Short Film Program

June 14, 2014 10:00am-10:50am

The United Colors of Amani, dir. Amani Starnes (Running time 15 minutes)

Ozzy & Harry dir. Jeffrey Moline (Running time 6:25 minutes)

Tender Love dir. Joseph Hernandez-Kolski (Running time 5:17 minutes)

Covered in Grass dir. Celso White & Matt Malis (Running time 4:45 minutes)

There will be a short Q&A with the filmmakers and actors involved immediately following the screenings.

Pre-registration strongly encouraged.  Save your spot by registering here.

The United Colors of Amani

In the tradition of Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle, the web series “The United Colors of Amani,” explores Amani’s uncomfortable racial adventures in Hollywood. Amani, an ethnically ambiguous performer, has dealt with the “What are you question” her whole life. But what does it mean to be black, white, and everything in between as she navigates the entertainment industry and life in LA? “The United Colors of Amani,” a with sociological undertones, sheds light on the uncomfortable, awkward, and outrageous constructions of race permeating showbiz. It will evoke laughter, discomfort, and outrage. Despite the specific circumstances of the protagonist’s journey through the big bad world of Hollywood, viewers will be surprised to find that they, too, can relate on some level to the identity politics and interpersonal catastrophes highlighted in “The United Colors of Amani.”

Amani Starnes is a multiracial actress, writer, producer, and singer. She graduated from Yale, where she studied Theater and African American Studies. Amani is the face of several national television commercials and a member of Tim Robbins’ Actors’ Gang. She also sings, choreographs, and stars in independent films, plays, concerts, music videos, and rock operas.

 

Ozzy & Harry

A biting satire on Conservative American Family Values “Ozzy and Harry” (a play on “Ozzy and Harriet”). Features Ozzy, a closeted, conservative Mixed race business executive and Harry his Nordic spouse and homemaker are trying to raise Pumpkin, their Latino son in a world that only existed on their television sets. Pumpkin tries to pull the wool from over his parents eyes by confronting the family dynamic of two fathers. Shot in 2003 in glorious black and white “Ozzy and Harry” reflects rotten core at buying into the American Dream, through apathy, consumerism and simply the need to be right. It illustrates how we lose our uniqueness in chasing it.

JGM is a singer/songwriter, musician and filmmaker. He uses his art and life to promote a solidarity of enlightened common people. JGM was farm raised in MN and lives in West Hollywood. JGM hopes you enjoy his film Ozzy and Harry.

Tender Love

As a writer who comes from a mixed background, I think my perspective is slightly different. I think my comedy tends to reflect that. This comedy short is a commentary on technology and relationships, not specifically about the mixed experience, but I think it’s a universal topic. My goal is to continue to speak about our experience in ways that demonstrate a positive direction in which I think we need to move as a society, where we are not on the outskirts of the mainstream. We need to redefine what that mainstream looks like.

Joe Hernandez-Kolski is a spoken word poet and comedian. His first short film, “Afterschool’d” was an NBC Comedy Short Cuts finalist. He has written several hip-theater shows, both in the solo format and with his partner Joshua Silverstein under the comedy moniker “So Fresh & So Clean.” His first solo show, “You Wanna Piece of Me?” was recently published by the University of Michigan press as part of an anthology entitled, “Say Word: Voices of Hip-Hop Theater.”

 

Covered in Grass

The film is a video adaptation of a poem that examines a shared history of oppression between the narrator’s Black heritage and Jewish heritage.

Aaron Samuels, raised in Providence, Rhode Island by a Jewish mother and a Black father, is a Cave Canem Fellowand a nationally acclaimed performer. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart, featured on TV One’s Verses & Flow, and has appeared in many journals including Tidal Basin Review and Muzzle Magazine.