Third World Newsreel Workshops

Greetings,
As some of you may already know, I am a long-time friend and supporter of Third World Newsreel.

In that role I am sending out to the community a notice for their upcoming filmmaking workshops. Please contact them directly with any questions or registration.

Thank you.

Al

TWN Fall Workshop Series – Starting October 20th – sign up now!

Our fall workshops will start in a few weeks – featuring: Ann Bennett on Planning for Film/Video and New Media Production, Michelle Materre on Multi Platform distribution, Laurens Grant on Producing for PBS, and more! For more info and to register, go to our workshop page.

TWN presents walk-in seminars on production topics you need – from production management, to new media production, sound recording and more. All classes are $20 ($10 for low income) unless otherwise noted. The workshops take place at Third World Newsreel. Email workshop@twn.org for more information or to register.

See the Fall Listings below – more classes soon to come

Wednesday, October 20th, 6:30 PM Planning for Film/Video AND New Media Production and Budgeting with Ann Bennett
Prepping your film – from R&D to production, post and distribution, with a special focus on your new media budgets – now a requirement of all producers. Led by Producer/Director Ann Bennett, multimedia producer for Through A Lens Darkly. ($20/10 low income)

Wednesday, October 27th, 6:30 PM Sound Recording: Tips for Better Results and New Gear
the more popular mixers, hard drive recorders and radio mikes. Facilitated by JT Takagi, recordist/filmmaker with gear courtesy of Professional Sound Services. ($20/10 low income)

Wednesday, Nov 3rd, 6:30 PM – Intro to New Media Production
An intro to podcasting, blogging and more. Instructor TBD. ($20/10 low income)

Wednesday, Nov 10th, 6:30 PM – Getting Business Savvy With Your Production
Commerce, sales, the bottom line…the language of business and filmmakers. Learn business techniques that enhance production and producing. Led by Robin Moore, Business Analyst for Film and Media ($20/10 low income)

Wednesday, Nov 17th, 6:30 PM Planning for Multi Platform Distribution and Marketing
MIchelle Materre – both a marketing/distribution expert and professor at the New School, Prof Materre will cover the plans you need to make before you even start to shoot, including your new media platform outreach. Best practices, how-to’s, why-to’s and where to find the help you need.($20/10 low income)

Wednesday, Dec 1st, 6:30 PM – Laurens Grant on Producing and Directing – Master Class – FREE
The producer of “FREEDOM RIDERS” and “LATIN MUSIC USA” and the director/producer of “ROKIA: VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION” will talk about her work, how one becomes a PBS producer and how she balances producing with her own filmmaking work. Free, preregistration required.

MORE CLASSES SOON TO BE SCHEDULED!

All Classes held at:
Third World Newsreel
545 Eighth Ave, 10th Flr
between 37th and 38th Streets
1,2,3,A,C,E,N,R,W,7 to Times Square

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‘A Season In The Congo’


Greetings. If you love great theater, want to be inspired, informed and entertained, join us for the premiere of Aime Cesaire’s “A Season In The Congo”, a production of Rico Workshop, directed by A. Rico Speight.

“A Season In The Congo” opens at the LION THEATER at New York’s Theatre Row on Today, September 30th. at 8pm and runs through October 17th. Tickets can be purchased through Telecharge and at the door (save a few bucks on service fees)

Please follow the link below for more information and to purchase your tickets for the multi-media play “A Season In The Congo”.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Oh, by-the-way, the video portion of the play (not the stock footage) was shot by yours truly with the help of the thin man himself Haffe Acosta and of course Director/Producer Rico Speight, Producer Jackie Jeffries and a wonderful cast of very talented actors and crew.

Cheers,

Al

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Fela – Life After Death Show Extended

Greetings. I’m pleased to announce the Fela, Life After Death show at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute has been extended (by popular demand) through Labor Day. Also check out the NY 1 coverage of the show.

Peace,

Al

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Life After Death: An analysis of the persona that was/is Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Life After Death

Greetings:

Thursday, June 10th. Be there or be marked absent.

Life After Death: An Analysis of the Persona that Was/Is Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI)
408 W 58th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues
New York NY 10019
Tel:  212-307-7420 ext 3008

Curated by Shantrelle P. Lewis & featuring the work of The Santana
Group: Marilyn Nance, Al Santana, Ali Santana & Rafia Santana.
Opening Reception:
June 10, 2010
6-9pm

On View:
June 11 – August 6, 2010
This exhibition pays tribute to one of the African Diaspora’s most
influential living ancestors as well as critiques the complexity of
his persona. Life after Death is a visual homage to a musical genius
and one of contemporary history’s most powerful protest artists
including never before seen photography by Marilyn Nance of Fela at
the Africa Shrine, Lagos Nigeria with individuals such as Haki
Madhubuti.

