This year (2013) marks the 40th anniversary of Angela Davis’s acquittal on charges of murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. How does one rebound from such life trembling events? What did Angela Davis do all these years? Marry? Divorce? Care for an Elderly Parent? Harlem Filmmaker Shola Lynch used her first documentary, Chisholm ’72 – Unbought & Unbossed, as the convincing means for Angela Davis to pay it forward to future generations on standing for justice for all. Angela Davis is joined by her siblings, peers and legal advisors to diversely portray what transpired in and outside the courtroom. Angela tenderly opens up about her lovers tryst with a Black Panther and how their love letters were read aloud in court.  What’s most impressive about the documentary is that Angela Davis is portrayed as gracefully whole and at peace, not at all bitter and torn. Although it is unclear as to her five, ten, fifteen year long term life plan of action post documentary, rest assured that Free Angela is a treasured legacy gift.  Angela, where were you when Occupy Wall Street needed you…

Producers Carole Lambert, Carine Ruszniewski, and Sidra Smith, partner with Shola Lynch to successfully balance the facts, figures, archival photo stills and storyboard thrills, thereby seamlessly connecting the dots of how people from around the world were one in spirit and truth with a young, educated Afroed college professor.  Free Angela’s backing is layered with movers and shakers.  Presented by Realside Productions and De Films en Aiguille, in association with Direct Cinema and the participation of Direct 8, developed with the support of The Independent Television Service (ITVS), with major support from La Region lle-de-France, Canal Plus, the Ford Foundation and Black Entertainment Television Networks.  Other funders included the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, New York State Council on the Arts, Paul Newman Foundation, The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Tribeca All Access and Angoa.  Overbrook Entertainment (Will and Jada Smith) and Roc Nation (Shawn “Jay Z” Carter) are executive producers.

Free Angela is distributed by Codeblack Films exclusively in select AMC theatres.

Mr. Brown is employed at the same school as his daughter, Cora, a love child from a one-night stand with Madea. Cora Jean Simmons Brown (Tamela Mann) is a loving school teacher with a rowdy classroom. Mr. Brown is outlandish all the more when he interacts with Cora’s students who make wisecracks at him. Also living at home with Mr. Brown is his nephew, Will Brown (Lamman Rucker), a doctor married to a nurse, Sasha (Denise Boutte) and both work in a retirement home together. Eventually Will and Sasha adopt children and consequently the episodes go down the parenting road. One may wonder why two professionals like Will and Sasha would want to financially commit to adopting children before getting their own apartment or home.

For the academic scholar out there, take things mentally easy with Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns: Season 7 because it is simply a series of comedic episodes, with foreseeable plots padded with teachable moments. Executive Producer Tyler Perry has a faithful track record of rehiring cast from previous undertakings in his multi-million dollar movie and stage play collection. A praiseworthy observation is that the chemistry between the cast appears relaxed and harmonious. It can only help that David & Tamela Mann are a husband and wife team in real life. Guest appearances by celebrities such as Supermodel Beverly Johnson take the blandness away in one episode. Either you enthusiastically love or vehemently bypass on the antics of Mr. Brown and his family.

Luis is the lighthearted prankster and Ronald is the philosophical soon-to-be father. Luis was abandoned by his father at a very young age and then later in life by a girlfriend that moved to Brooklyn, NY. Although Luis dreams of being a filmmaker someday, his low grades didn’t secure a scholarship to the University. Ronald, on the other hand, is shown reading a thought-provoking book while on a beach excursion and in another scene, talking to and rubbing his pregnant girlfriend’s belly. Ronald wants to travel the world and provide for his family. Luis and Ronald are exploring a path of self-discovery and unmask painful emotional wounds. For both, the Marine Corp appears to be the only way out of the neighborhood based on lures of their military recruiter.

Luis and Ronald will eventually joyride, party, and one night stand with random girls who are looking for a carefree time as well. Other film footage captures close relatives and friends giving goodbyes and farewell speeches that interweave piercing political messages. While in Afghanistan, the filming of their experience resumes as they bond with other young adults, with similar hopes and dreams.

