ICD Film, Theatre & Literary Festival Launches Exo-Genesis Movement for Caribbean-American Heritage Month
by MISANI
Special to the AmNews
Originally posted 5/31/2007
Exo-Genesis 2007 is a twenty-first century cultural movement experience integrating film, theatre and literature. This is the theme that will pervade the International Caribbean Diaspora (ICD) Film, Theatre and Literary Festival for three evenings, on June 13, 14 and 15, at the newly renovated Schomburg Center for the Research in Black Culture at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem.
Launched during the newly legislated Caribbean-American Heritage Month, which was signed into effect in 2006 by President George Bush, the ICD Festival boasts the award-winning actor, singer and voiceover artist Keith David, who will serve as celebrity host of the event. Along with yours truly, David is the founder/producer of the festival, which this year honors the international filmmaker Euzhan Palcy with a retrospective of some of her powerful, groundbreaking work.
The Euzhan Palcy Retrospective line-up includes screenings of "A Dry White Season" (1989), on Wednesday, June 13 at 7:00 p.m.; "Sugar Cane Alley" (1983) on Thursday, June 14 at 8:10 p.m. and "The Killing Yard" (2001) on Friday, June 15 at 7:00 p.m. The screenings will be followed by "A Conversation with Euzhan Palcy and Keith David," who will discuss the making of each film. A panel discussion will take place after this segment, followed by a Q&A. The Euzhan Palcy Retrospective will be held in the Langston Hughes Auditorium. (Panelists for this segment will be announced next week in this column, as well as on the www.icdfilmfestival.org website).
On Wednesday, June 13 at 7:00 p.m., in the Archives Room, a Caribbean-American theatre workshop titled "Packaging the Caribbean-American Theatre for the Twenty-First Century" will feature selections from the hit Caribbean-American repertory Theatre production "Moon on a Rainbow Shawl" by Errol John. Panelists will include producer Rudolph Shaw and director Shirley Parkinson of "Moon..." as well as cast members David Heron, Carla Brothers and Erwin A. Thomas.
Also on the panel is talent agent Shirley Faison, actress Brenda Denmark (commercials), and actresses Melanie Nicholls-King, Heather Simms and Magaly Colimon, as well as hip-hop artist Kulcha Don. Arthur French will serve as the moderator of this panel.
On Friday, June 15 at 7:00 p.m. in the Archives Room, A Caribbean-American Literary Workshop titled "Go Get a Book in Your Hand" will focus on the theme Broadening Scholars' Horizons Through Literature. This workshop will examine Caribbean-American literature for young adults and will serve as a centerpiece to pay tribute to the Trinidadian-American award-winning author Madame Rosa Guy, who specializes in this genre. The phenomenal actress Magaly Colimon, a graduate of Yale, will read excerpts from "The Friends."
A panel discussion will follow the reading. Panelists include Marva Allen (CEO, Hue-Man Bookstore & Café); Cherise Davis (Editor-in-Chief, Plume Books); DePrator (Educator); Kristin Fayne Mulroy (Editor-in-Chief, NY Amsterdam News); Kenton Kirby (Editor-in-Chief, Caribbean Life); and Sarah McNally (CEO, McNally-Robinsin Booksellers). I will serve as moderator of the literary panel workshop.
ICD's Exo-Genesis 2007 is a people's movement, similar to other significant cultural ones such as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement and the Reggae Movement. With the year 2007, which is symbolic of the completion of a cycle, the ICD Festival is a movement whose time has come. Commenting on the movement are some of the artists who will be participating in the festival.
Haitian-American stage and screen actress Magaly Colimon, who received her training at Yale, will be participating in the Caribbean-American literary workshop and the Caribbean Theatre workshop. She states, "When Misani called me and told me about the festival, a big smile inched its way across my face. I was excited to hear that the universe was echoing with 'West Indian film, Theatre and literary artists, it's time for your voices to be heard.' I couldn't think of a better place to launch this festival than NYC. I have lived in many cities in the U.S., and NYC is the one place that truly pulsates with the unique, invigorating, diverse rhythm of the West Indian Diaspora. I feel honored to be involved with celebrating the work of Madame Rosa Guy, and I urge everyone to come to the festival." Check out Magaly's national Verizon TV commercial, which is now running on the air.
"I think this is a good time," says Guyanese-American screen actor Sean Patrick Thomas, who is a sure bet for the 2008 ICD festival. "People are recognizing that there are all different types of Black people with different experiences and stories to tell. There are subtleties that the mainstream culture does not recognize. I think it took people time to recognize the differences." Sean Patrick Thomas' credits include "Save the Last Dance," "Barbershop 1 and 2," and "Cruel Intentions."
Melanie Nicholls-King's journey is reflective of the diaspora experience. Born in
Trinidad & Tobago, she immigrated to London, then Toronto, before relocating to the U.S. The much-in-demand actress of screen and stage comments, "This festival shows the different stories that are in the diaspora . . . and that the African-American, African-Canadian, and African-British experiences are different than the Caribbean experience. It shows that just because our skin is the same color, does not mean that our experiences are the same. Check out Melanie Nicholls-King on One Life to Live (ABC) and The Wire (HBO), where she has recurring roles.
The African-American super talent agent Shirley Faison states, "In the twenty-first century, we need to come together as a people." Faison represents such clients as actress Jeanette Bayardelle, who played the lead role on Broadway in "The Color Purple," and Rezar Alazar. She's also the mother of popular TV actor Donald Adeosun Faison, co-star of the NBC series "Scrubs."
The Cable Ace nominee, comedienne and actress Hazelle Goodman, a Trinidadian-American, shares, "This cultural movement of the twenty-first century is taking who we are and incorporating it into the American way of life, yet retaining our uniqueness as Caribbean-Americans. It's taking our unique experience to embody the Caribbean-American character as a human being portrayed authentically in a humorous way in film and on the stage and not stereotyped." Check out Hazelle in "Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell" at the Minetta Lane Theatre.
Graphic illustrator Sean Gayle, who designed the ICD logo, states, "At this point and time in our history, it's about the concept of one world. That's what the circle represents. It is also symbolic of the Caribbean Diaspora. The overall concept is symbolic with a forward movement of diversity, tolerance and love." Sean was born in the U.S. of Aruban-American parentage.
Jamaican-American actor/writer/producer David Heron, who is currently in the Caribbean-American Repertory Theatre's production of Errol John's "Moon on A Rainbow Shawl," sums it all up: "It was Marcus Garvey who once said, 'Up you mighty race. You can accomplish what you will!' What better way for artists from the Caribbean and the Diaspora to embrace the greatness that is our destiny, than this wonderful festival?" Behold the beginning of the future"”the best is yet to come!" Heron's romantic comedy-drama, "Love and Marriage and New York City" is an official selection of the 2007 National Black Theatre Festival. Heron will also be participating in the ICD Caribbean-American Theatre Workshop on Wednesday, June 13 in the Archives Room.
You can join the ICD Exo-Genesis movement and qualify for a round-trip ticket to Trinidad & Tobago, courtesy of Caribbean Airlines. Simply subscribe to the NY Amsterdam News while attending the International Caribbean Diaspora (ICD) Film, Theatre and Literary Festival, June 13, 14, and 15 at the Schomburg Center. Make your reservations before June 9 to qualify for the trip to Trinidad & Tobago by emailing icdfilms@aol.com.
For further information, please visit www.icdfilmfestival.org.
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