Executive Producer and actor Tony Okungbowa discusses Nigerian-American photographer and director Andrew Dosunmu’s film RESTLESS CITY in this interview clip.

Restless City directed by Andrew Dosunmu

See it in Seattle at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, May 4-12, 2012

The story of a young man surviving on the fringes of New York City, where music is his passion, life is a hustle, and falling in love is his greatest risk.

• “In this intense twist on the American Dream, director Andrew Dosunmu vividly captures the pulsating dynamic of New York city’s pan-African community, a robust aggregation that subsists amid an often hostile foreign environment. “Restless City” is a mesmerizing glimpse into a culture and community that is only superficially seen by indifferent New Yorkers.”

- Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter

• “There are several upcoming releases of black films that prioritize authenticity and artistic integrity and insist on speaking to the core of the human spirit. The gorgeous Restless City, directed by fashion photographer Andrew Dosunmu, accomplishes this and elegantly so. The film tells the story of Djbril, a young Senegalese man who hustles along Canal Street in Manhattan amid a community of immigrants from all over Africa trying to get by in America. Like many who move to New York in search of their dreams, he is much more than the sum of his daily grind. He is an aesthete, a gentleman, and most importantly, a singer — it’s just that the mundaneness of survival has taken priority above the full expression of his art. Meeting the lovely Trini, a prostitute who works for one of his merchandisers, lights a fire under Djibril, and he gains a renewed interest in pushing his life and ambition forward.”

- Danielle Jackson, The Huffington Post

Dates

First: Friday May 04, 2012 1:00 PM

Last: Saturday May 12, 2012 9:00 PM

Ticket purchase: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/245978

(via autumnsdaily)

The LHAAFF is honored to present Andrew Dosunmu’s elegaic film RESTLESS CITY in Seattle May 4, beginning a much-anticipated limited run at the Langston Huguhes Performing Arts Center in Seattle’s Central District! Not going to be in Seattle this May? Please ask friends around the USA to support the film’s opening in New York City, Atlanta, and Los Angeles this weekend. Tickets for some shows are available online now: j.mp/Ihxbt3

http://www.affrm.com/restless-city/

African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM)

RESTLESS CITY

Official Sundance Selection To Be Released April 27, 2012

“In this intense twist on the American Dream, director Andrew Dosunmu vividly captures the pulsating dynamic of New York city’s pan-African community, a robust aggregation that subsists amid an often hostile foreign environment. “Restless City” is a mesmerizing glimpse into a culture and community that is only superficially seen by indifferent New Yorkers.”

– Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter

Los Angeles, CA (March 1, 2012) – The African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection, RESTLESS CITY. Directed by Andrew Dosunmu, RESTLESS CITY tells the story of an African immigrant surviving on the fringes of New York City where music is his passion, life is a hustle, and falling in love is his greatest risk. The film will be released in theaters April 27, 2012.

RESTLESS CITY will mark the third feature from African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, the theatrical distribution entity powered by the nation’s top black film organizations. The collective activates quality black independent films with simultaneous theatrical engagements in select cities.

The company’s inaugural feature was the critically-acclaimed drama, “I Will Follow,” released in March 2011, followed by the Sundance Audience Award winner for World Cinema KINYARWANDA on December 2, 2011. Most recently, the collective jointly acquired MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Winner of the Best Director Award, with Participant Media for U.S. theatrical distribution.

“Both in its narrative and visual quality, RESTLESS CITY takes my breath away. Andrew Dosunmu is a brilliant artist who has crafted a stunning, groundbreaking film.” said Ava DuVernay, Founder, African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement. “We’re thrilled to work with Andrew and his passionate team to share this gem with film lovers.”

RESTLESS CITY is directed by Andrew Dosunmu, from a screenplay by Eugene Gussenhoven. Katie Mustard and Matthew Parker produce, with executive producers Audra Alexxi Jones, Munu Elifituri, David Raymond and Tony Okungbowa. The film stars Sy Alassane, Nicole Grey, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Babs Olusanmokun. Cinematography by Bradford Young, with editing by Oriana Soddu and costumes by Mobolaji Dawodu.

http://www.affrm.com/restless-city/

http://www.affrm.com/restless-city/

The LHAAFF is honored to present Andrew Dosunmu’s elegaic film RESTLESS CITY in Seattle May 4, beginning a much-anticipated limited run at the Langston Huguhes Performing Arts Center in Seattle’s Central District! Not going to be in Seattle this May? Please ask friends around the USA to support the film’s opening in New York City, Atlanta, and Los Angeles this weekend. Tickets for some shows are available online now: j.mp/Ihxbt3

African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM)

RESTLESS CITY

Official Sundance Selection To Be Released April 27, 2012

“In this intense twist on the American Dream, director Andrew Dosunmu vividly captures the pulsating dynamic of New York city’s pan-African community, a robust aggregation that subsists amid an often hostile foreign environment. “Restless City” is a mesmerizing glimpse into a culture and community that is only superficially seen by indifferent New Yorkers.”

– Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter

Los Angeles, CA (March 1, 2012) – The African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection, RESTLESS CITY. Directed by Andrew Dosunmu, RESTLESS CITY tells the story of an African immigrant surviving on the fringes of New York City where music is his passion, life is a hustle, and falling in love is his greatest risk. The film will be released in theaters April 27, 2012.

RESTLESS CITY will mark the third feature from African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, the theatrical distribution entity powered by the nation’s top black film organizations. The collective activates quality black independent films with simultaneous theatrical engagements in select cities.

The company’s inaugural feature was the critically-acclaimed drama, “I Will Follow,” released in March 2011, followed by the Sundance Audience Award winner for World Cinema KINYARWANDA on December 2, 2011. Most recently, the collective jointly acquired MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Winner of the Best Director Award, with Participant Media for U.S. theatrical distribution.

“Both in its narrative and visual quality, RESTLESS CITY takes my breath away. Andrew Dosunmu is a brilliant artist who has crafted a stunning, groundbreaking film.” said Ava DuVernay, Founder, African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement. “We’re thrilled to work with Andrew and his passionate team to share this gem with film lovers.”

RESTLESS CITY is directed by Andrew Dosunmu, from a screenplay by Eugene Gussenhoven. Katie Mustard and Matthew Parker produce, with executive producers Audra Alexxi Jones, Munu Elifituri, David Raymond and Tony Okungbowa. The film stars Sy Alassane, Nicole Grey, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Babs Olusanmokun. Cinematography by Bradford Young, with editing by Oriana Soddu and costumes by Mobolaji Dawodu.

http://www.affrm.com/restless-city/

THE STORY OF LOVER’S ROCK w/ BeSIDE MYSELF 7PM April 21

Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center
Seattle, WA

7PM
THE STORY OF LOVER’S ROCK
Menelik Shabazz  (United Kingdom/Great Britain, 2011)  96 minutes.  English.  Genre: documentary.

Lovers Rock, often dubbed ‘romantic reggae’ is a uniquely black British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems. Live performance, comedy sketches, dance, interviews and archive shed light on the music and the generation that embraced it. Lovers Rock allowed young people to experience intimacy and healing through dance- known as ‘scrubbing’- at parties and clubs. This dance provided a coping mechanism for what was happening on the streets. Lovers Rock developed into a successful sound with national UK hits and was influential to British bands (Police, Culture Club, UB40) These influences underline the impact the music was making in bridging the multi-cultural gap that polarized the times. The film sheds light on a forgotten period of British music, social and political history.

This is first and foremost a film about Black Social Dance. The US parallel would be the “slow-dance,” the “Bop,” “Sunset Bop.”  Under dark blue or red lights in a crowded room young men and women came together to experience the ritual intimacy of dance, flirtation and love to the sounds of romantic music.

Lovers Rock, often dubbed ‘romantic reggae’ is a uniquely black British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems. Live performance, comedy sketches, dance, interviews and archive shed light on the music and the generation that embraced it. Lovers Rock allowed young people to experience intimacy and healing through dance- known as ‘scrubbing’- at parties and clubs. This dance provided a coping mechanism for what was happening on the streets. Lovers Rock developed into a successful sound with national UK hits and was influential to British bands (Police, Culture Club, UB40) These influences underline the impact the music was making in bridging the multi-cultural gap that polarized the times. The film sheds light on a forgotten period of British music, social and political history.

Screens with:
BeSIDE MYSELF by guest filmmaker Elijah Hasan
Saturday, April 21 at 7:00 p.m.  $8 general, $5 Youth and Senior Citizens.