The American Dream is redolent of raw emotion and sorrowful pain which can be expected where the topic is war and serving one’s country. Even so, writer and director Jamil Walker Smith aimed for more than a typical war story. When commenting about making the film, these thoughts ensued, ‘We weren’t making a film about war…we were making a film that questions a “system” that leaves young people with no better alternative than going to war. A system that appeals to young people’s self-interests, and, in turn, puts them in a position of self-sacrifice.” The American Dream won Best Director at the 2011 Urbanworld Film Festival. That same year, The American Dream was the recipient of the New Visions Award at the Cinequest Film Festival. The film’s strength is its authentic portrayal of how one may easily get cornered into joining the military. The glaring drawback was the collapse or disconnect between the visual images and the music. There are scenes that drag and/or belabor the point but overall one quickly gets the Director’s drift.

The story is about three sisters who are informed at the reading of their deceased father’s will very surprising revelations. First, the good news is that their father leaves a million dollar fortune.  How could this be when their father struggled financially? The will explains that the father properly invested the proceeds of an insurance policy resulting from their mother’s death.  The news of becoming millionaires gradually goes downhill when they learn of a fourth heir to the estate.  Their father apologizes in the will about an affair he had when married to their mother, and a child resulting from that affair.  Third, their father conditions receipt of the inheritance on all four sisters living in the same home for six months to bond and become a closer family. Finally, if the sisters don’t comply, the entire fortune goes to the local SPCA. It’s an all or nothing provision. Predictably, the sisters are stunned and shocked.  The oldest sister (Kellita Smith) is stubbornly bitter about her father’s betrayal of their mother especially when she learns the “new” (Jazsmin Lewis) is only months apart from her as to birth date and is biracial. The younger sister (Azur De Johnson) was least resistant to the “new” sister, if not welcoming. The middle sister (Drew Sidora) appeared indifferent because her only concern was complying to the will conditions in order to become a millionaire. The story continues as each sister grieves differently and interacts with their “new” sister in the house.

In the end, all of the sisters come to terms with their family dysfunction and they don’t have to wait the entire six months to get the inheritance.  A few drawbacks for this production were that for each comedic punch line, there is a distracting and dated laugh tract, there was uneven transitioning from one scene to another, and the singing seems haphazard, not blending properly with the dialogue between characters.  The positive about the production is that the cast made an otherwise trite tale become spirited and colorful.

Places of worship such as mosques became havens for protection, even if briefly.   Hotel Rwanda, a famous place of refuge, was referred to in Kinyarwanda.  Why all the slaughtering in the first place? Towards the end of the film, it is explained that when Rwanda was under Belgian colonial rule, Belgian authorities would measure the head size, rib cage length and other physical attributes of Rwandans for division of labor. Depending on your measurement, your task may be indoors (i.e., working in government, schools, etc.), or outdoors (i.e., farming, field work, etc.). This type of caste system fostered discord and resentment amongst the Rwandans.  W hen the Belgians left and no longer ruled the Rwandan government, the animosity and malice of the natives were deeply rooted.  How did the slaughtering finally end? Kinyarwanda shows the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a battalion of Tutsi rebels, rescuing the day.

While the civil war persisted, Kinyarwanda depicts romance, love, forgiveness, betrayal and fear in six different subplots to constitute one overarching storyline.   From a Catholic priest selling out his flock to Hutu gangs to preserve his own life, to an ex-Hutu gang member committing suicide at the Unity & Reconciliation Reedukation Camp after admission of killing a baby, Kinyarwanda shows how the Rwandans healed and rebuilt their nation.  Although there were some deficiencies in both the acting and interweaving of the subplots, Alrick Brown’s directorial debut was an admirable effort.  The film has English subtitles for several scenes so remain alert during the approximately 100 minutes of running time.

Kinyarwanda was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards and is the recipient of several film festival awards, including the 2011 World Cinema Audience Dramatic Award at Sundance.  The DVD, released May 1, 2012, has special features such as a cast and crew commentary, The Making of Kinyarwanda, a Kinyarwanda Comes Home featurette, galleries, the shooting script, and a memoriam of AD Steve Ntasi.

Surviving Progress continues with describing how ‘progress’ contributes to economic oppression.  Kambale Musavuli of Friends of the Congo states, “What is interesting is all the money plundered from all the international debts is found in Western banks.”  In other words, Western banks lend money to underdeveloped countries and the corrupt leaders of those same countries plunder the coffers, putting the stolen money back into Western banks.  Consequently, the economic development projects are stalled indefinitely.

