Often, screenings held in celebration of Black History Month remind us of the darker sides of American history, particularly in regard to slavery and the struggle for civil rights. This is how it should be; we shouldn't gloss over the painful parts in order to find excuses to party. At the same time, though, we mustn't forget to party, and under the smart curation of Zola Mumford, the first annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival (www.geocities.com/gumbomedia/lhff) does it right. The festival runs February 20-22 at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (104 17th Ave S, 684-4757).
Friday includes short films, a documentary on African-American female film directors, and a screening of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, the acclaimed documentary about one of Martin Luther King's most trusted advisors, who was shifted into the background because he was gay.
Saturday's highlights include a matinee collection of shorts aimed at teens and about self-image, some rare newsreel footage about the Black Panthers, a movie that questions definitions of "black" in a world of mixed-blood people, and a screening of Afro-Punk: The "Rock n Roll Nigger" Experience. Cosponsored by 911 Media Arts, this documentary takes an energetic look at race identity in the punk rock scene. Filmmaker and former Seattleite James Spooner will be present, and after the screening there will be live music and fun.
Sunday brings a matinee of The Dream Keeper: The Life of Langston Hughes. There's also a documentary about Madame C. J. Walker, the daughter of slaves who became America's first self-made millionairess, movies about rap and dance, plus an evening screening of Wild Women Don't Have the Blues, which looks at the history of the blues with a focus on the women who helped shape it.
This would be a sad city indeed if the Langston Hughes Center was the only place celebrating Black History Month. Luckily, we have a happy city this weekend. Mr. Jack Fury is hosting his monthly screening series, "I Walk the Line: The Man Alone," at the Central Cinema (Fri-Sun Feb 20-22 at 8 pm) with a screening of Melvin Van Peebles' blaxploitation classic, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. Lucking into sharing a cab with Van Peebles and his son, Mario (who has an upcoming movie based on his father's making of this very film), I discovered... well, I just wanted to name-drop the fact that I shared a cab with Melvin and Mario Van Peebles.
On the other side of the color spectrum, Ballard's Nordic Heritage Museum (3014 NW 67th St) is kicking off its Ingrid Bergman Film Festival on Thursday, February 26. Before she was a bigtime Hollywood star, Bergman lit up the screens in Sweden, and those early works are the focus of this festival, starting with The Count of the Old Town (1934).
