| By Maysles Documentary Center Photos: Maysles Documentary Center The following is a schedule of upcoming events at the Maysales Documentary Center in Harlem, including: NY African Film Festival, Passion Dance, The Watermelon Woman, Compensation and more!  Wednesday, May 7th at 7PMPASSION DANCE | “Made in Harlem: Cinema Blues” Supported by West Harlem Development Corp (WHDC) VERTICAL AIR Robert Fenz, 1996, 28 min. THE WINGED STONE Colectivo los ingrávidos, 2023, 10 min. THE MAGIC SUN Phill Niblock, 1966, 17 min. ESKIS Vincent Guilbert, 2017, 11 min. Sparked by the music of Wadada Leo Smith, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra and Jacques Coursil, this quartet of shorts function as spontaneous compositions, employing the tools of the improvisor to manifest a true jazz cinema. + Post-screening solo saxophone performance from Ras Burnett! TICKETS  Thursday, May 8th at 7PM“For the Love of Cinema” Co-presented with Uptown Flicks as part of the Upper West Side Cinema Center 2025 Spring/Summer Series THE WATERMELON WOMAN Cheryl Dunye, 1996, 84 min. Cinematic history was made with THE WATERMELON WOMAN, the first American feature to be directed by a black lesbian as well as an incisive, humorous critique of classic Hollywood’s racist stereotypes. Dunye plays an eponymous video store employee and burgeoning filmmaker who sets out to make a documentary on THE WATERMELON WOMAN (Lisa Marie Bronson), an actress who specialized in “mammy” roles for Hollywood productions of the 30s and 40s. As Cheryl uncovers the Watermelon Woman’s identity she not only learns about a secret behind-the-scenes interracial romance but also begins one of her own with Diana (Guinevere Turner), a white woman who arouses the ire of Cheryl’s best friend Tamara (Valarie Walker). A landmark of the New Queer Cinema, THE WATERMELON WOMAN testifies to the power of excavating legacies of oppression and in the process creates a progressive legacy of its own. + Post-screening discussion with Actor Valarie Walker followed by cocktail reception for all attendees! TICKETS  Friday, May 9th at 6:30PMPROJECT DASTAAN SULTANA’S DREAM Spitting Image, 2023, 12 min. Sultana’s Dream depicts the hopes and shattered dreams of an elderly woman based in contemporary Calcutta through flashbacks of the experiences of women across the subcontinent. SEABIRDS Sawera Jahan, 2023, 7 min. Over an intimate conversation whilst cooking with her grandmother, eight year-old Nithya learns of the tie between heritage and food and how new borders cut her Chettiar family off from their childhood home. REST IN PAPER Haseeb ur Rehman, 2024, 7 min. Ghulam Ali is an Indian citizen who found himself stateless in 1947. Lacking the correct paperwork, he gets caught in a chain of arrests and deportation, crossing the border many times and and eventually loses his sense of belonging and identity. Project Dastaan is proud to announce its first-ever U.S. tour, showcasing its award-winning VR documentary Child of Empire and the critically acclaimed three-part animated series Lost Migrations. The tour will feature screenings and discussions at leading institutions, including the Smithsonian, the Asian Art Museum, and Yale University, with support from the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms program. Project Dastaan (“story” in Urdu and Hindi) is a digital humanities initiative that uses VR to reconnect Partition survivors with their ancestral homes. Its work has been featured in The New Yorker, TIME, National Geographic, BBC, NPR, and Reuters and has been included in the British History Curriculum and National Archives. The initiative has also been presented at Sundance New Frontiers, MIT Open Doc Lab (Double Exposure Symposium), and the World Archaeology Summit in Saudi Arabia. + Post-screening discussion with Project Dastaan founders Sparsh Ahuja and Sam Dalrymple! TICKETS  Saturday, May 10th at 7PMCYCLES Zeinabu irene Davis, 1989, 17 min Rasheeda Allen is waiting for her period, a state of anticipation familiar to all women. Drawing on Caribbean folklore, this exuberant experimental drama uses animation and live action to discover a film language unique to African American women. The multilayered soundtrack combines a chorus of women’s voices with the music of Africa and the diaspora-including Miriam Makeba, acappella