Alfreda's Cinema + Rockaway Film Festival Present: SANKOFA
Join us in celebrating Juneteenth with a special screening of Haile Gerima's newly restored masterpiece Sankofa. Mona, a Black American fashion model, time-travels to a North American plantation in a mystical and transformative odyssey into her violent ancestral past. Preceded by Natalija Joi’s short Black Joi, a rumination on 'home.'
All-vinyl DJ sets by Hyanna, Jay Tee + Fred Smith spinning from 5pm till late next door at Rockaway Brewing Co. (thanks to Fred Smith for providing the sound system) and records sold by Range Music NYC.
Alfreda’s Cinema screens films that tell Black/POC stories that resonate with depth and love, the richness and culture of our history, our dynamics, our shapes, our colors, and our truth. Programmed by Melissa Lyde, Alfreda's Cinema screens bi-monthly at Metrograph with programs, talks, and special appearances that aspire to bridge communities. And they're currently working towards opening a Black film space in Brownsville.
Melissa Lyde was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and is the founder of Alfreda's Cinema. She's worked across the film industry for ten years. In addition to having partnerships with The Metrograph, she has programmed for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), The Maysles Cinema, The Spectacle, and Light Industry.
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Rockaway Film Festival would like to thank VBX™~Vernam Basin Terminal for generously hosting us at the Arverne Cinema in addition to BBX™~Barbadoes Basin Terminal for contributing to such.
RFF also thanks Rockaway Artists Alliance and the National Park Service for hosting us in Fort Tilden.
RFF is proud to be sponsored by Blundstone®, Istic Illic Pictures, and NYC Ferry. The festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by FRANC.