Films
When the Drum is Beating trailer
In Haiti, there is one band that has seen it all: Septentrional. For six decades this 20-piece band has been making beautiful music -- a fusion of Cuban big band and Haitian vodou beats – and turns out thousands of fans each time it plays. When the Drum is Beating interweaves the extraordinary story of this Haitian institution’s six decades of creativity with the history of Haiti, and explains how the country went from being the first free black republic with a huge wealth of natural resources, to a shattered state that cannot support it’s citizens. When the Drum is Beating premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, and has screened at numerous American and international festivals including, where it has won a number of editing cinematography and general excellence awards. When the Drum is Beating is slated for a Theatrical release by First Run Features in January 2011 and will be broadcast on PBS later in the spring. website
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Two Towns of Jasper
Made with two segregated film crews, one black and one white, Two Towns of Jasper looks at a small Texas town in the wake of the brutal dragging murder of James Byrd Jr. Co-directed by Whitney Dow and Marco Williams, the film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, was the highest rated P.O.V. episode in PBS history and won numerous awards including a George Foster Peabody Award, an Alfred I. duPont Award and an Anthony Radziwill Documentary Achievement Award. www.twotownsofjasper.com
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I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education
Made for Viacom’s “N” network as 50th anniversary special for the historic Brown v. Board of Education court ruling, the film tracks 15 students at a Buffalo, NY high school as they attempt to integrate their self-segregated lunchroom. The film debuted at the Smithsonian Institution’s Brown v. Board of Education exhibit, and went on to win a Beacon Award and a Parents Choice Award. The film recently screened at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of its series on Social Justice in Art.
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Unfinished Country
Produced as part of the PBS series “Wide Angel” this film examines the voter registration drive that preceded Haiti’s 2005 presidential election. Told from the vantage points of five disparate characters ranging from the ex-leader of the feared Cannibal Army, to a single mother living in the violent Port au Prince slum La Saline, the film gives a Haitian-eye view of the country’s most recent try at democracy. www.wideangle.org
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Banished
Made in conjunction with the Center for Investigative Reporting and directed by Marco Williams, Banished examines three different American towns where early in the 20th Century; black residents were driven off their land by whites. The film debuted at the 2007 Sundance film festival and went on to win a number of awards, including Best Documentary at the 2007 Miami International Film Festival. The film was broadcast on the PBS series “Independent Lens” in February 2008. www.Banishedthefilm.com
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Freedom Summer
Part of the History Channel’s Emmy-winning series “Ten Days that Unexpectedly Changed America” this film examines the 1964 murders of three voter registration workers in Philadelphia Mississippi. Directed by Marco Williams, the film reveals the gruesome details of the murders, their craven nature, and shows how they shocked the nation into starting down the road of true civil rights reform.
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MLK Boulevard: The Concrete Dream
In the United States, there are more than 680 boulevards, avenues, streets, drives, and lanes in towns, counties, and cities named in honor of slain Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. In fact, there are more streets named for King than for any other American, except for presidents Lincoln and Washington (even more than for JFK or FDR). Why?
"MLK Boulevard: The Concrete Dream" takes the viewer on a journey to thirty of these locations, from Eugene to Muncie, from Atlanta to Memphis, seeking to determine whether these streets recognize an African American icon or commemorate an America hero.Winner: The National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award.