...::Call For Films: The Black Man And His Art And Style

An annual film festival is seeking films on Black men and their creativity.

The International Black Man Film Festival is in its eighth year. Films will be screened in November 2009, in Atlanta, USA, in 2009, and in Atlanta and Lagos, Nigeria in 2010.

Festival Director Yemi Toure says: "Our theme for 2009 is 'Creative Fire! The Black Man and His Art and Style'. So we are seeking films about Black men as creators, survivors, style setters, poets, visionaries, builders and ground-breakers, as well as graphic artists, painters, dancers or sculptors".

Features, documentaries, student works, short films, older works and works in progress are all welcome.

Because the Festival is international, films about Black men from anywhere in the world are eligible. Women and people of all races are equally welcome to submit works.

Films in any language are welcome. Submit works in DVD format. There is no submission fee.

Send to: Yemi Toure, IBMFF, 2165 Rugby Ave - 613, College Park GA 30337, USA. Two copies of your work must be submitted to that address. Phone 1-404-432-2194.

For 2010 in Nigeria, reach Tenisio Seanima, Festival Assistant Director-Nigeria, at 0703-477-8543. All films from anywhere in the world must be submitted to the USA address.

Deadline for 2009 was Sat.12.Sep.2009, but later submissions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The Festival will be held in Atlanta on Sat.07.Nov.2009. Festival web site is blackmanfilmfest.net.

...::In The Midst Of War, Congo Women Find Joy In Hairstyles

...::God's Gonna--

The storm gathered.

New Orleans resident Kimberly Rivers Roberts had just bought a video camera on the street for $10. With no filmmaking experience but feeling something in her bones, she let the camera roll.

The result is the 2008 documentary "Trouble the Water." It has been out for months, but it still haunts me.

The storm speaks through Roberts' camera. You can feel its power-- and its devastation. When you hear that wind howling down the street, if you don't believe in God, I feel sorry for you in the Next Life.

This film is rough. Raw. Unscripted.

Not the sweetly crafted words of a news anchor a thousand miles away, with the facial expression of concern, also sweetly crafted. No.

This is not even the story from the point of view of the rescue helicopters hovering over desperate people on roofs.

This is the story from the point of view of the people on the roofs. And under the roofs who did not make it.

It is also the story of everyday people with that most critical resource: the skill to survive, and to even care about others, in the face of one of the most horrible-- if not the most horrible-- catastrophe of their lives.

In the storm's wake, we see death, destroyed lives, scattered families. And Kimberly Rivers Roberts keeps shooting.

The film was nominated for an Oscar, and won the Grand Jury Prize for documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival.

There is no easy solution here. No happy ending. But when the lights go up, you will have experienced filmmaking as powerful as the storm.