African Diaspora Films Reunite at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Rose Cinema

Usual stereotypes of African Americans in film can be seen in many Hollywood pictures, but they are absent at the Best of the African Diaspora Film Festival presented by BAMcinématek starting Friday and running through next week.

During this week-long series, BAM Rose Cinemas is showcasing 13 films that were lauded by critics and audiences alike. Displaying black filmmaking feats from five continents, the ADFF was launched in 1993 by ArtMattan Productions, an independent film distribution company.

Explaining the ADFF’s purpose, Reinaldo Barroso-Spech, ArtMattan productions president and ADFF co-director, said, “A lot of films that come from Hollywood present a very limited vision of what the black experience is. Our goal is to present quality products and expand that vision through film. Films can play a role beyond that of just entertaining people.” Presenting independent feature films, shorts, documentaries and animations, the ADFF honors inspired, unconventional filmmaking in Africa and throughout the African diaspora.

Some of the films being screened at BAM’s series boast big-name actors, such as Gospel Hill featuring Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, and Julia Stiles. Glover also appears alongside Carl Lumbly (Alias) in Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation, a film detailing the Namibian people’s fight for independence from apartheid South Africa, directed by Charles Burnett the mastermind behind Killer of Sheep and To Sleep with Anger.

Prince of Broadway, another film in the series, includes lesser-known actors but possesses an equally engaging plot. Directed and written by Sean Baker, Prince of Broadway follows the thorny lives of two immigrants, one Ghanaian and the other Lebanese. Lucky (Prince Adu) and Levon (Karren Karagulian) are co-workers in Manhattan’s wholesale fashion district. Lucky’s days are spent luring customers into Levon’s store, in which both men peddle counterfeit or stolen designer merchandise. The auspicious connotation of Lucky’s name fails him when a toddler whom he supposedly fathered is thrust into his life.

Baker brilliantly challenges viewers’ conception of Lucky and Levon by every so often exposing a new layer of each man’s identity, effectively eroding any sort of pigeonhole in which one might be inclined to place them. And even if this innovative plot doesn’t rouse your interests in the least, go see the film solely for Prince (Aiden Noesi), Lucky’s supposed love child.

The protagonists of Prince of Broadway and their predicaments are a perfect fit for the many cultures celebrated at the series. This festival is a refreshing departure from Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

The Best of the African Diaspora Film Festival plays from Feb. 20-26 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Rose Cinema (30 Lafayette St., at Duane St.). Tickets cost $8 for students. Prince of Broadway plays Saturday at 4 p.m., and Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Look for continuing coverage of the ADFF here and online at columbiaspectator.com.