You may recall that this past September, director Shola Lynch premiered a documentary entitled Free Angela And All Political Prisoners at the Toronto International Film Festival. Produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z, the film tells the story of radical activist Angela Davis. The doc is set to be released nationwide on April 5th. In a new interview with Jay’s site Life+Times, Lynch spoke on the films’ process:

“ It took about a year to talk Angela into it – something close to a year, about 10 months – then you start the fundraising process. It’s funny, when it’s done, people are like, “Oh, that must have been so easy to raise money for, it’s so obvious,” but before the work exists, when it’s paving new territory and this film is – in terms of Angela Davis’, Black Power, the crazy late ’60s-early ’70s, the feeling that the revolution is around the corner – there hasn’t been much work done on that period. So, it was difficult to raise money for.”

She also discussed what it was like to work with Davis herself:

“ As a director, I was pretty upfront that I have to have creative control [laughs], and she’s an academic, so she understood that. Basically, what she did is she said yes, “I’ll consent to an interview and I will be on board for the project.” That was what she did, she gave me an opportunity and it was up to me to make something of it. So, she didn’t hurt me and she didn’t help me. I now could say, when I talked to other people [that asked], “Are you gonna interview Angela? Is she on board?” Yes. That opened up certain doors. It got me access to her FBI files in a fuller way. Essentially, with her being on board, I got access, but she didn’t say, “talk to this person, do this, here’s my rolodex.” She was not in the editing room. She feels like the film is true to the time.”

See the trailer and poster art below & >>>Read more (via L + T)

The post Pass The Popcorn: Interview with Director Shola Lynch on Angela Davis Doc appeared first on Okayplayer.

Come in, projector! They Die By Dawn–the star-studded black cowboy flick directed by Jeymes Samuel AKA The Bullitts and starring Erykah Badu and a who’s who of black Hollywood that includes Rosario Dawson, Michael K. Williams and two more fistfuls of the best actors in the world–made it’s official premiere at SXSW 2013 followed closely by a NY premiere at Tribeca Cinemas last week. Okayplayer TV was on hand for both events and grabbed exclusive behind the scenes interviews with Samuel, stars Michael K. and Isaiah Washington as well as cinematographer Rodney Charters, renowned as the DP for the cult series 24. In addition to providing some historical context for the true-life setting of the film in ‘Black Wall Street” AKA Lincoln, Nebraska, Samuels and crew briefly address the most baffling mystery about the project–how the hell did he manage to assemble so much talent in the middle of the California desert to make this thing? Watch below (and stay tuned for a possible part 2 to address an equally baffling mystery: where in the world is Jay Electronica? as the elusive rap genius worked closely with Samuel on his unreleased Roc-A-Fella album)

Videographer + Editor: Craig Gorkiewicz

The post OKP TV: Behind The Scenes Of ‘They Die By Dawn’ Official Premiere [Exclusive Interviews] appeared first on Okayplayer.

As threatened, Okayplayer had the opportunity this weekend  to attend the SXSW screening of Jeymes Samuel’s star-studded new short film They Die By Dawn. A true premiere, the impressive cast–comprising Erykah Badu, Isaiah Washington, Nate Parker, Jessie Williams and The Wire alumni Idris Elba, Michael K. Willams and Felicia Pearson (AKA Snoop)–arrived together at Viceland where they gathered with a small group of some 200 fans and press to watch the edited movie for the very first time, many bugging to see the film’s beautiful poster art by Jules Arthur (see above, A Pass The Popcorn exclusive! ) for the first time as well. Spirits were high. Isaiah Washington seems to not have ever stopped smoking a cigar, just as he does in the movie. Always animated, Jeymes Samuel–wearing a Louis Vuitton shawl and noting that his hair was braided that day, preventing him from sporting his trademark wildman blow-out–was beyond amped to introduce the film and cast.

The movie was stone cold excellent. Although listening was sometimes difficult due to the sheer exuberance of the cast, who hollered and catcalled at jokes both onscreen and private, the exquisite score punctuated dramatically with eruptions of loud gun fire still shone through. The cinematography was beautiful, thanks to DP Rodney Charters and his crew–who are noted to have DPed all 8 seasons of 24. Badu was flawless, supported by a truly incredible cast. How did the mysterious man behind The Bullitts manage to assemble such a dream team? Okayplayer got the exclusive interview access to ask just this question (and much more, check this space soon for the full interviews)–we even got to build with Rodney. Erykah, Jeymes and Michael K. Williams we already knew of course, but turns out Isaiah is a dedicated Okayplayer head, too. Who knew?

