Thursday,
March 13 at 7pm
Scribe
Video Center
On
the Downlow
dir.
Abigail Child, US, 2007, video, 56 mins, color
Pre-film
reception at 6pm
Director
Abigail Child and cinematographer Arthur Jafa in person
 On
the Downlow presents
an intimate portrait of four men negotiating their bisexual
desire within the African-American community of Cleveland, Ohio.
These men self-describe themselves as "dipping on both
sides of the fence". The
film showcases their secret lives and aspirations as it reveals
the complex intersections of sexuality, race, class and family
in contemporary middle America. Filmed in surreptitious, staccato
fashion, by a roving but unobtrusive camera, courtesy of cinematographer
Arthur Jafa (Crooklyn, Daughters of the Dust)
which penetrates the protagonists' familial spaces. Weaving
these visuals together with startlingly frank on-camera narration
by each protagonist, Child creates a compelling collective portrait
of the physical, psychological and emotional travails of an
underground lifestyle finally surfacing above ground.
with
A
Glance Into the Life
Scribe
Video Center and Colours Organization’s Youth Group 40 Acres
of Change, US, 2007, video, 20 mins
A
Glance Into the Life illuminates the life and circumstance
of LGBTQ youth of color, ages 16-22, through their personal
stories. It also dispels myths and provides much needed community
resources. Colours' mission is to garner the strengths and talents
of sexual minority people of color: male, female, transgender,
African American, Latino, Asian American to construct an affirming
and caring community.
Abigail
Child has created a wide variety of experimental, narrative,
and documentary films since 1970. Her award-winning art has
been extensively exhibited in both solo and group shows, including
The American Century, 1950-2000 at the Whitney Museum, the Whitney
Biennial (1989, 1997), the New York Film Festival & Video
Side Bar (1989, 1993). Her work is in the permanent collection
of The Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Georges Pompidou.
She is also a poet and author; her most recent book is This
Is Called Moving: A Critical Poetics of Film. Child, who
graduated with a MFA from Yale University School of the Arts,
has taught film/video production and history at various schools
and is currently Chair of Film/Animation at the School of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Arthur Jafa is cinematographer,
filmmaker, producer, visual artist, writer, scholar, educator,
a cultural critic/worker and visual artist.
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