Saturday,
May 17th
@ American Film Institute (AFI),
Mark Goodson Theatre
Noon - 6pm
Host & Moderator,
Tim Cogshell
This year’s DAY OF BLACK DOCS is hosted by Tim Cogshell, a veteran film critic and journalist with more than 30 years of experience working for broadcast, print, Internet and digital media, including NPR, KNBC, Spectrum News 1, ABC 7, Box Office Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Alt-Film Guide, among others. He’s a regular on NPR affiliate KPCC’s “FilmWeek” with Larry Mantle and co-host of the “CineGods” podcast.
This year’s DAY OF BLACK DOCS is hosted by Tim Cogshell, a veteran film critic and journalist with more than 30 years of experience working for broadcast, print, Internet and digital media, including NPR, KNBC, Spectrum News 1, ABC 7, Box Office Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Alt-Film Guide, among others. He’s a regular on NPR affiliate KPCC’s “FilmWeek” with Larry Mantle and co-host of the “CineGods” podcast.
This year’s DAY OF BLACK DOCS is hosted by Tim Cogshell, a veteran film critic and journalist with more than 30 years of experience working for broadcast, print, Internet and digital media, including NPR, KNBC, Spectrum News 1, ABC 7, Box Office Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Alt-Film Guide, among others. He’s a regular on NPR affiliate KPCC’s “FilmWeek” with Larry Mantle and co-host of the “CineGods” podcast.
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SHEPHERD'S CALLING
From the rugged caves of Ethiopia to the dazzling lights of Hollywood, 'SHEPHERD'S CALLING' follows the remarkable journey of an Ethiopian shepherd turned filmmaker in America. This captivating documentary explores the struggles of leaving home, reconciling cultural identities, and the universal quest for belonging. Directed by Wubetu Shimelash (Short Documentary/US/22min) Documentary/US/22m
IT WAS ALL A DREAM
It Was All a Dream is a feature-length archival documentary by dream hampton. An NYU film student when she began shooting in 1993, hampton was already a provocative music journalist and critic with access to rap’s emerging superstars including her neighbor The Notorious BIG, Snoop, Mobb Deep and Method Man from Wu-Tang. It Was All a Dream takes its viewers inside the studio for the making of landmark albums by rap’s greatest voices. This thirty year old archive sat in storage for three decades and is a largely vérité journey. hampton’s narration added 30 years later is actually text from articles published in the early 90s. Directed by dream hampton (Feature Documentary/US/79 min)
BILLY PRESTON: That's The Way God Planned It
Billy Preston was 5 years old when he backed gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. Over the following six-decade career, Billy contributed his signature sound to the greatest artists of his time, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Sly Stone, Ray Charles, Rufus, Eric Clapton, and others, while establishing himself as a GRAMMY-winning solo artist. Despite his success, Billy struggled to reconcile his deep relationship with the Black church with his sexuality, setting off a lifelong quest to find love and acceptance. Directed by Paris Barclay (Feature Documentary/US/105 min) (Festival Premiere)
WE WANT THE FUNK
Is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul, and early jazz roots, to its rise into the public consciousness. Featuring James Brown's dynamism, the extraterrestrial funk of George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic, transformed girl group Labelle, and Fela Kuti's Afrobeat, the story also traces funk's influences on both new wave and hip-hop. Directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London (Feature Documentary/US/90 min)