Tag Archives: Stokely Carmichael

MR. SOUL! — LA FILM FESTIVAL

Ellis Haizlip—black, gay, and deeply invested in the African-American liberation and equality movements of the 1960s and ’70s—was the producer and host of the short-lived but seminal public television show Soul!, which aired from 1968 to 1973. Sui generis in its approach and impact, Haizlip’s Soul! gave black voices an unprecedented platform at a crucial time.

Directors Melissa Haizlip and Sam Pollard have brought the life and work of this catalyst to a new generation with the documentary MR. SOUL!, screening this week at the LA Film Festival in its local premiere.

Included in the film are rare interviews and performances by James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, Harry BelafonteAl Green, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Odetta, Stokely CarmichaelMerry Clayton, Betty Shabazz, George Faison, Toni Morrison, Patti LaBelle, The Last Poets, and many more.

 

MR. SOUL!

Wednesday, September 26, at 7:30 pm.

Writers Guild Theater, 135 South Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills.

Above: Ellis Haizlip interviews Melvin Van Peebles in 1971. Soul! director Stan Lathan looks over a camera operator’s head.

Below: Haizlip, Kathleen Cleaver of the Black Panthers, and a Soul! sound engineer.

Photographs © Chester Higgins Jr.

MIRIAM MAKEBA DOCUMENTARY

Miriam Makeba—the South African singer and anti-apartheid activist—was “the voice and the hope of Africa. Her music influenced artists across the globe, and remained anchored in her traditional South African roots, conveying strong messages against racism and poverty.

“Forced into exile in 1959… she performed with Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone, and Dizzy Gillespie, and was married to Hugh Masekela and Stokely Carmichael.”*

A public advocate and entertainer to the end, Makeba died at 76 immediately after leaving a concert stage in Castel Volturno, Italy, in 2008. The documentary MAMA AFRICA—MIRIAM MAKEBA, directed by Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki, is now playing at the Downtown Independent.

 

MAMA AFRICA—MIRIAM MAKEBA, through Wednesday, February 21.

DOWNTOWN INDEPENDENT, 251 South Main Street, Los Angeles.

mamaafrica.brownpapertickets.com

downtownindependent.com/events

Miriam Makeba with (top) Marlon Brando, and Nina Simone. Image credit: Miriam Makeba Foundation.

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