singers from Haiti and trumpetiste Clora Bryant. COMPENSATION Zeinabu irene Davis, 1999, 95 min. A landmark of independent cinema, Zeinabu irene Davis’s moving, ambitious portrait of the struggles of Deaf African Americans and the complexities of loving relationships at the bookends of the twentieth century. In extraordinary dual performances, Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks play Malindy and Arthur, a couple in 1910 Chicago, as well as Malaika and Nico, a couple living in the same city almost eighty years later. Their stories are deftly interwoven through the creative use of archival photography, an original score featuring ragtime and African percussion, and an editing style both lyrical and tender. Malindy, an industrious, intelligent dressmaker, falls for Arthur, an illiterate migrant from Mississippi, along the shore of Lake Michigan. On the same beach in the present, Malaika, an inspired and resilient graphic artist, softens before a brash yet endearing children’s librarian, Nico. Each pair faces the obstacles of their time as Black Americans, including structural racism and emerging pandemics. COMPENSATION remains a groundbreaking story of inclusion and visibility that bears witness to the social forces and prejudices that stand in the way of love. + Post-screening virtual discussion with director Zeinabu irene Davis! TICKETS  Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 7PMTHE ROOFTOP DOCUMENTARY Bump Anderson, 2025, 55 min. THE ROOFTOP was a legendary roller skating rink in Harlem from 1979-1989. This is where street life, music and fashion collided and introduced themselves to the world. Owned by Harlem’s own icons, Mr. Willie and Robert “Gusto” Wells (founder of the Rucker League), The Rooftop provided a place where future music executives, fashion icons, legendary recording artists and producers and gangsters cooked up a gumbo of what would be later known as hip-hop culture. From LL Cool J to Rich Porter, Teddy Riley to DJ Hollywood, The Rooftop was a unique space for the youth of Harlem and beyond. Part one of this three-part documentary takes you on a journey on what and who ruled the ’80s in Harlem and how that one spot in 155th and 8th Avenue made a world and gave that world to the world. With appearances by “The World Famous” Brucie B, Teddy Riley, Gusto Wells, Alpo Martinez, Michael “Mike Boogie” Hollingsworth, The Gucci Girls, Kevin Chiles, Reika Carter and more…The Rooftop is where that swag in hip-hop all start. + Post-screening panel discussion with Brucie B, Gusto, Mike Hollingsworth, Gucci Girls, and Special Surprise Guests… Moderated by Angela Bronner! TICKETS  May 15 – 18, 2025 The NEW YORK AFRICAN FILM FESTIVALMaysles Documentary Center celebrates the 32nd anniversary of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) with screenings from May 15 to May 18, 2025. Launched in 1993 and one of the first of its kind in the United States, the festival reflects on the myriad ways African and diaspora storytellers have used the moving image as a mold to tell their stories in their own nuanced and idiosyncratic ways. Audiences are invited to explore the infinite realms of African and diaspora storytelling and embrace its visionary, probing, and fearless spirit. TICKETS  Thursday, May 15th at 5:30PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival THE MAN WHO PLANTS BAOBABS Michel K. Zongo, 2025, Burkina Faso, 72 min. For the past 50 years, a man has been planting baobab trees every year in his village located in western Burkina Faso. At the age of 80 today, he has planted over 3,000 baobab trees that stretch as far as the eye can see. El Hadj Salifou Ouédraogo has spent 2/3 of his life planting baobabs. It’s been a struggle and, above all, a life dedicated to ensuring the existence of these trees despite prevailing prejudices. El Hadj Salifou Ouédraogo was misunderstood by the inhabitants of his village when he started planting these majestic and millennia-old trees, which are rare and endangered in the African savannah. TICKETS  Thursday, May 15th at 8PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival EBROHIMIE ROAD Kola Tubosun, 2024, Nigeria, U.S., 101 min. Before he became Africa’s first Nobel Prizewinner in Literature, a small campus bungalow at the University of Ibadan played an outsized role in