James Brown The 2007 Newark Black Film Festival, produced by The Newark Museum in conjunction with the Monmouth County Arts Council, has expanded its 33-year-old program to include Asbury Park this summer.
The Newark Black Film Festival in Asbury Park will take place June 29, July 13, 20, 27 and Aug. 3 at The Baronet Theater, 205 Fourth Ave. Screenings are free.
The film festival, which has attracted thousands over the past 33 years, incorporates the best in films about, or made by, African Americans and brings well-known speakers and filmmakers to the city. In addition to free films geared toward adults, the festival will also present a free series for children.
This year’s festival kicks off with “Revolution ’67,” which depicts the “untold” story of the riots that erupted in Newark in 1967. The film will be shown Friday at 7 p.m. with a panel discussion including Junius Williams, Abbott Leadership Institute, Richard Cammarieri, New Community Corp., Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate.
Shirley Chisholm “Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed,” to be shown July 3 at 7 p.m., follows the campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for president.
Playing July 20 at 7 p.m. is “James Brown – The Man the Music and the Message.” The film highlights the live performances of Brown and his music spanning four decades.
Scheduled for July 27 at 7 p.m., the Oscar award-winning film “Tsotsi” is a gritty and moving portrait of an angry young man living in a state of extreme urban deprivation.
“Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes” will be shown Aug. 3 at 7 p.m. The film explores issues such as women and violence in rap music, representations of manhood in hip-hop culture, rap lyrics and homoeroticism in hip-hop.
Free children’s film screenings on June 29, July 13, 20, 27 and Aug. 3 at 10 a.m. include films that explore love, humanity and friendship, and include a collection of animated African and African American folktales. Youth screening programs with film-related hands-on workshops will be presented.
Since its inception in 1974, the festival has provided a forum for emerging writers, directors, producers, performers and film patrons who enjoy black cinema. The goal of the festival is to present programs that reflect the full diversity of the black experience, both past and present, encompassing a wide range of forums and formulas, from documentary to the avant-garde.
In the past 33 years, the Newark Black Film Festival has screened 614 films to an audience of nearly 134,000 adults and children.
By bringing the Newark Museum Black Film Festival to Asbury Park, the Monmouth County Arts Council is fulfilling two of the major goals of the Asbury Park Cultural Plan: to build Asbury Park’s image and identity as an arts rich community, including its significant music, theater and film legacies; and to celebrate the community’s ethnic diversity.
For information or e-tickets for the films featured in the Newark Black Film Festival in Asbury Park, visit www.monmouthartscouncil.org. Information is also available at www.NewarkMuseum.org.