Film Festival | DC Black Pride 2014

Saturday, May 24, 3 - 7 p.m., Grand Hyatt

"The Aggressives"
2011, 75 mintues, Documentary
Director: Daniel Peddle

This documentary looks at women who prefer to dress and act as men and who participate in NYC's predominantly African-American lesbian drag balls. Director Daniel Peddle spent five years recording the lives of six "aggressives" — lesbians who strive to be as masculine as possible in lifestyle and appearance. The result is a portrait both enlightening and endearing as we watch each woman come up with her own inventive ways of expressing her identity. From prison to the underground ball scene, where lesbians compete for lead "AG" status, this film reveals a largely hidden subculture.

"Call Me Kuchu"
2012, 87 minutes, Documentary
Directors, Writers: Katherine Fairfax Wright, Malika Zouhali-Worrall

In Uganda, a new bill threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers follow David Kato - Uganda's first openly gay man - and his fellow activists as they work against the clock to defeat the legislation while combatting vicious persecution in their daily lives. But no one, not even the filmmakers are prepared for the brutal murder that shakes their movement to the its core and sends shock waves around the world. CALL ME KUCHU depicts the last year.

"Blackbird"
2014, Drama
Director, Writer: Patrik-Ian Polk; Co-writer Rikki Beadle-Blair

Adapted from Larry Duplechan’s beloved novel of the same name, Blackbird tells the story of a high school choirboy searching to save his soul against a backdrop of religion and Southern values.

In small-town Mississippi, high school choirboy Randy is practically a perfect saint: a virgin who prays regularly and takes care of his devout but unhinged mother, he doesn’t curse, drink, or indulge in pleasures of the flesh. Unfortunately, Randy also can’t stop having fantasies that Jesus might not approve of. Waking up in a bed full of unholy emissions after dreaming about the high school football star, Randy frantically searches to save his soul. This is not your typical case of denial, since many around Randy presume he’s gay and don’t fuss. But while his friends are losing their virginity left and right, Randy is in a mighty struggle for self-acceptance—a struggle that must confront his Baptist religion, Southern values, and African American culture.

During a momentous semester that will push Randy toward new and surprising discoveries, he finds himself in a non-traditional production of Romeo & Juliet, a student film that pairs him with a potential love interest, and a slow reconciliation with his long-absent father. Filled with warm gospel interludes and warm-hearted views of Southern religious life, Blackbird stars Academy Award winner Mo’Nique (Precious) as Randy’s mess of a mother, Gotham Award nominee Isaiah Washington (Blue Caprice, Grey’s Anatomy) as Randy’s estranged father, and newcomer Julian Walker, whose voice soars as Randy.

View full DCBP 2014 schedule >