Shakedown (2014)

Actors: Junior (actor), Mahogany (actor), Slow-Wine (actor), Egypt (actress), Jazmyne (actress), Ronnie-Ron (actress), Keyonna Taylor (actress), Leilah Weinraub (producer), Tim Dewit (composer), Leilah Weinraub (director), Minnie Bennett (editor), Ashland Mines (editor), Leilah Weinraub (editor),

Plot: SHAKEDOWN is a documentary about a Black lesbian strip club in Los Angeles' Crenshaw District. Operating for almost a decade, serving as a safe community space, alternative economy and a site for female-oriented creative and sexual experimentation. SHAKEDOWN captures a significant Black lesbian cultural moment by narrating eight years of events that unfold out of a scene created in the early 1970's. We move from the past to the present to better understand these women, their work, and the critical role work plays in the formation of identity. SHAKEDOWN is also a lens through which to reflect upon how communities are planned and built and evolve through generations.

Keywords: african-american, dancer, family-relationships, gay-interest, identity, lesbian, marginal-culture, money, strip-club, underground-gay-club
Genres: Documentary, Drama, History,

Cash Patients Only (2013)

Actors: Cody Arganbright (actor), Andrew Bailes (actor), Rikki Baynard (actor), Larry A. Brewer (actor), Jimi Brown (actor), Jan Cohen (actor), Emilia Dahlman (actor), Taylor Dariarow (actor), Steve Dez (actor), Jerrod Doll (actor), Thomas H. Fay (actor), Andre Felder (actor), Miguel Fernando Maya (actor), Sean Geiger (actor), Mellisa Adelberger (actor),

Genres: Comedy,

Scene Shifts, in Six Movements (2012)

Actors: Svend Christianssen (actor), Jorma Hellström (actor), Pape Sarr (actor), Denise Akar (actress), Maryam Hamadon (actress), Jani Ruscica (director),

Genres: Short,

Kingston House (2012)

Actors: Andrew Brodber (actor), David Brown (actor), Kevoy Burton (actor), David Crossgill (actor), Norbert Nicholson (actor), Conray Richards (actor), Yuri Stewart (actor), Kadeem Wilson (actor), Julie Ann Bailey (actress), Sharon Bogle (actress), Latoya Davis (actress), Sharon Edwards (actress), June Kelly (actress), Taheera Tam (actress), Lisa Williams (actress),

Plot: Four teenagers experience the grown-up trials and tribulations from the unsteady environment of Kingston, Jamaica, where the affects of money (or lack their of) and upbringing impact the complex choices made in their daily lives. The series follows these teenagers as they make difficult and life altering decisions while pursuing their dreams.

Genres: Drama,

Friends & Lovers: The Ski Trip 2 (2008)

Actors: Patrick Bristow (actor), Terrell Carter (actor), Milan Christopher (actor), Cisco (actor), Lucky Connor (actor), Ray Cunningham (actor), Alton Demore (actor), Brandon DeShazer (actor), Chaison Diaz (actor), Daren Fleming (actor), Daniel Hermosillo (actor), Maurice Jamal (actor), Gordon James (actor), Kairon John (actor), Jehshua Barnes (actor),

Plot: A comedy drama about three very different couples living in Los Angeles trying to make theirs lives complete. Finding love, relationships and struggling to survive in the crazy world of Angelino's. A funny look at how people in the city are and how things just get in the way.

Keywords: african-american, ampersand-in-title, california, digit-in-title, diversity, friend, gay, gay-african-american, gay-couple, gay-interest
Genres: Comedy,
Taglines: What haven't you told your friends or lover lately

Take the Lead (2006)

Actors: Brandon D. Andrews (actor), Alan John Armsby (actor), Antonio Banderas (actor), Dante Basco (actor), Lyriq Bent (actor), Anthony Berardocco (actor), Ardon Bess (actor), Rob Brown (actor), Tony Craig (actor), Piotre Derus (actor), Marc Gagne (actor), Daniel Guajardo (actor), Kevin Hanchard (actor), Dimitry Ilyushenov (actor), Philip Adkins (actor),

Plot: In New York, the polite dance instructor Pierre Dulaine sees a black teenager vandalizing the car of the director of a public school and on the next day he volunteers to teach dance to students to give respect, dignity, self-confidence, trust and teamwork. The reluctant director Augustine James offers the troublemakers that are in detention expecting Pierre to give-up of his intentions. Pierre struggles against the prejudice and ignorance of the students, parents and other teachers, but wins his battle when the group accepts to compete in a ballroom dance contest.

