OAKLAND INNOVATION FILM LAB 2012

Presented by Top Ten Social & BluBlak Media

with sponsors KQED, Hub Oakland, & Oaklandish

June 18 - 21, 2012

Oakland School for the Arts

$10/night

Sliding scale scholarship tickets available!

The Oakland Innovation Film Lab (OIFL) showcases  a broad range of cinematic creativity from award-winning documentarians,  emerging artists, and student filmmakers. OIFL specifically focuses on innovative film projects that employ non-traditional themes,  experimental film techniques, or that simply take a new approach to storytelling through film.  Each of the films selected for the 2012 Oakland Innovation Film Lab not only has something new to add to the genre of film but also give voice to pressing societal challenges locally as well as national.  Themes addressed in this year’s films include modern explorations of love and relationships; rocketing high school drop-out rates; youth empowerment through hip-hop; and cultural relationships to food and food justice.

OIFL is a 4-day series of events featuring a half-day youth lab for student filmmakers,  a carefully curated selection of  films, and panel discussions with producers and educators, all designed to engage the community in a conversation about media  participation while serving as a platform for recognizing and supporting new voices in film.

Imagine. Create. Film.

Marvtastic thanks to sponsors:

KQED - http://kqed.org/
HUB OAKLAND - http://huboakland.net/
OAKLANDISH - http://oaklandish.com/
OAKLAND SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS - http://oakarts.org/

Disposable Film Festival - http://disposablefilmfest.com/
Ella Balker Center for Human Rights - http://ellabakercenter.org/
Fusicology - http://fusicology.com/
Green for All - http://greenforall.org/
I-SEEED - http://www.facebook.com/ISEEED
ITVS - http://itvs.org/
Red Bull - http://redbullmediahouse.com/
Marcus Books - http://marcusbookstores.com/

Oakland Local - http://oaklandlocal.com/
Oakland Venue Management - http://oaklandvm.com/
Slow Money Northern California - http://slowmoneynocal.org/
TILT - http://tiltmedia.org/
 

Monday, June 18th

2:00pm - 8:00pm- Youth Filmmaker Lab (Invite Only)

8:00 - 10:00pm - Youth Lab Film Screenings (Open to the Public)

WHERE: Oakland School For The Arts - 531 19th Street, Oakland, CA 94612

Focus on student filmmakers in partnership with youth-powered organizations tackling high school drop out rates/poverty/gun violence -  includes a filmmaking Lab, screening of student films highlighting career tracks into film industry, and panel discussion with producers and educators working professionally in the film world. Youth Lab films will also be screened throughout the OIFL before each Feature Documentary.

Tuesday, June 19th

5:00 - 6:30pm - Opening Nite Reception

WHERE: Betti Ono Gallery - 1801 Telegraph, Oakland, CA 94612

7:00pm - Film Screening

8:45pm - Community Dialogue on Miseducation, Arts Innovation, and International Peacemaking Movements

WHERE: Oakland School For The Arts - 531 19th Street, Oakland, CA 94612

BOUNCING CATS

Director: Nabil Elderkin 2010, USA and Uganda

Total Run Time:75:00 min

Bouncing Cats is the inspiring documentary of one man's attempt to use the power of hip-hop for positive social change in Uganda. The film features narration by Common and additional interviews with Mos Def, Will.I.Am, and K'Naan. Also appearing in the film is Okot Jolly Grace, whose guidance enabled the filmmakers to see and understand the plight of children in northern Uganda.

The story follows Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz from Breakdance Project Uganda on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth of a war torn region. In terms of the title, Bouncing Cats "is the sound made by the kids in Uganda when they have no access to a boombox," according to the film's director, Nabil Elderkin, “Using 'bouncing cats, baboons and cats' in repetition, they create their own beat.”

MAESTRA

Director: Catherine Murphy 2011, Cuba

Total Run Time: 33:00min

Cuba, 1961: 250,000 volunteers taught 700,000 people to read and write in one year. 100,000 of the teachers were under 18 years old. Over half were women. MAESTRA explores this story through the personal testimonies of the young women who went out to teach literacy in rural communities across the island - and found themselves deeply transformed in the process.

Wednesday, June 20th

7:00pm - Film Screening

8:45pm - Q & A w/ Director Dialogue on the use of film, art, and new media technologies in urban storytelling, creating collective memory, and exploring complex relationships

WHERE: Oakland School For The Arts - 531 19th Street, Oakland, CA 94612

9:15pm - Filmmaker Reception

WHERE: Make Westing, 1741 Telegraph, Oakland, CA 94612

AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY

Director: Terence Nance 2011, USA

Total Run Time: 95:00 min

You’ve just arrived home after a bad day. You’re broke and lonely, even though you live in the biggest and busiest city in America. You do, however, have one cause for mild optimism: you seem to have captured the attention of an intriguing young lady. You’ve rushed home to clean your apartment before she comes over. In your haste, you see that you’ve missed a call. There’s a voice mail; she tells you that she won’t be seeing you tonight.

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty documents a relationship as it teeters on the divide between platonic and romantic. Utilizing a tapestry of live action and various styles of animation to explore the fantasies, emotions, and memories that race through one’s mind during a singular moment in time.

Thursday, June 21st

7:00pm - Film Screening

WHERE: Oakland School For The Arts - 531 19th Street, Oakland, CA 94612

8:30pm - Foodie Dialogue w/ Eco-Chef/Author - Bryant Terry, Souley Vegan owner - Tamearra Dyson, Green For All Director of Education - Rosa Gonzalez, and I-SEEED Food Justice Director - Aekta Shah, with Moderator - Konda Mason, CEO, Hub Oakland

9:30pm - Urban Organic Closing Nite Reception

WHERE: iSEEED, 1625 Clay Street, 6th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612

SOUL FOOD JUNKIES

Director: Byron Hurt 2012, USA

Total Run Time:53:25 min

Soul Food Junkies explores the history and social significance of soul food, its connection to black cultural identity, and its larger impact -- good and bad -- on American cuisine. Here, "junkies" refers to lovers of soul food despite its known health consequences. But the film does not denigrate soul food; Soul Food Junkies is a launching pad for a larger discussion about the eating habits of people of color.