Homo Harlem - Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Project & short films
Maysles Cinema New York, NY
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Homo Harlem - Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Project & short films
Two short films that play upon LGBT issues followed by Charles Bracks' Dreams Deferred that explores the murder of 15 year old Sakia Gunn in a hate crime which was largely undocumented by the press. With a discussion to follow films, speakers TBA.
Three Queer Mice Supafriends/Global Action Project, 2008, 2 min In Three Queer Mice, based on real stories, this at once quirky and tragic animated remake of the Three Blind Mice nursery rhyme hauntingly reflects the dangers and discrimination queer youth face.
Keisha Knows Supafriends/Global Action Project, 2010, 8 min Inspired by the intense love affairs of lesbian pulp-fiction novels, Keisha Knows is an homage to the film noir aesthetic. Addressing hetero-normativity, Keisha Knows is not just any ordinary love story, but one that explores what is at stake when a community is divided.
Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project Dir. Charles B. Brack, 2008, 58 min. This documentary tells the little known story of Sakia Gunn, a 15 year old student who was fatally stabbed in a gay hate crime in Newark, New Jersey. Sakia held promise as a basketball player and was an "A" student, looking forward to becoming a senior at Newark's West Side High School. Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project depicts the homophobia that caused this murder and questions the lack of media coverage of the murder of a Black Gay teenager. "This 15 year old black lesbian was murdered, and I didn't know about it", says activist Swazzi Sowo of Black Rap in San Francisco. The documentary follows the reaction of the Newark community where several rallies and vigils were held, galvanizing the community and prompting several LGBT organizations to form, including the Newark Pride Alliance and Sakia Gunn Aggressives & Femmes, as well as a scholarship fund in her name. May 23, the day Sakia was murdered, was declared by the city of Newark's Mayor as "No Name Calling Day."
About the Third Annual Homo-Harlem Film Series: Co-sponsored by State Senator Bill Perkins, Harlem United, Sage Harlem, Men of All Colors Together Harlem Pride and Third World Newsreel, the Homo-Harlem Film Series is Upper Manhattan's foremost celebration and recognition of the cultural accomplishments of LGBT people of color.
Discussion
Location
Maysles Cinema
343 Lenox Ave.
New York, NY 10027
United States
