My most recent collaboration is with Brooklyn-based performance artist Ghai'l Rhodes Benjamin in the production of a 4 min. video titled Reparation Blues, for the WGBH Lab's Open Call. The rough cut is currently on their site http://lab.wgbh.org/. We would appreciate your comments and rating. I'm currently doing the fine cut, and that should probably be up some time next week. (Feb.)
Al Santana Films At BAM
in Screenings
Films At BAM
Please join me on Monday, October 1, 2007, 7:00 PM at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for a retrospective of my work. We’ll be screening excerpts from two long-form films: Voices of The Gods, (1985) and Durban 400, (2003), as well as three short films:
In The Spirit of Peace (2002)
Military Option (2005)
One People (2007)
Voices of The Gods is a documentary about two ancient West African Religions (Yoruba and Akan) that are practiced in the United States today.
Durban 400 produced by The Drammeh Institute and Al Santana Productions, is a documentary that focuses on Reparations for the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. The film follows a group of grass-roots activist to Durban, South Africa for the 2001 U.N. World Conference Against Racism, Xenophia and Related Intolerances where they address the issue of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and Colonialism as Crimes Against Humanity.
In The Spirit of Peace was produced as part of Third World Newsreel’s Call For Media Action, following the 9/11 attacks. It chronicles a peace march that took place in Brooklyn on September 23, 2001, where members of Brooklyn’s Yoruba and Akan communities made a definitive call for peace in direct contradiction to the message coming from the government and corporate media outlets.
Military Option is collaboration of filmmaker, Rico Speight and Third World Newsreel’s Call For Change initiative. This film looks at military recruiting practices in communities of color.
One People, a collaboration of producer/playwright Laura L. Fowler and Al Santana, takes place against the backdrop of a gentrified Harlem community. The story centers on two sisters who have opposite views about social responsibility and the role of artists. Aliyah, a self-styled revolutionary filmmaker, is producing a documentary about the 1960's black power movement. Her sister, Valerie, is a poet whose work centers on themes of sensuality and love. They challenge each other on the purity of art and the need for art to inspire social change. Together, they discover a politicized Lorraine Hansberry.
Please visit my website to view clips of the films and other cool stuff. www.alsantana.com
Best regards and hope to see you on Monday at BAM. General admission is $11. and we'll also have DVD's of Voices of The Gods, Durban 400 and One People on sale.
Al
Process Is Everything