Tonight is Ladies’ Night at the @LHAAFF! Afro-Brazilian culture, church ladies, hair, & romance http://www.langstonarts.org/?p=2859

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Seattle

7PM – Feature: LADIES NIGHT PART I

GOOD HAIR AND OTHER DUBIOUS DISTINCTIONS
Camille S. DeBose (USA, 2011) 34 minutes. English. Genre: documentary.  Pacific Northwest premiere

EBONY GODDESS QUEEN OF ILE AIYE
Carolina Moraes-Liu (Brazil, 2010). 20 minutes. Portuguese
with English subtitles. Genre: documentary.  Pacific Northwest premiere

EBONY GODDESS: QUEEN OF ILÊ AIYÊ follows three women competing to be the carnival queen of Ilê Aiyê, a prominent and controversial Afro-Brazilian group with an all-black membership. The selection is based on Afro-centric notions of beauty, in counterpoint to prevailing standards of beauty in Brazil, a country famous for slim supermodels and plastic surgery. Contestants for the title of Ebony Goddess dress in flowing African-style garments, gracefully performing traditional Afro-Brazilian dances to songs praising the beauty of black women.

For Aurelina, Joseane and Talita, the competition for the title of Ebony Goddess is part of a profound and personal search for identity and self-esteem. The figure of the Ebony Goddess, representing a “black is beautiful” view of black women, resonates with women of African descent in Brazil, the United States and throughout the world of the African Diaspora.

Cultural commentary presented by anthropologist and professor emerita of The Evergreen State College, Dr. Angela Gilliam and Dora Olivera, 1980 Deusa do Ebano, Ile Aiye’s Queen of Carnival.

Preceded by:
MISS DEVINE
THANK YOU FOR WASHING

Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. $8 general, $5 Youth and Senior Citizens.

http://www.langstonarts.org/?p=2859

“MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU” Pacific NW premiere at the @LHAAFF April 18 

2012 Langston Hughes African American Film Festival , Seattle

All film screenings take place at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 – 17th Avenue South at Yesler Way (Metro bus #27) in Seattle’s Central District.    www.langstonblackfilmfest.org

MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU 9 PM April 18, 2012 at the LHAAFF  

MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU

Stefan Schaefer (USA,2011) 92 minutes. English, German.  Genre: narrative (romantic comedy)

When a young business executive, NIKLAS (28), is sent from Frankfurt to New York to shut down a division of his firm, he doesn’t realize his life is about to be turned upside-down in one single day. By 9:30am he has done what he was tasked to do. But his flight back to Frankfurt doesn’t leave for another 11 hours. In this time, seemingly by chance, he meets and falls for LETICIA (25), a beautiful African-American secretary and aspiring singer. The only problem: unbeknownst to him, she’s one of the people he just fired. They end up back in
Brooklyn, where he meets her father, a pastor, and begins to realize who she is. Unable to tell her the truth, he stumbles through a romantic few hours of eating, walking through Brooklyn streets, and listening to her play music in her new apartment.

In the same vein as cross-cultural love stories such as BEFORE SUNRISE (1995) and ONCE (2006), MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU mines the humor and conflict that arises when two individuals - seemingly so different - are thrown together by a force they fight but ultimately cannot control…love.

Wednesday, April 18 at 9:00 p.m.  $8 general, $5 Youth and Senior Citizens. 

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/239356

See the film trailer for MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU

sonnysayssmile:

Restless City

See this film in Seattle at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival:

http://www.langstonarts.org/?p=2877

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/238719

(via autumnsdaily)

awesomepeoplehangingouttogether:

RZA and Yoko Ono

(via blackjahjah)

THE STORY OF LOVER’S ROCK

SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 7:00 PM

at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 – 17^th Avenue South at Yesler Way (Metro bus #27) in Seattle’s Central District.  Admission: $8.  Ticket purchase link here.

directed by Menelik Shabazz  (United Kingdom/Great Britain, 2011)  96 minutes.  English.  Genre: documentary.  General audience.

 Lovers Rock, often dubbed ‘romantic reggae’ is a uniquely Black British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems. Live performance, comedy sketches, dance, interviews and archive shed light on the music and the generation that embraced it. Lovers Rock allowed young people to experience intimacy and healing through dance- known as ‘scrubbing’- at parties and clubs. This dance provided a coping mechanism for what was happening on the streets. Lovers Rock developed into a successful sound with national UK hits and was influential to British bands (Police, Culture Club, UB40) These influences underline the impact the music was making in bridging the multi-cultural gap that polarized the times. The film sheds light on a forgotten period of British music, social and political history.

 Screens with:

B’SIDE MYSELF by Elijah Hasan

Saturday, April 21 at 7:00 p.m.  $8 general, $5 Youth and Senior Citizens.