the life of a man, Wole Soyinka, his family, his university, and the nation. Here’s the story. How do we preserve not just what we remember but the physical markers of such transient memory? + Post-screening discussion with Director Kola Tubosun! TICKETS  Friday, May 16th at 5:30PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival ARTE CONGO: ARTISTS JOURNEY ON THE CONGO COAST OF PANAMA Arturo Lindsay, 2025, U.S., 68 min. A documentary film that depicts a unique “insider’s” view of a new Afro-centric Panamanian art movement that was born at a metaphoric crossroad in the village of Portobelo, Panama when Congo elder Virgilio “Yaneca” Esquina, photographer / author Sandra Eleta and artist / cultural investigator / educator Arturo Lindsay met. Along with a group of artists from Portobelo and the Spelman College Summer Art Colony, they established the painting workshop of Taller Portobelo. preceded by: MAURICE PELLOSH: CAPTURING MEMORY Emmanuèle Béthery, Eddy Mikolo, 2024, Congo, France, 52 min. Visual Memory of a joyful and bygone era, Maurice Bidilou Pellosh (1951-2023), photographer – portraitist, in Pointe-Noire (Congo Brazzaville), is looking for his former clients. Focus on youth, that of lovers, sappers and dancers, in love with freedom in this bubbling period of acquired independence. Studio Pellosh, an unmissable place, has seen the entire Pontenegrine society parade for 4 decades and offers an exceptional heritage. TICKETS  Friday, May 16th at 8:30PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival Co-presented with The Black Art Vanguard SHORTS PROGRAM #1: The Ancestors Smile A captivating collection of shorts that explore the powerful connections between tradition, identity, and legacy through personal stories, myth, and memory. TICKETS  Saturday, May 17th at 1:30PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival TIMPI TAMPA Adama Bineta Sow, 2024, France; Senegal, 83 min. Khalilou has been fighting toxic beauty standards ever since his mother developed skin cancer from using bleaching products. Dressed as Leila, he enters the “Miss Students” pageant, where light skin reigns supreme, to give darker-skinned girls a chance to shine. + Post-screening discussion with Director Adama Bineta Sow! TICKETS  Saturday, May 17th at 3:30PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival NAWI Toby and Kevin Schmutzler, Apuu Mourine, Vallentine Chelluget, 2024, Kenya, 99 min. NAWI is the first feature film that shot in the arid landscapes of Turkana, a semi-desert in Northern Kenya. Milcah Cherotich‘s winning entry in a national writing competition is inspired by true and deeply personal events. It takes us into the heart of a land where the Kenyan government‘s efforts to bring change collide with the enduring tradition of child marriages in the rural communities of Turkana. The movie is the result of a unique collaboration between the Kenyan NGO program Learning Lions and the German production companies FilmCrew and Baobab Pictures. Their shared mission: to bring an authentic, untold Turkana story to life, shot on real locations and starring local talent in key roles. NAWI extends beyond the screen to create awareness about the pressing issue of child marriage. The producers have launched an ancillary fund, dedicated to building girl schools in remote regions of Africa. To help protect girls from forced marriage and empower them to shape their own futures. NAWI is not only a timely and necessary story to tell, it is a narrative that transcends borders and cultures to explore universal themes of hope, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of dreams. TICKETS  Saturday, May 17th at 5:30PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival PRICE OF A DREAM Oussmane Fall, 2025, U.S., Senegal, 24 min. PRICE OF A DREAM is a poetic and deeply personal short documentary that examines the sacrifices and emotional cost of migration through the story of two Senegalese emigrants who tragically lost their lives while pursuing the American Dream. Told through the lens of the filmmaker’s brother, the film combines reflective imagery, heartfelt voicemails, and interviews with key voices, including an immigration lawyer, the president of the Senegalese Association, and a journalist. Together, these perspectives explore the harsh realities of