“It’s not just a parking lot, it’s a battle with humanity.”
The Parking Lot Movie is a documentary about a singular parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia and its select group of attendants that inhabit its microcosm. The employees are a uniquely varied group comprised of undergraduate and graduate students, philosophers, intellectuals, musicians, artists, and marginal-type characters.
“This isn’t Chicken Soup for the Soul. It’s a bitch slap for the slumbering.”
An in-your-face wake-up call,GhettoPhysics shows how the game of life is played—and it’s all the same game! From the corner offices of Wall Street to the inner sanctums of world governments, from the red light districts in the ghettos to the living rooms behind the white-picket fences on Main Street, game is happening. And if you don’t know it, the game is going to roll right over you.
Page One.
A year at the New York Times.
More children are growing up without a father at home. In his documentary Dear Daddy, filmmaker Janks Morton explores the emotional consequences for black girls and the women they become. Host Michel Martin speaks with Morton, Jasmine Bowden, who was featured in the film, and Jonetta Rose Barras, author of Whatever Happened to Daddy’s Little Girl?
The American Promise journey began in 1999, when filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson enrolled their son Idris in the Dalton School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan after the private institution boldly strengthened its commitment to cultivating a diverse student body. Michèle and Joe decided to turn the camera on themselves to film the experiences of 5-year-old Idris and his best friend and classmate Seun. The documentary captures the stories of Idris, Seun, and their families from the first day of kindergarten all the way to their 2012 high school graduation.
Over the 12 years, we see the boys and their families struggle with stereotypes and identity, navigate learning differences that later become diagnoses, and ultimately take increasingly divergent paths on their road to graduation. We also see a rare and vivid portrait of middle-class African-American families as the parents wrestle with doubts and angst over their sons’ educational journey and both families grapple with how best to support their sons and interact with teachers and administrators. All of this is set against the backdrop of a persistent educational achievement gap that dramatically affects African-American boys at all socioeconomic levels across the country.
Black and Write
African-American writers have long made a lasting impression in literacy circles worldwide. From Frederick Douglass’ famous narrative on slavery to bell hooks’ eloquent description of feminism to Alice Walker’s poignant portrayal of Black women in ‘The Color Purple’ and Toni Morrison’s gut-wrenching words in ‘The Bluest Eye’, the literary works of Black people have left their mark on millions around the world. Southern Gurl Productions is creating a documentary that offers a behind-the-scenes view of an American-based writers’ conference that has helped shape several best-selling authors and added their voices to the Black literary giants who made an indelible impression on us all. After 12 years and seven conferences, the Black Writers Reunion & Conference is hosting its final event in Fort Lauderdale this August. ‘BLACK AND WRITE’ will capture all aspects of this inspirational event plus authors sharing their stories of success and failure in the publishing industry. ‘BLACK AND WRITE’ portrays everyone from THE VETERANS – authors with more than 25 titles to their names and have over a decade’s worth of experience; THE HUSTLERS – authors who have published at least one book and are yearning for more; and THE NEWBIES – unpublished authors working on getting their first literary tome into print.