Keywords: african-american, attempted-rape, baby, ballroom, ballroom-dancing, based-on-true-story, basketball, bathroom, beating, bicycle
Genres: Drama, Music,
Taglines: Never Follow.

Quotes:

[from trailer]::Pierre Dulaine: You can get what you want.::Rock: No, some people get what they want.::Pierre Dulaine: Those are the people who show up to get it.

[from trailer]::Pierre Dulaine: What I teach has value.::Ramos: Not where I live.

Principal Augustine James: You know who did that to my car, don't you?::Pierre Dulaine: He may have been black, or hispanic.::Principal Augustine James: ...Let me know if you remember...

Caitlin: I'd kill to dance like that. It's like sex on hardwood.

Rock: Doctor's note. I can't dance, I have a heart condition.::Pierre Dulaine: Interesting man, your doctor. Not many doctors write notes on three-hole paper.

Kurd: Why you gotta be such a ballroom weirdo?

Eddie: Check Mr Dulaine! He's just gettin' his flirt on.

Morgan: I've never seen anyone move like that before.::Sasha: I'm sure.

Pierre Dulaine: Do you love to dance?::Caitlin: Yeah::Pierre Dulaine: Then you're meant to dance.

Eddie: Man, punk moves like that won't get you no play around here, trust me I've tried it.

Nightjohn (1996)

Actors: Gerald Brown (actor), Gabriel Casseus (actor), Bill Cobbs (actor), Bruce Evers (actor), John P. Ford III (actor), Bill Gribble (actor), John Herina (actor), Antwan Isaac (actor), Carl Lumbly (actor), James Mayberry (actor), Danny Nelson (actor), Tom Nowicki (actor), Steven Sutherland (actor), Joel Traywick (actor), Beau Bridges (actor),

Plot: Sarny, a 12-year-old slave girl in the ante-bellum South, faces a relatively hopeless life. Her chief duties at the plantation of Clel Waller are serving at table, spitting tobacco juice on roses to prevent bugs, and secretly conveying intimate messages between Waller's wife, Callie, and Dr. Chamberlaine. Then Nightjohn arrives. A former runaway slave who bears telltale scars on his back, he takes Sarny under his wing and, in exchange for a pinch of tobacco, secretly begins to teach her to read and write, a crime punishable by death. "Words," he says, "are freedom. Slavery is made of words: laws, deeds and passes." He starts by drawing letters in the dirt and cautions her that no one must know. At her baptism, Sarny steals a Bible that belongs to Waller's son, Jeffrey, and practices reading by lantern-light in the slave quarters. The same Bible serves another purpose when, on a blank page taken from it, Nightjohn forges a pass for Outlaw, a young slave, to use in escaping to freedom in the North with his beloved Egypt, a slave on another plantation. Waller finds the Bible and demands to know who stole it. Delie, who cared for Sarny as a child, fears for her now and accepts the blame. But Nightjohn forestalls the lashing Delie is to receive, saying he's the one, for he can read. He tries to run away but is caught, and his hand is tied to a chopping block. With an ax, Waller delivers the severing blow, exacting the brutal penalty for Nightjohn's literacy. As he is dragged off to be sold, he tells Sarny, "When they cut off one hand, the other hand grows stronger." That night Sarny writes a pass for Egypt that will let her join Outlaw on the flight to freedom. Two days later their escape is discovered and the false passes found. Waller knows Nightjohn wrote Outlaw's pass. But who wrote the second? He interrupts a church service to demand the answer, threatening to kill all his slaves if no one tells. Sarny confesses, but declares he'll kill no one, for the slaves represent his wealth. As Waller raises his rifle, Sarny implores Callie to speak up for her, hinting that she has read the messages to Dr. Chamberlaine. Callie refuses, but the doctor, fearful Sarny will reveal the relationship, says he's at fault. He tells of teaching Egypt some reading and writing, but now declares it was a mistake. Callie orders that Sarny be sold, and as the girl is joined to a line of other slaves, she asks if any of them have tobacco to trade. What has she to give in return? they want to know. And Sarny draws an A in the dirt.

Keywords: abuse, african-american, antebellum, based-on-novel, child-abuse, compassion, education, fight-the-system, illiteracy, learning
Genres: Drama,
Taglines: Words Are Freedom

The Call of Her People (1917)

Actors: William B. Davidson (actor), Hugh Jeffrey (actor), William Mandeville (actor), Frank Montgomery (actor), Robert Whittier (actor), Helen Arnold (actress), Ethel Barrymore (actress), Mrs. Allen Walker (actress), June Mathis (writer), Edward Sheldon (writer), John W. Noble (director),

Genres: Drama,