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"Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all. We can't act?! WTF!!" Spike Lee wrote Monday on his Instagram post of a picture Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith are boycotting, and the spotlight's on presenter Chris Rock.
But Portland's Hollywood Theatre's fourth annual Portland Black Film Festival was announced today, and it will pre-game the #OscarsSoWhite Awards ceremony (February 28) with two weeks of black films that "offer diverse perspectives and stories in an art form all too often dominated by white filmmakers."
That's right on the heels of the Theatre's perpetually sold-out run of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. On Samuel L. Jackson being snubbed for a Best Actor nomination, Tarantino said he thinks "they take him for granted." The Hollywood sure didn't.
The day before the Oscars, the Fest deals its knockout blow—Fred "The Hammer" Williamson attending a screening of Black Caesar (1973), about a young black boy who's attacked and crippled by a white police officer.
GO: The Portland Black Film Festival is at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., hollywoodtheatre.org. Feb. 10 – 27. $8.
Here's the Hollywood's full list of Black Film Festival features:
Wednesday, Feb. 10, 7:30pm
BUCK AND THE PREACHER (1972): Sidney Poitier stars as Buck, a trail guide leading former slaves to homesteads in the West. Harry Belafonte is the Preacher, a con-man minister forced into helping Buck in his dangerous work. When vicious white men and bounty hunters begin to terrorize and stop wagon trains heading west, Buck and the Preacher must fight back by any means necessary. Directed by Sidney Poitier. Rare 35mm print.
Saturday, Feb. 13, 7:30pm
SANTA FE SATAN (CATCH MY SOUL) (1974): A rock opera version of Othello starring Richie Havens! Shakespeare's tragedy of revenge and racism this time plays out in the New Mexico desert, with Othello (Havens) as the pacifist leader of a hippie commune. Rare 35mm print, recently discovered!
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 7:30pm
PENITENTIARY (1979): A hitchhiker named Martel Gordone (Leon Isaac Kennedy) gets in a fight with two bikers, and one of the bikers is killed. Gordone is arrested and sent to prison, where he joins the prison's boxing team in an effort to secure an early parole and to establish his dominance over the prison's toughest gang. One of the most powerful films to come out of the "L.A. Rebellion" film movement. Directed by Jamaa Fanaka. 35mm print.
Thursday, Feb. 18, 7:00pm
A BALLERINA'S TALE (2015): This new documentary about ballerina Misty Copeland examines her prodigious rise and her potentially career-ending injury, alongside themes of race and body image in the elite ballet world. Directed by Nelson George.
Saturday, Feb. 20, 2:30pm
SPIRITS OF THE REBELLION: This documentary by Zeinabu Irene Davis provides intimate access to several filmmakers identified as the "L.A. Rebellion" movement, including Charles Burnett, Ben Caldwell, Julie Dash, Haile Gerima, Barbara McCullough, Billy Woodberry, and Davis herself, at work and in discussion. The film's topics include the origins of the name "L.A. Rebellion," the importance of public education to this group and in today's world, and the intriguing question, "What is a Black film?"
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 7:30pm
RAP CITY: Co-presented with Re-Run Theater, this program celebrates the original age of hip hop in the 1980s by compiling the era's freshest moments: clips from the underground TV show "Graffiti Rock," rare footage of The Rock Steady Crew (one of the first official breakdance crews), clips from all the biggest rap movies, and music videos you could only find on late night TV. Featuring appearances by Kool Moe Dee, JJ Fad, Run DMC, The Fat Boys, Sugarhill Gang and Doug E. Fresh.
Saturday, Feb. 27, 7:00pm
BLACK CAESAR (1973): As a young boy, Tommy Gibb (Fred Williamson) has his leg broken by a dirty cop. Nursing his vengeance through violence, he rises to power in New York City's Harlem, where he attracts the attention of the head of a Mafia family. Once accepted into "The Family," Gibb grows increasingly aggressive, eventually starting a gang war. Directed by Larry Cohen, with an incredible original soundtrack by James Brown. With actor Fred "The Hammer" Williamson in attendance.
Willamette Week