The post Pass The Popcorn Premiere: ‘They Die By Dawn’ Debuts At SXSW + TDBD Official Poster appeared first on Okayplayer.

We already hipped you to the best showcases and events South by Southwest has to offer–and by now you may even have ran through a few of them. But there is more to the festival than just its musical draws, quiet as kept SXSW also boasts a film festival that is rivaled by very few. And lucky for you festival-goers much of the film portion of the fest coincides with the music side of things, being a natural draw for biopics, rockumentaries and other cinematic takes on the sonic. That means you can nurse your hangovers with even more culture during the day, kind of a musical hair of the dog, so to speak. In order to help you through the stress of deciding which screenings to attend, we have compiled a list of suggested films to check out during your whirlwind tour of Austin. Click through to see our selections, and as always, stop babysittin’ the popcorn.

The post Pass The Popcorn: Okayplayer’s Top 10 Movies To See At SXSW 2013 appeared first on Okayplayer.

Pass The Popcorn is proud to bring you Part 2 (the electric boogaloo) of our exclusive look at Rubble Kings–Shan Nicholson’s inspiring documentary on the gang culture of the South Bronx, as well as a rising political consciousness and resulting truce that in many ways was the key factor in the birth of hip-hop culture. Think Fort Apache The Bronx + “Apache” the breakbeat by the Incredible Bongo Band. Think infamous “Can You Dig It?” speech at the beginning of The Warriors, but in real life. Last time out we got a general introduction to that cultural landscape–the battlefield, if you will in which the battle-sounds of early hip-hop were formed, with a firsthand run-down of some of the most feared street tribes of the era from the Turban Queens to the Seven Immortals. In the following clip on gang initiations, however, we get an idea of just how intertwined music was in this culture, with interviews and archival footage documenting how 45s and other vinyl records–including “Apache,” apparently–were used as a sort of ghetto-style hour-glass in the various gangs jumping-in ceremonies.

Watch and then hit the link below to support the completion of the film by contributing via Kickstarter. Giving comes with benefits including signed artwork or a tuff customized Rubble Kings jacket by MG&HKM. If You want to give face-to-face, you can attend a special fundraiser and screening of the film at The Griffin here in NYC tomorrow night featuring DJs Moma, Eli Escobar and RokOne (see the flyer above for details).

>>>Support Rubble Kings (via Kickstarter)

The post Pass The Popcorn: Rubble Kings [Exclusive Preview Part 2: Initiations] + NYC Screening appeared first on Okayplayer.

Hip-hop culture nerds rejoice (we’re assuming that’s all of you reading this, author included) – Red Bull Music Academy and the great minds at ego trip are putting together a cinematic triple feature that’s sure to be one for the books, as they say. As the RBMA descends upon New York City next month with a slew of lectures, performances, and events, Filmmatic – An Evening of Rare Hip-Hip Documentaries presents a unique opportunity to witness the early years of hip-hop in full cinematic glory, all for the price of one ticket. The three films being screened – Dick Fontaine’s Beat This! (1984); Dutch director Bram van Splunteren‘s Big Fun In The Big Town (1986); and Diane Martel‘s street dance flick Wreckin’ Shop: Live From Brooklyn (1992) -  are often overlooked in the canon of great hip-hop films, despite providing critical contributions to the visual archive of our cultural phenomenon in its infancy and adolescence. In addition to screening the films, ego trip’s Chairman Mao will host a follow-up panel discussion/Q&A session with all three directors as well as some of the stars of the films, namely Afrika Bambaataa, Schoolly D, and freestyle dance legend Buddha Stretch. Yeah, all of that – don’t say we didn’t warn you. It all goes down at New York City’s Sunshine Landmark Theater on Monday, April 29th at 6:30pm, and tickets are available now. To get ready for your impending hip-hop edification, check out the trailers for Beat This! and Big Fun In The Big Town below and as always, don’t forget to pass the popcorn.