leaving home, navigating a complex system, and enduring the pain of separation. The documentary raises profound questions about the price of ambition, the meaning of family, and the lasting impact of dreams left unfulfilled. preceded by: AJASS: Pioneers of the Black is Beautiful Movement Louise Dente, 2022, U.S., 95 min. Pioneers of the Black is Beautiful Movement: This documentary traces the journey of AJASS (African Jazz-Art Society and Studios) from jazz concerts in the Bronx to Harlem, where Garveyism shaped their mission. AJASS launched the iconic “Naturally” shows featuring the Grandassa Models and helped ignite the Black is Beautiful movement. They also created the first African superhero, Lil Zeng, and used theater, music, and visual art to celebrate Black pride, history, and beauty. TICKETS  Saturday, May 17th at 8:30PMPresented with The New York African Film Festival Co-presented with Black Public Media THE LAST SHORE Jean-François Ravagnan, 2024, Belgium, Gambia, Italy, Malta, Senegal, Tunisia, 70 min. In January 2017, a video of a young Gambian man drowning in Venice’s Grand Canal went viral. From the shore, onlookers shouted insults instead of offering help. He was 22 years old. His name was Pateh Sabally. Now, 2,500 miles away, the people who knew and loved him share the story behind the footage—the life, dreams, and heartbreak that led to that tragic moment. preceded by: THE CAT MAN ESCHETE Jean-François (The Cat Man Eshete): Ravagnan, 2024, Belgium, Gambia, Italy, Malta, Senegal, Tunisia, 70 min. A refugee finds his calling in caring for stray cats and shares his story from war-torn Ethiopia to the streets of Brooklyn. From Academy Award® nominee Laura Checkoway comes her next short doc THE CAT MAN ESHETE. The extraordinary story of Eshete, who escaped Ethiopia’s civil war on foot as a young man and is now a devoted caretaker of a feral cat colony in Brooklyn. Eshete has become the heart of a close-knit community, despite living on the fringes. This intimate document is equally a portrait of community care with a supporting cast of New Yorkers who help care for the cats—and for each other. TICKETS More films to come in next week’s newsletter! See the full lineup here! MORE SCREENINGS HERE Community and News  Maysles staff and students represented at three events last week! In addition to Black Zine Fair in Brooklyn we were part of the Expo at the 7th Annual NYC Public School Film Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens and also part of the 2nd Harlem Earth Day at Harlem School of the Arts right back here at home in our neighborhood.  We were able to meet the young generation of upcoming filmmakers and even got to work with one of them who stepped in for a few minutes to record sound during the Arts & Activism panel featuring our own Akeema Zane!Harlem Earth Day was organized by many folks including Savanna Washington and our own alumni Myrakel Baker and Maegan Hollins (also currently one of Maysles’ Education Program Assistants). LEARN MORE  Screenslate released an interview with Maysles guest curator Andrew Castillo about his Made in Harlem: Cinema Blues series. READ THE ARTICLE  Do you have unused cameras, lenses, or computers sitting around in your home? Consider giving them to MDC’s education program! Our students will put it to good use and you can receive a tax write-off for the donation. Working items we can always use include 35mm still cameras, Super 8mm cameras, lenses, Polaroid cameras, camera accessories and film, sound recorders and microphones, lights, and computers. To inquire or make a donation contact Nasri at: [email protected]  $125 Membership Free entry to MDC films and events + free popcorn$50 Membership 50% off entry MDC films and events + free popcorn $30 Membership Free popcorn at MDC films and events Visit us at www.maysles.org for a list of all upcoming programs! Donate!!! Donateor become a member of Maysles Documentary Center today! Support us as we, through Education and Cinema programs, activate documentary film for a more equitable world.   |
| Maysles Documentary Center | 343 Lenox Ave/Malcolm X Blvd. | New York, NY 10027 US |
Upcoming Events At Maysles Documentary Center: NY African Film Festival, Passion Dance, The Watermelon Woman, Compensation And More!
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