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Thirty years after the release of director Spike Lee's biopic Malcolm X in 1992, based on Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the iconic African-American filmmaker returned to Saudi Arabia to screen the film publicly for the first time on the 30th anniversary year of its release. History was made on December 3, 2022, during the second annual Red Sea International Film Festival.
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The opening scene of French Burkinabé film director Cédric Ido's film La Gravité (The Gravity) is a powerful flashback sequence that sets the scene for this captivating dystopian tale set in the Parisian banlieue of Seine-Saint-Denis—the infamous "93" heralded in some of the best French rap tracks. Speaking to AfroToronto on a recent phone interview while in Toronto during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Ido discussed the many subtle and not-so-subtle references and homages to life on "la cité."
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The excitement was palpable last night during the red carpet event for the world premiere of The Woman King at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), starring veteran actress Viola Davis and a talented cast of majority fierce young Black female thespians who brought fire and acrobatic prowess to the screen.
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An interview with filmmaker Jennifer Holness about her debut feature documentary, Subjects of Desire. The film explores the destructive societal narratives that Black women and girls often face—while being acutely aware of the cultural appropriation underpinned by a shift in beauty standards towards embracing Black aesthetics.
Jamaican-born and Canadian-bred veteran filmmaker Jennifer Holness runs Hungry Eyes Film & Television, alongside her husband and business partner, fellow filmmaker Sudz Sutherland. We spoke to Jennifer about her debut feature documentary film, Subjects of Desire, which premiered earlier this month on TVO Original and is currently available for viewing on TVO.org, YouTube and TVO streaming channels.
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An interview about the new docu-concert on the legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) with the film's director Barry Avrich and Rosemary Sadlier, former president of the Ontario Black History Society.
The new Oscar Peterson documentary directed by Barry Avrich will have its world premiere today, September 12, 2021, at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
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An interview with Maya Annik Bedward — a Toronto-based filmmaker of Jamaican and French Canadian origin — on how her film company, Third Culture Media, explores the intersection of different cultures on screen.
Born in Ottawa to a Jamaican father and French-Canadian mother, Maya Annik Bedward is a Toronto-based filmmaker, director, and producer. Her films have been screened at festivals across North America and Europe and sold to Air Canada and the CBC.
In 2015, Maya launched Third Culture Media, with support from the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, alongside her producing partner, Kate Fraser.
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We recently lost a giant of the silver screen with the passing, at the age of 96, of famed Hollywood actress Cicely Tyson (Dec. 19, 1924 – Jan. 28, 2021). Her storied career, which spanned over seven decades, was particularly impactful through her steadfast commitment to breaking prevailing stereotypical representations of the black experience in film. She wanted to portray real people with emotions and heart.
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One of the highlights of the recently wrapped-up Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was the celebration of the Planet Africa series, which began 25 years ago and ran for ten years. Four films were chosen from this year's lineup to highlight Planet Africa's legacy, founded by Cameron Bailey.
From its first edition in 1995, through the program's 10-year-run (1995-2004), Planet Africa highlighted and celebrated cinema from Africa and the African diaspora as part of the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). “Planet Africa is one of the most significant events in Black film history and the Canadian cultural industry, yet much of its story and longstanding impact remains untold,” as Orla La-Wayne Garriques, cultural curator of PlanetAfricaLegacy.com said.
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Filmmaker Ava DuVernay speaks to TIFF's Cameron Bailey about social justice, the Black Lives Matter movement, and how she's using the medium of film to tell the important stories of our times.
“I always feel like we're in the presence of history, and I don't understand why people don't see that. But this year, people get it,” as Oscar-nominated producer, writer, director, and distributor Ava DuVernay told TIFF artistic director and co-head Cameron Bailey recently as part of a streamed online conversation during this year's Toronto International Film Festival. “As a storyteller, I work a lot with historical narrative,” as she prefaces.
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Actress Halle Berry speaks to CBC's Amanda Parris as part of the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) about her distinguished career and her most recent film project and directorial debut, 'Bruised.'
I'm of the generation of black youth which came of age in my twenties during the 1990s — which arguably was the golden age of black storytelling on the small screen and big screen. Back in those days, before Netflix and the internet at scale, we eagerly clung to our sacred Wednesday and Thursday nights in front of the TV to catch the iconic 90s black sitcoms and series like A Different World, New York Undercover, and Living Single.
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