Just as the music of Fela Anikulapo Kuti transcends the generations through his powerful statements and the work of his children, the works of artists Marilyn Nance and Al Santana transcend the generations through collaborations with their artist offspring.  The Santana Group is a creative, collaborative, interdisciplinary, intergenerational organization of the Brooklyn art family of Marilyn Nance, Al Santana, Ali Santana, and Rafia Santana.  Ali and Rafia Santana mined their parents’ deep archives of moving images, photographs, memorabilia and cultural software to produce Fela’s legacy in 4-D. 

Hope to see you there. It’s gonna be fun!

Al

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“Flush” update

Greetings. Very glad to announce the music for “Flush” has just been approved. Working on a few graphic changes and we’re printing DVDs.

Again, I want to thank the cast and crew for a great job. We’ll be contacting you all very soon for our long awaited cast and crew screening.

Cheers,

Al

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One People News

A quick note to inform you that our film ONE PEOPLE will be available for on-demand viewing at the Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting from April 7 to April 10, 2010.

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Flush Update

As they say in Ghana, West Africa “Soon Come”. This means that you or something is on the way. That’s where we are with our 12 minute digital film “Flush”. Our composer Kelley M. Kelley, of ChronicAudio is putting final touches on some slammin’ beats. Yours truly is creating the sound design and titles. We should be ready for the mix next week. Please stay tuned.

Flush Production Still                                Flush Production Still

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One People update

Greetings,

We’re pleased and honored to announce that our short film “One People” is featured in Third World Newsreel’s Women’s Study eBrochure. Please check the link for more information.

Have a great and productive day.
Al

 http://www.twn.org/twnpages/specialcollect/pdf/WomensStudiesBrochure2010.pdf

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FLUSH Update

Flush Production Still 4  Flush Production Still 3  Flush Production Still 2  Flush Production Still  Flush Production Still 5
Greetings.

We’ve just locked picture edit on our latest short film “Flush”. It is ready for sound design and music. Kelly M. Kelly of Chronic Audio is composing music for this 11 min. humorous and thought-provoking film. I’ve uploaded a few stills from the shoot for your amusement.

We’re currently packaging the film for festivals. If you are interested in previewing “Flush” for an upcoming festival or other public screening, please contact us and let us know.

Al

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YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND WOMEN OF COLOR PRODUCTIONS INC. HUMAN RIGHTS FILM SERIES

Greetings. December 12,2009, Women of Color Productions, Inc. is sponsoring an all-day screening of social issue films at the Julia De Burgos Center in New York City. Please see flyer for details. 

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“FLUSH”

Greetings. On September 26, 2009 we finished principle photography on a short digital film titled “Flush”. The story, written and co-produced by Laura L. Fowler, is about a mother who confines herself to her bathroom, where she drinks and mourns the untimely death of her sister.

The film, directed and edited by Al Santana, stars Marjorie Johnson, Taifa Harris, Tyler Power and Akua Henderson-Brown. Crew members include Director of Photography, Sidharta Pascual; DIT, Ali Santana, Sound Recordist/Mixer, JT Takagi; Wardrobe, Islah Abdul Rahim; Make Up, Amy Phillips; Production Assistant, Daoud Abu-Bakr.

Currently, the film is in post production with a rough cut scheduled for the end of next week.

Please stay tuned for further updates.

al

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Amiri Baraka’s 75th Birthday Celebration

Greetings. Poet, playwright and social activist Amiri Baraka will have a birthday celebration at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture this Saturday, October 10th between 3pm and 7pm. It’s an event you don’t want to miss. Come out and show the brother your love.
I just finished editing the 10 min. video presentation for the event. It’s a moving, raucus compilation of images and sound from notable photographers, poets and videographers.

Be there or be wherever you are…

al

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The Bronx Times

Greetings. The following link is to a news article written about a summer program I was involved with titled “The Full Circle Project”. It’s always rewarding to work with young people, helping them to realize their creative vision, whether its a reflection of their reality or a projection of their imagination.  Stay tuned.

Al

http://www.bronx.com/news/entertainment/entertainment_movies/487.html

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Salty Dog Blues Update

Greetings:

We have an exciting line up of activities this weekend at the Left Forum held at Pace University. We invite you all to come and support our efforts

On Saturday, April 18th. at Pace Univerity from 10am-12pm in room w626, we  are presenting a panel titled “Salty Dog Blues:Documenting The Demise of the National Maritime Union”. The panel includes labor activists Brenda Stokely and Chris Silvera; filmmakers JT Takagi and Rico Speight; retired merchant marine, Bob Bloom, and is co-chaired by Denise Belén Santiago and Al Santana.

We are also showing a 16 minute excerpt of our film “Salty Dog Blues”, which is a work-in-progress. The film tells a story of merchant marines of color; their journey from provincial to global citizens, and how they were caught in a union merger that left many of them without health benefits. It represents a piece of maritime history not previously told. Please see The Defenders Online for an in-depth review. Look forward to seeing you there.

Al

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Retired mariner Julio Santiago, at Puerto Nuevo Shipyard, Puerto Rico, 2004. Photo by Mel Wright.

FYI below is more information from the Left Forum organizers.

