Bedford-Stuyvesant based film exhibition company The Luminal Theater continues to bring independent Black/African diaspora film programming to neighborhood audiences with the return of their popular community-centered outdoor film screening series the Cinema Garden Party.
Resuming the series this past May with the acclaimed documentary Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed on Bed-Stuy congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and the storied documentary Black Theatre on how the civil rights movement of the 1950’s-70’s led to the modern theatre scene, this Thursday, June 21 brings a hotly anticipated documentary to Bed-Stuy audiences.
In Whose Streets? racism and activism are explored through the Ferguson uprising that followed Black teen Mike Brown’s murder by local St. Louis, Missouri police. Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents empowered residents, as well as parents, artists, and teachers from around the country, to come together as freedom fighters. As the National Guard descends on Ferguson with military grade weaponry, these young community members become the torchbearers of a new resistance. Whose Streets? is directed by Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis.
This screening of “Whose Streets?” serves as a sneak preview before its July 30th premiere date on POV, the award-winning independent non-fiction film series on PBS.
With a mission to fight disempowering narratives of the Black community, The Luminal Theater presents films that are as various as the Black community is – a true diaspora that is in no way monolithic in appearance, sensibilities, or storytelling styles. And of course, their films are also entertaining.
The First Quincy Street Community Garden hosts this Cinema Garden Party screening of “Whose Streets.” Seating begins at 7:30pm for a sundown start. Information regarding the Cinema Garden Party films can be found on The Luminal Theater website at LuminalTheater.org
The Cinema Garden Party is sponsored, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), and the Citizens Committee for New York City Neighborhood Grant. The Luminal Theater is a sponsored organization of the New York Foundation for the Arts. NYFA is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization founded in 1971 to work with the arts community throughout New York State and the United States to develop and facilitate programs in all disciplines.
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