A FILM SERIES ABOUT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and Maryland Film Festival are hosting a film series related to the Black Panther Party in conjunction with the opening of the national traveling exhibition Black Panther Rank and File at MICA. Black Panther Rank and File sheds new light on one of the 20th century’s most controversial and influential movements with historical artifacts, oral histories, and contemporary artworks, complemented by a full slate of public programs. The exhibition runs Thursday, November 8–Sunday, December 16 in Fox Building’s Decker and Meyerhoff galleries at 1303 Mount Royal Avenue. For more information about Black Panther Rank and File, visit www.mica.edu/blackpanther or call 410-225-2300.

For more information about the film series, visit www.mdfilmfest.org or call 410-752-8083.

OCTOBER FILM SERIES SCHEDULE

Tuesday, October 2 - THE MURDER OF FRED HAMPTON (1971) by Howard Alk and Mike Gray

Hosted by Masai Ehehosi, a New Jersey Black Panther Party and American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) member and human rights activist currently involved with the Free Mumia Coalition, NYC, and the Free Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (Rap Brown) Campaign.

This documentary focuses on Fred Hampton, leader of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who was killed in 1969 by Chicago police while sleeping in his apartment. The filmmakers were already shooting a portrait of this charismatic speaker and community organizer when his murder occurred. Arriving at the crime scene only a few hours after the police raid, the unsettling footage they captured was later used to contradict news reports and police testimony in what many believe to be Hampton’s assassination.

Tuesday, October 9 - A PANTHER IN AFRICA (2004) by Aaron Matthews

Hosted by Aaron Matthews, a veteran documentary filmmaker (“My American Girls,” PBS and the Discovery Channel).

On October 30, 1969, Pete O’Neal, a young Black Panther in Kansas City, Missouri, was arrested for transporting a gun across state lines, fled the charge, and for over 30 years, has lived in Tanzania.

Tuesday, October 23 - PUBLIC ENEMY (1999) by Jens Meurer

Hosted by veteran filmmaker St. Clair Bourne, who began his career as a producer on The Black Journal, the first black public affairs television series in the United States. He is currently producing a four-hour documentary about the Black Panther Party through his production company, Chamba Mediaworks, Inc. His blog CHAMBA NOTES (www.chambanote.com) promotes political and cultural issues in filmmaking.

The lives of four former Black Panther members are examined in this French-German documentary co-production. Poet and teacher Jamal Joseph, law professor/activist Kathleen Cleaver, musician Nile Rodgers, and Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale reminisce about their involvement with the movement in the 1960s and reflect on how their lives have changed since that era. The film affectionately follows these four survivors, who try in vastly different ways to remain true to themselves, with their memories furnishing the film’s raw material.

Tuesday, October 30 - ELDRIDGE CLEAVER, BLACK PANTHER (1970) by William Klein

Hosted by Harold Weaver, film historian and educator and currently non-resident fellow at the Du Bois Research Institute, Harvard University, has taught and published on third-world films in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. His current focus is using films to enhance cross-cultural understanding and respect through The ChinaFilm Project and The BlackFilm Project.

In this documentary feature, Black Panther activist Eldridge Cleaver and his wife Kathleen Cleaver (who will be a participant in the Black Panther Rank and File Symposium) are interviewed by William Klein. Cleaver speaks from exile in Algeria, a move prompted by the state of California’s decision to view criminal indictment as a parole violation. Klein filmed Cleaver nonstop for three days and captured him as he discussed American racism, policies of the Black Panther Party, attempts on his life, and the Vietnam War.

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author of "The Black Holocaust for Beginners" Social Activism is not a hobby: it's a Lifestyle lasting a Lifetime blackeducator.blogspot.com