MEDIA PRESSS RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, March 6, 2014 – The Garifuna International Film Festival (GIFF) returns to the Los Angeles area Saturday, May 24 for its third annual celebration and to highlight preservation of indigenous cultures. This year’s 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. three-day event will feature special guests, Oscar®-winning filmmaker Victoria Mudd and Oscar®-nominated director Isabel Vega. The festival, which will be held at Electric Lodge Performing Arts Center, 1416 Electric Avenue in Venice, will showcase exceptional films, documentaries, music and art that will educate, inspire and entertain attendees of all ages and backgrounds. Admission prices begin at $12. VIP EVENT $25. GIFF will conclude on May 26 which has been proclaimed the official “Garifuna Film Day” by the City of Los Angeles and the State of California. James M. Janisse Our Master of Ceremonies is one of L.A.’s most recognizable Jazz & Blues enthusiasts. He was an on-air personality with radio station KKJZ, 88.1FM (formerly KLON) from 1992 to 2006. His wide ranging knowledge of Jazz filled the longest continuing shift on KKJZ each weekday from midnight to 6am. He is currently the host of “The Wonderful World of Jazz”, heard every weekday from Noon till 2pm on internet radio station www.kebnradio.com. And he is also a control board operator, program host and staff announcer at radio station KCRW 89.9FM. Keynote speakers, Piper Dellums and Lina Martinez. Dellums is an author, producer and daughter of Ron Dellums, former Oakland mayor and 13-term U.S. congressman. She isthe Senior Vice President of EGTVN Productions and the creator, director andproducer of eight original content shows for the ACTS division of EGTVN on DISH Network. Lina Martinez, is an entrepreneur and founder of Wabagari Distribution, which markets natural and flavored cassava under the brand of O’Big Mama. Martinez had a vision of generating employment and income for Garifuna women in Honduras. Lina was also appointed as the Secretary of the Board of the Cámara of Tourism of La Ceiba. In October of 2010, the U.S. Department of State honored Martinez Loredo of Honduras, by naming her an alumna of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and the Central American Peace Scholarship (CAPS), as State Alumni Member of the Month. This year’s GIFF will feature by popular demand ACADEMY AWARD WINNER documentary, “BROKEN RAINBOW”. There will be a special in person presentation, “Images of Indians: From Reel to Real.” by the acclaimed ACADEMY AWARD WINNER filmmaker, Dr. Victoria Mudd. The festival will also feature “Finding Sammuel Lowe: From Harlem to China,” the compelling documentary by Paula Madison, entrepreneur and owner of the Africa Channel , ALMA DE MAIS Soul of Corn by Roberto Nunez, Children of War by Bryan Single, Bridge Walkers by Kara Rhodes, BAM 6.6 by Jahangir Golestan-Parast, FEMME by Emmanuel Litier, We Still Live Here by Anne Makepeace, Isabel Veyga,“La Corona.” Shift of Ages by Steve Koplan, The Fight to Forgive ,Portrait of a Peacekeeper , The Dead Will Guide Us by Everyday Ghandis, The Legend of Tillamook’s Gold by Jane Beaumont Hall, The Garifuna Heritage by Garifuna National Council, YuGaCuRe by Trish St. Hill & James Lovell , Revolutionary Medicine by Beth Geglia & Jesse Freeston ,Yurumein ,Garifuna Journey by Andrea Leland, MAUNA NUI by Arnie Saike, A Dream Differed by Reg Rose & Alex Munoz, Not Today by Writer/Directors: Jon Van Dyke Gift of Life by George Kalmar, Africans on the Move the Maroons by Michael Flores ,Tree Fellers by Robin MacPherson , Gift of Life by George Kalmar, Stranded in Dangriga by Ross Jordon, BORN FO BANG ,STRUGGGLE by Aleks Munoz, Films will be screened from filmmakers representing countries throughout the world including Greenland , United Kingdom, Liberia, Iran, Uganda Guatemala ,Columbia , St. Vincent , Jamaica Guam , Shanghai , Honduras, Belize Mexico , India and United States . Celebrity guest actor Marcello Thedford and actress Trina McGee are also scheduled to attend this year’s event. Entertainment will be provided by recording artist James Lovell, as well as Lucy Blanco, the Garifuna Jazz Ensemble, Emeliano Campobello flutist ,Rick Ellis and Gunwie Possey, a Garifuna cultural band. The works of renowned multicultural fine artists and photographers will be on display at the GIFF, including Penny Slinger, John Casimiro, Karen Redding, Eulogia Penny Goree, Star Oakland and internationally acclaimed artist/sculptor Andre Van Zyl of South Africa . After the first year of the GIFF, chief organizer and founder, Freda Sideroff, was invited to visit the White House as a Garifuna delegate in recognition of her efforts to preserve Garifuna culture. “In our third year, we are pleased with the response to the Garifuna International Film Festival,” said Sideroff, who was born in Belize. “The primary focus of the film festival is the preservation of all indigenous cultures of the world as they are represented through films, documentaries, art, dance and music, with special emphasis on the Garifuna culture.” Sideroff believes that the average person in the United State knows nothing about 600,000 people who identify with the Black Carib Garifuna community around the world, including about 148,000 in Central America and 300,000 in the U.S. She hopes to change the perception and bring exposure to the Garifuna culture. UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, highlighted the importance of the Garifuna culture in 2001 when it proclaimed the Garifuna language, music, and dance “a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.” But the task of making that real has been left to Garifuna representatives like Sideroff and organizations like the Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United, Inc. (GAHFU), based in Long Beach, California, who hope to bring attention and long life to Garifuna culture through artistic programs, outreach, advocacy and social service programs. “When people will no longer ask, ‘Garifuna who?’ then we’ll know we’re finally on the world map,” said Rony Figueroa, vice president of GAHFU www.. If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the Garifuna International Film Festival to support the preservation of the Garifuna culture, please call (310) 663-5813. For more information about the festival, visit www.garifunafilmfestival.com. Follow them on Facebook www.facebook.com/dabuyaba, Twitter www.twitter.com/GarifunaFilmFestival and Instagram instagram.com/OfficialGarifunaFilmFestival. If you are interested in interview opportunities, features, or photos, contact Freda Sideroff 310)663-5813 garifunaheritagefoundation.org http://www.bing.com/search?q=www.garifunaamericanheritagefoundation&x=107&y=8&form=MSNH14&pc=UP97&refig=de7d90b3437341aba96fcb93582a0ce0&pq=www.garifunaamericanheritagefoundation&sc=0-12&sp=-1&qs=n&sk= Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United is an exempt organization under section 501 ( c) (3) and all donations are tax deductible. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/saturday-garifuna-intl-film-festival-3rd-annual-giff-tickets-6505071845 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-garifuna-intl-film-festival-3rd-annual-giff-tickets-10515962527 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-garifuna-intl-film-festival-3rd-annual-giff-tickets-10516002647
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|