Hey cool kids, here’s the film line-up and schedule for ROOTS Week 2016! Check out these awesome films and hit up the AlternateROOTS website for more info!
The Schedule:
Thursday / Aug 11 / 1:30pm to 3pm
Interview with Dr. Doris Derby / 2:55
Buckjumping trailer / 3:00
Cochon Rouge by the White Trash Collective, 2001 / 30:00
conNECKted / 21:00
Thursday / Aug 11 / 5pm to 6pm
The Feast / 15:09
Everything is To Be Continued / 12:00
A Conversation With John O’Neal / 16:04
Friday / Aug 12 / TBD
Open Screen
Friday / Aug 12 / 3 to 4:30pm
Bizosso TV / 10:59
Mining and Resistance in Dinétah / 24:00
Free Southern Theater: Beginnings (Work-in-Progress) / 22:00
Saturday / Aug 13 / 12:15 to 1:30pm
Alternate ROOTS documentary by George King / 29:45
Don’t Start Me to Talking or I’ll Tell Everything I Know / 43:00
The Films:
Interview with Dr. Doris Derby (2013) / 2:55
Produced by Junebug Productions
Dr. Doris Derby is one of the three co-founders of the Free Southern Theater. In this interview she discusses how she met the other co-founders John O’Neal and Gilbert Moses in Jackson, MS in 1963.
Buckjumping trailer / 3:00
Directed by Lily Keber
Buckjumping is a cinematic journey into the dance traditions of New Orleans. It follows different dancing communities as they express themselves through movement, painting a dynamic portrait of a city’s spirituality, defiance and resourcefulness.
conNECKted / 21:00
Directed by Gwylene Gallimard
Two documentaries created with 6th and 7th grade students at James Simons Public School in Charleston. The first film is a film of questions. The young people are encouraged to ask any type of questions, including difficult ones. The “conNECKted” team then shows questions privately to bring back various filmed answers to them.
Cochon Rouge by the White Trash Collective, 2001 / 30:00
From the VHS collection of Toni Shifalo
This video was made by a group of ROOTers including SueEllen McMillan of Florida & Jerry Pope of Virginia. It is a spoof on “Moulon Rouge” the film and a silly little film. But no one has seen it in years – so who? knows!!
Everything is To Be Continued / 12:00
Directed by Lily Keber
Everything is To Be Continued uses a week in the life of a New Orleans brass band as a conceit around which to tell the story of the fragility of life in poor black New Orleans, the impact of Katrina, the violence that steals young talented Black men from their families and the razor thin margins of working musicians, even in a city whose entire reputation is based on their work.
The Feast / 15:09
Directed by Alexandra McColl
An exploration of female sexuality- women’s ability to express themselves as sexual beings, viewing our female bodies as objects to be sexually desired, and the socially constructed cage of scrutiny that surrounds gender normatives.
A Conversation with John O’Neal (2013) / 16:04
Directed by Jason Foster and Kiyoko McCrae
Filmed in November 2012, this conversation with John O’Neal, co-founder of Free Southern Theater and founding Artistic Director of Junebug Productions centers around Mr. O’Neal’s values and aesthetics that have guided his approach to art-making over the span of his 50+ year career as a civil rights organizer, playwright, director and actor. From the formation of Free Southern Theater and the story circle process to the creation of the mythical everyman character Junebug Jabbo Jones, Mr. O’Neal shares the importance and power of stories and its role in creating social change.
Bizosso TV / 10:59
Directed by Charles Dennis
BTV (aka Bizosso Television) is a collection of short humorous videos created by Charles Dennis for Cafe Bizosso, a cabaret performance installation by Atlanta artist Normando Ismay that was featured at the 1994 Alternate ROOTS Annual Meeting.
Mining and Resistance in Dinétah / 24:00
Directed by jordan flaherty
Dinétah is the name of the land of the Navajo, spanning parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. The US government, working with coal companies, has forcibly relocated an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Diné people. Today, only a small group of Diné people (mostly elders) lives here, and those that remain are being pressured to leave. This film focuses on youth and elders coming together to fight for the survival of their culture, fighting against displacement caused by US government policy, as well as exploitation caused by mining and other polluting industries.
Free Southern Theater: Beginnings (work in progress) / 22:49
Produced by Kiyoko McCrae and Stephanie McKee, Directed by Jason R.A. Foster
This documentary in the making is a fascinating look at the founding of the Free Southern Theater in the early 1960s. Check out this sneak peek.
“Well, if theatre means anything, anywhere, it should certainly mean something here. Why don’t we start a Theatre?” – Dr. Doris Derby speaking to John O’Neal and Gilbert Moses in 1963.
Alternate ROOTS / creating and presenting original performing art in the SE United States / 29:35
Written and Produced by George King
Interviews with ROOTS legends like Linda Parris-Bailey, Bob Leonard, and Ruby Lerner frame this 1990’s documentary about the structure of Alternate ROOTS and what it means to be a ROOTer.
Don’t Start Me to Talking or I’ll Tell Everything I Know (1985) / 43:00
Directed by Stevenson J. Palfi
An incredible staged documentation of John O’Neal performing as Dr. Junebug Jabbo Jones, this documentary featurette features a captivating performance and some clever ’80s editing. The show was the final production of the Free Southern Theater while also marking the first appearance of Junebug Productions. The stage performance premiered in 1980 and the film was created in 1985.