Dear Friends,

Left Forum is just a few days away! With over two hundred events, including panels, performances, bookfair exhibitions, and parties, this conference is the largest and most diverse that Left Forum has organized to date.

Our opening plenary on Friday April 17th will kickoff the event at 6:30pm:

THE CURRENT CRISIS: ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS
Walden Bello – Focus on the Global South (Philippines)
Katja Kipping – Die Linke (The Left Party, Germany)
Adolph Reed Jr. – Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Richard D. Wolff – Economics, The New School
Arlie Hochschild – Sociology, University of California, Berkeley
Julia Wrigley (Moderator) – Sociology, The Graduate Center, CUNY

The opening plenary will be followed by performance vignettes of “The Cradle Will Rock,” “Yo Miss: Teaching Inside the Cultural Divide,” and others.

Registration opens at 5pm on Friday night. Please arrive on time to avoid lines! Feel free to join us at a small cocktail party before the opening plenary (tickets sold at registration desk). For a map of the area and directions to Pace University, see below.

On Saturday, April 18th, registration opens at 8:30am. If you have already registered, please pick up your conference badge at our registration desk. The first panels and the Left bookfair begin at 10am. You can view our program online here: http://leftforum.org/?q=2009/program

Our Saturday evening plenary at 7:30 pm will close out the night:

THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN AND PRESIDENCY: LESSONS FOR THE LEFT
Bill Fletcher, Jr. (Moderator) – Center for Labor Renewal, Black Commentator
Stanley Aronowitz – Sociology, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Frances Fox Piven – Political Science, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Barbara Epstein – History of Consciousness, University of California,Santa Cruz
Gihan Perera- Miami Workers Center, Right to the City Alliance
Barbara Ransby – Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago

Our closing plenary on Sunday evening, which addresses possibilities for social movements to make radical change today, will take place at 5pm:

TURNING POINTS
Nancy Holmstrom (Moderator) – Philosophy, Rutgers
Medea Benjamin – Co-founder, Code Pink and Global Exchange
Johanna Brenner – Sociology, Portland State University
Kate Bronfenbrenner, Director of Labor Education and Research, New York
State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Bhairavi Desai – Executive Director, New York Taxi Workers Alliance

Thank you so much for your support of this event. We look forward to seeing you on Friday night!

In Solidarity,
Left Forum

Map and Directions: Left Forum 2009 will take place at One Pace Plaza, in
New York City. For directions, see our website: http://leftforum.org/?q=2009/directions

Check us out on Facebook and Myspace!

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Durban 400 Update

Greetings:

Below is an updated flyer for the documentary film, “Durban 400″. It lists order and shipping information which includes a new viewer’s guide.

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On Internet Radio

Greetings:

On Saturday, April 11th. at 10:00AM (EST), Producer and talk show host Indi Brooks will interview film director Al Santana on her internet radio show “Talk Of The Town” on WCAN RADIO. Al will discuss the making of “One People”, a short film about the intersection of art, politics, and the discovery of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, “Salty Dog Blues: Documenting The Demise of The National Maritime Union”, and other topics related to independent filmmaking. So, log on, tune in and see you on the radio.

Process is everything,
Al

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Salty Dog Blues

Greetings:

Our documentary film about U.S. Merchant Marines of color has been retitled “Salty Dog Blues”.

On Saturday, April 18th. at 10:00am -  12:00, in ROOM W626, co-producer Denise Belén Santiago and I will screen a 16 minute excerpt of our documentary film “Salty Dog Blues” at the annual Left Forum. Along with the screening will be a panel discussion with retired merchant marines of color, labor activists and independent filmmakers. This year’s venue is Pace University in New York City, just across from City Hall.
More information will be provided in the coming days. Please log in and stay tuned.

Yours,

Al

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Eyes On The Ground

Greetings:
On April 20th. Al Santana Productions, in collaboration with The Drammeh Institute and The National Museum of African-American Cinema, will screen films from the 2001 UN Durban Conference on racism. The screening will coincide with the follow up conference presently taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. Please join us at the Harlem State Office Building in New York City at 7pm. See flyer below for details.

Peace,

Al

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Charles Blackwell Dies

Sorry, I have some bad news to report. I was informed this afternoon that veteran sound recordist and teacher Charles Blackwell was found dead in his hotel room in Singapore this morning. He was there on assignment teaching at the NYU Singapore film school. I don’t have any more information at this time, but will update as it becomes available.

Charles was also a dear friend and colleague. His last collaboration with me was on our short film “One People” where he did location sound. We, in the Black independent film community are deeply saddened at the loss of this great human being.

Al

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Full Circle Project

Greetings. I have the pleasure of announcing the roll out of an exciting new project for teenagers. It’s called the Full Circle Project. This past summer, I was involved as a video instructor in a six-week collaborative program between Urban Word, The Drammeh Institute and Al Santana Productions titled Visually Speaking. It’s where, in the words of the program director, Iman Drammeh “Filmmaking meets Spoken Word”.

Please see the link below for more details.

http://www.visuallyspeakingfilms.com/

Remember, get out and vote.

Al

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