Film Independent Members and guests are invited to join us for live Q&As with A Love Song for Latasha director/producer Sophia Nahli Allison, followed by Giving Voice directors/producers James D. Stern and Fernando Villena.

A Love Song for Latasha

The injustice surrounding the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins at a South Central Los Angeles store became a flashpoint for the city’s 1992 civil uprising. As the Black community expressed its profound pain in the streets, Latasha’s friends and family privately mourned the loss of a vibrant child whose full story was never in the headlines. Nearly three decades later, director Sophia Nahli Allison’s A Love Song for Latasha removes Latasha from the context of her death and rebuilds an archive of a promising life lost. Oral history and memories from Latasha’s best friend and cousin converge in a dreamlike portrait that shows the impact one brief but brilliant life can have.

 
2020, 19 minutes, color | Directed by Sophia Nahli Allison | Featuring Tybie O’Bard, Shinese Harlins, Zoe Flint, Nnenna Brown, Londyn Sharp, Marley Cortez, Raigan Alex | Produced by Fam Udeorji and Sophia Nahli Allison

Giving Voice

A new generation of performers is discovered in Giving Voice, which follows the emotional journey of six students as they advance through the high-stakes August Wilson Monologue Competition, an event which celebrates one of America’s preeminent playwrights. Every year, thousands of students from twelve cities across the United States perform the Pulitzer Prize winner’s work (Fences, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) for a shot to perform on Broadway. Directors Jim Stern and Fernando Villena capture students discovering themselves and the world around them through Wilson’s “Century Cycle,” a canon of ten plays portraying the 20th Century African-American experience. Executive producer Viola Davis, along with Fences co-star Denzel Washington, share the impact that Wilson’s timeless artistry and legacy has had on their careers and their hopes for the young people carrying it forward. Winner of this year’s Sundance Festival favorite award, Giving Voice is an Endgame Entertainment and Pilgrim Media Group Production in association with Endeavor Content, Impact Partners, Get Lifted Film Co and JuVee Productions.

 
2020, 90 minutes, color | Directed by James D. Stern and Fernando Villena | Produced by James D. Stern, Karen Bove, Fernando Villena, Schoen Smith, Craig Piligian | Executive Produced by Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius, Dan Cogan, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Gretchen Stockdale, Nicholas Caprio, Constanza Romero

Event details and guest participation are subject to change or cancellation without prior notice.