit both a DVD screener as well as a digital screener*. Please note: there is no submission fee, and films will not be returned to you unless you include a self-addressed padded envelope. With your playable DVD submission, please include a synopsis, crew list, press kit and any stills you would like to appear in the program and/or advertisements.

Please send all films to:
The Brooklyn Chapter of The Links Inc.
P.O. Box 50013
Brooklyn, NY 11205-0013
Attn: WADFF

*If you have an online version of your film on a site such as Vimeo or YouTube, please submit that link to wadffbklyn@gmail.com.

THE EVENT The festival will take place Saturday, May 2, 2015 at LIU Brooklyn (corner of Flatbush and Dekalb Avenues), Media Arts Department Spike Lee Screening Room 10am-6pm.

THE LINKS Formed in 1952, The Brooklyn Chapter of The Links is dedicated to the support of educational, civic and cultural activities in Brooklyn. It is a chapter of The Links, Inc. an international, not-for-profit corporation, whose membership consists of 12,000 professional women of color in 276 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The Brooklyn Chapter works under the guidelines of its national organization in providing services to its Brooklyn Community in five mission areas: The Arts, Services to Youth, National Trends and Services, International Trends, and Health and Wellness. A focus of the Chapter’s arts programming is to empower women and youth by lending support and encouragement to emerging artists – with a particular focus on filmmakers for the past 13 years.

The foundation for all of the chapter’s programs and services is rooted in the African American tradition of giving and volunteerism. Members share a deep sense of communal responsibility, and for the past 62 years, have been committed to actively initiating and supporting educational, cultural, and civic programs, that positively impact the lives of people of African descent residing in Brooklyn.

You can ‘Like’ and follow the festival Facebook page here.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Press Release: The Brooklyn Chapter of The Links CALL FOR ENTRIES for the 14th Annual Women of African Descent Film Festival

Posted on January 13, 2015 by blackchickmedia

For Immediate Release

The Brooklyn Chapter of The Links CALL FOR ENTRIES for the 14th Annual Women of African Descent Film Festival

Brooklyn, NY January 13, 2015: The Brooklyn Chapter of The Links announces its Call for Film Entries for the 14^th Annual Women of African Descent Film Festival (WADFF). The WADFF will showcase films focused on Women, their families, neighborhoods, and the global community. Featuring an international roster of films, the festival will take place on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at LIU Brooklyn, Media Arts Department, Spike Lee Screening Room, 10 am – 6 pm.

Continuing its legacy of showcasing the talent and accomplishments of artists of African descent, The Women of African Descent Film Festival is celebrating its 14^th Anniversary in 2015.

Films must be produced, written, or directed by a female filmmaker of African descent and must have been completed on or after June 1, 2010. All work must be submitted by March 13, 2015. Jurors Choice Awards and stipends will be presented to participating filmmakers.

Formed in 1952, The Brooklyn Chapter of The Links is dedicated to the support of educational, civic, and cultural activities in Brooklyn. It is a chapter of The Links, Inc. an international, not-for-profit corporation, whose membership consists of 12,000 professional women of color in 276 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The Brooklyn Chapter works under the guidelines of its national organization in providing services to its Brooklyn Community in five facet areas: The Arts, Services to Youth, National Trends and Services, International Trends, and Health and Wellness. A focus of the Chapter’s arts programming is to empower women and youth by lending support and encouragement to emerging artists – with a particular focus on filmmakers for the past 14 years.

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SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY

Posted on December 9, 2014 by blackchickmedia

“SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966 to 1971. SHE’S BEAUTIFUL takes us from the founding of NOW, with ladies in hats and gloves, to the emergence of more radical factions of women’s liberation; from intellectuals like Kate Millett to the street theatrics of W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell!). Artfully combining dramatizations, performance and archival imagery, the film recounts the stories of women who fought for their own equality, and in the process created a world-wide revolution.

SHE’S BEAUTIFUL does not try to romanticize the early movement, but dramatizes it in its exhilarating, quarrelsome, sometimes heart-wrenching glory. The film does not shy away from the controversies over race, sexual preference and leadership that arose in the women’s movement. SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY captures the spirit of the time — thrilling, scandalous, and often hilarious.

That story still resonates today for women who are facing new challenges around reproductive rights and sexual violence, as the film shows present-day activists creating their generation’s own version of feminism. SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY is a film about activists, made to inspire women and men to work for feminism and human rights. ”

If you’d like to join in the social media converge of this amazing film, please use the hashtag #StillBeautifulStillAngry.