While observing China, the opinions are varied.  When Mark Levine, a leader with China Energy Group was asked to explain progress, he replied, “What is progress? I think… that’s too hard a question.”  On the other hand, Chen Ming, a self-driving tour guide, voiced, “I’m like the monk, the master, I’m leading the members to the West, to find out the real meaning of life, to reach true enlightenment.”

Surviving Progress is based on Ronald Wright’s best-seller, “A Short History of Progress”, and has the blessing of Academy Award-winning director, Martin Scorsese, an Executive Producer of the film.  An important topic that should always stay on top of mind, Surviving Progress repurposed the phrase, ‘save our planet’, during a time when promoting a green economy is trendy.  Unfortunately, Surviving Progress doesn’t stand out from the mother earth crowd of films.

The resident artists were affectionately known as the Beat Generation, in part because they rebelled against American suburbia, censorship, war, and political hypocrisy through their art form. Some artists were optimistic about the future while other artists appeared heavily burdened by the past. Respected and cherished names associated with the Beat Generation include Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Gregory Corso, William Burroughs, Ian Somerville, and Brion Gysin.

Allen Ginsberg fled his obscenity trial in the United States and landed in Paris. William Burroughs authored Naked Lunch. Ian Somerville and Brion Gysin invented the Dream Machine. Harold Chapman, a British photographer and Scottish artist, Elliot Rudie, were both in Paris capturing the Beat Generation in action.

In Paris, the artists were free to move and think. Besides, why would the French and European officials expend resources on censoring young writers, photographers and poets when they had enough societal troubles of their own? Truth be told, certain police met their mistresses at this hotel and/or enjoyed a free meal by the hotel owner, Madame Rachou. No harm done, right!

Madame Rachou was the gatekeeper of the hotel and the artists amused her. Nevertheless, these artists found their way around Paris holding odd jobs while growing and maturing in their craft and talent. The hotel rental rates were cheap enough to allow some artists to have enough money to dine at different restaurants and socialize with the locals. Despite the repute, the hotel was a place to exchange impactful and enduring ideas. When the hotel is sold to new owners, a chapter in history concludes, but a seed of unrest is planted for the next generation.

Alan Govenar, director of The Beat Hotel, is a writer, folklorist, and photographer, and also the president of Documentary Arts, a non-profit organization that creates and preserves new perspectives on the arts, culture, and history. Govenar has also produced and directed numerous films in association with NOVA and PBS for broadcast and educational distribution. With that said, the first-hand accounts of what happened in The Beat Hotel appear genuine but the cinematic portrayal of those events were lackluster, almost sterile, as if Govenar were playing it safe for another NOVA/PBS audience.

The artwork embodies community tensions and conflicts that tend to spark a revolution or advance the revolution. The revolution can be seen as society’s breakthrough into new ideas and theories or to digression and decay. Whatever the reason behind creating the artwork, some artists take years to finish their masterpiece while other artists burn with passion to produce a work in the moment. Art IS…The Permanent Revolution begins with three contemporary American artists and a master printer providing introductory backgrounds of how they’d come to love their craft, who influenced their artwork, and some of their philosophies. Nostalgically speaking on the way things were, the aging artists and master printer appear to be producing work that is bordering extinction. This type of artwork (which requires exceptional skill) is by far more labor intensive in comparison to modern computer-generated graphic artistry. The film does not focus on artwork produced by computer graphic artists.
One artist mentions that despite how impactful her work, the compensation is meager. As a result, the artist must be creative in repurposing and recycling tools of the trade. The master printer indicates that his printer was custom-made and not many are around and operable. The audience witnesses the making of an etching, a woodcut and a lithograph. All three are stunning creations. Additionally, the audience can appreciate the meticulous planning required to make the first draft of work count as the final draft.

The documentary includes some narration on historical events that gave rise to the captivating work of Rembrandt, Goya, Picasso, Daumier, Kollwitz, Dix, Masereel, and Gropper, to name a few. Art IS…The Permanent Revolution becomes a film exhibition of more than 200 dramatic pieces of art in etching, woodcut and lithograph form. With that said, Kirchheimer’s love for artwork is plainly obvious. Nevertheless, the subject matter becomes arduous for an entire 82 minutes. If one of Kirchheimer’s goals was to reach a wider, general audience thereby educating them about the power and influence of art, a younger generation accustomed to sound bites, tweets and text message may not be so attentive. On the other hand, if a goal was to simply raise awareness, then mission accomplished.