JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION: BLACK CHARIOT
Co-presented by Alfreda's Cinema
In remembrance of the enslavement of Black people in the United States and in acknowledgement of those still in forced servitude, Alfreda's Cinema and Rockaway Film Festival co-present our annual Juneteenth program — spotlighting the best in newly restored Black Cinema with Robert Goodwin's Black Chariot (1971) alongside a new short by diasporic artist Zion Estrada. We aim to bridge the old with the new to witness how stories of resistance resonate across time.
Black Chariot by Robert Goodwin, 1971. 90 min.
"Robert Goodwin wrote, produced, and directed this lost gem of American independent cinema. Opening during a tense meeting between members of an underground Black Power group that leads to a stunning foot chase, Goodwin’s film weaves past and present to tell the story of the social awakening of a character only referred to as “the drifter” (Bernie Casey). Shot on both 35mm and video and boasting a fierce, early performance from L.A. Rebellion icon Barbara O. Jones, Black Chariot is a fascinatingly iconoclastic revelation. Though world-premiered at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1971, Black Chariot has remained under-screened for decades—until now." —Academy Museum
2,340 Miles from 1880 by Zion Estrada & Mitch McEwen, 2024. 12min.
A work of cinema-as-archive-as-monument, 2,340 Miles from 1880 is a meditative assemblage film that uses found video, archival documents, photographs, and original music to trace the flow of Black rebellion along the Mississippi River during the Great Migration, from the plantation to the inner-city. Directed by Zion Estrada in collaboration with Black Reconstruction Collective.
The archive of Robert L. Goodwin, including all production materials for the film Black Chariot, was acquired by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture in 2020. The film was restored by the Museum’s Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts (CAAMA), with significant assistance from a grant provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
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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 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 by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, in addition to the National Endowment for the Arts.