The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival
and Lecture Series will honor actress and jazz singer Lonette
McKee (pictured) at a gala reception on March 15 at 6:30 pm at
the Brooklyn Museum of Art (200 Eastern Parkway).
The event is just one highlight of the three-day festival, which
includes screenings of 23 films at Long Island University’s Spike
Lee Screening Room (Flatbush Avenue Extension at DeKalb Avenue)
on March 14 and March 16.
As part of the March 15 tribute to McKee, Julie Dash’s 1982 short
film, "Illusions" will be screened, as well as clips
from McKee’s other film roles. There will also be a Q&A with
the audience.
McKee will receive the Reel Sisters Pioneer Award for her work
in films such as "Lift" (2001), "Sparkle"
(1976), "Jungle Fever" (1991) and "The Cotton
Club" (1984). (This is not the first accolade for the multi-talented
actress, who has also received a 1983 Tony nomination for her
starring role in the Broadway production of "Show Boat.")
The stated mission of the fifth annual festival, which this year
changed its name from the African-American Women in Cinema Conference,
is "to provide opportunities for women of color filmmakers
to showcase their films and network with industry professionals"
and to celebrate their contributions to film, said festival co-founder
Carolyn Butts, a Prospect Heights resident.
Among the notable short films being showcased are Brooklyn filmmaker
Dream Hampton’s "I am Ali" (March 16, 1:25 pm), a dark
comedy about a schizophrenic young black man who believes he
is the former heavyweight champ. (Hampton’s film was also screened
at the Sundance Film Festival last January.) Del Hunter-White’s
"Cornbread" (March 14, 6:30 pm) about an 8-year-old
girl’s search "for the missing salt" in her life; and
"Standing at the Edge, We Dance!" (March 14, 9:05 pm),
a documentary about Joan Myers Brown’s fight to keep the dance
institution, "Phildanco," going, are also must-see
movies, said Butts.
For the complete festival schedule, tickets and other information,
call festival co-founder Rodney Hurley at Long Island University
at (718) 488-1052 or visit www.reelsisters.org. Gala tickets
($65) and festival passes can be purchased in advance at Sweets
Village, 702 Washington Ave. at Prospect Place, (718) 857-7757
or at LIU. A three-day festival pass (including the gala) is
$100 and a day pass is $25.
