“Civil Rights & Cinema” Live web chat with Yoruba Richen & Thomas Allen Harris

Filmmakers Thomas Allen Harris and Yoruba Richen discuss politics, pride and film production during a LiveStream program hosted by the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) on Tuesday. Viewers from across the nation shared comments and questions with Yoruba and Thomas as they talked about their respective films, Queerness in Black media and the intersection of their current projects.

Yoruba (right), who produced the award winning film, “Promised Land” is currently directing a new documentary entitled, “The New Black” which examines the complicated and often contentious intersections of the African American and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Civil Rights Movements. Yoruba, who is an adjunct professor of Documentary Production and International Reporting at the CUNY Journalism School, was awarded a 2012 Guggeheim Fellowship to advance her work on “The New Black.”

Thomas (left) – whose past films include, Vintage Families of Value, E Minha Cara, and Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela – is currently working on his fourth feature documentary, “Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People.” In addition to his feature films, Thomas recently completed the documentary short, “Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing and the Fight for Fairness,” examines the work of Civil Rights veteran Byron Rushing whose staunch support of LGBT Civil Rights helped to gain Same-Sex Marriage Rights in Massachusetts.

The “Marriage Equality” film which was commissioned by Tribeca All Access program of Tribeca Film Institute‘s special collaboration with 46664 and the Nelson Mandela Foundation is currently available for Free Online Screenings through Black Public Media. The film can also be purchased through Third World Newsreel.

You can watch Yoruba’s and Thomas conversation at Black Public Media’s LiveStream Channel: http://www.livestream.com/BlackPublicMediaLIVE

Check out the new trailer for “Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People” USA Projects.

Thanks to NBPC Staff

(from left to right)

1. Mable Haddock – NBPC Founder

2. Christian Ugbode – NBPC Digital Media Director

3. Thomas Allen Harris – Chimpanzee Productions Founder and Director

4. Yoruba Richen – Journalist and filmmaker

5. Milisa Coleman – NBPC Intern

6. Hena Ashraf – NBPC Programs Associate

7. Diane Carr-Joseph – NBPC Business Manager

8. Leslie Fields-Cruz – NBPC Vice-President of Programming

Photographs by Lindsey Seide

Article by Chan Eun Kim & Ann Bennett

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