>>>Purchase Tickets

props to ETL

The post Pass The Popcorn: RBMA Presents Filmmatic – An Evening Of Rare Hip-Hop Documentaries [NYC 4/29] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Well Okayplayer fam, this is a weird one – but in an awesome, no-one-does-it-like-Cali-in-the-70s sort of way. In 1973, Jim Baker, a wealthy health food restauranteur founded a short-lived free love commune known as The Source Family in a mansion in Hollywood Hills. The man – then reincarnated as Father Yod – led the commune (from a Rolls Royce, no less) as a model for the rest of humanity to live as organically and communally (and with as many ladies) as possible, and someone finally had the good sense to make a documentary on Yod and his crew. Of course, no story like this is complete without mention of the Fam’s psychedelic rock band Ya Ho Wha 13, but the band and the commune fell apart after Father Yod’s untimely death in a hang-gliding accident – yeah, we couldn’t make this ish up if we wanted to. Without sounding tired, the story of Father Yod and The Source Family is the quintessential one of sex, drugs, and rock n roll at the height of the 1970s era of experimentation, replete with a little murder and intrigue thrown in for good measure. The doc has picked up quite a few nods on the festival circuit and yeah, we’re voyeuristically fascinated to see the full saga of this strange-yet-defining moment in pop culture history unfold. Check out the trailer below (*passes popcorn).

shouts to PM

The post Pass The Popcorn: “The Source Family” ’70s Free Love Commune Documentary [Trailer] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Sure, a few others have made documentaries about the indie music grind from a hip-hop perspective, but from what I’ve seen of this film, the homie Kareem Fort (director of Demos) really captured it perfectly. It also doesn’t hurt that the interviewed artists couldn’t play more to the OKP audience, with first hand accounts from Black Thought, Talib Kweli, Houseshoes, J-Live, DJ Quik, Rapper Big Pooh, No I.D., Jean Grae, Dwele, Freeway, Skyzoo (who narrates the doc), J*DaVeY, Eternia, and many many more. Each telling of their first demo (in the case of Black Thought, rapping it for you) and giving you both perspectives of their respective indie and major label experiences, as well as just the grind of being an up and coming artist. Some interesting insight here from some very well informed people – check the trailer, below. Demos will be out in May, but look for an exclusive sneak peak on OKP before that.

The post Pass The Popcorn: ‘Demos: An Independent Artist’s Guide To Success’ [Trailer] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Victoria Mahoney‘s debut film Yelling To The Sky co-starring Zoë Kravitz and our own Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter hit DVD this past week and to help get the word out, the filmmakers have shared a powerful clip of the movie with us, with permission to post on Okayplayer in a Pass The Popcorn online exclusive! This segment finds our young heroine Sweetness O’Hara  in the driveway confronting her older sister Ola and showcases the charged performances from Zoë and Antonique Smith–and gives you a pretty good idea of emotional wallop that this film has been putting on viewers and critics alike since its debut at the Berlin Film Festival. Watch below, then get the OKP review and trailer and purchase the film on DVD or digital download to find out why Yelling To The Sky made our Top 12 Movies of 2012. Not sure where you all are but here in Brooklyn, we’re ice-bound and there’s more snow on the way so do like us, stock up on some good movies (and pass the popcorn).

DRIVEWAY FIGHT.new from Billy Mulligan on Vimeo.

>>>Purchase the DVD (via Amazon)

>>>Purchase (via iTunes Digital Download)

The post Pass The Popcorn: ‘Yelling To The Sky’ [Exclusive Preview + DVD Release] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Chi-town filmmaker Braden Wambach takes viewers on a personal tour of his city’s thriving underground hip-hop scene in his short documentary “A Night In The Underground.” The film takes a look at the lives and careers of several notable Chicago artists, including Pugs Atomz, The Primeridian, Philip Morris, Ang 13, and several others. In addition to highlighting the talents of many artists relatively unknown outside of the underground circuit, the film also presents an interesting look at the workings of a city’s local hip-hop community from the inside out, a rare opportunity for those of us residing outside of any particular locale. It’s also refreshing to see such a diversity of styles representing Chicago’s contribution to hip-hop aside from the well-known names that have come to define the city’s sound to the outside world. And clocking in at less than 30 minutes, this means you can catch the whole thing during your lunch break below.

spotted at FSD

The post Pass The Popcorn: “A Night In The Underground – A Film On Chicago Hip-Hop” [Full Documentary] appeared first on Okayplayer.