FROM: CALIFORNIANS FOR THE ARTS Both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House have returned to their work in Washington, DC in a “lame duck session” following an election. Current reporting indicates that despite the spiking COVID-19 rates, and the year-end conclusion to many of the relief programs they approved in March, leaders in Congress are … More CALIFORNIANS FOR THE ARTS Call to Action on COVID Reflief
PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release: Contact: Melanie Nathan, for Dream Out Loud Films, Nathan@AfricanHRC.org ELEPHANT REFUGEES WORLD PREMIERE AT SONOMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL A film by LOUISE HOGARTH 2020 / 81 Minutes / BOTSWANA / USA Screening Format DCP NTFS/MAC A crisis of elephantine proportions, playing out in the dry sandy Kalahari woodlands of eastern Botswana unfolds … More Press Release: July 30 ELEPHANT REFUGEES World Premiere at Sonoma Film Festival
UNSETTLED follows LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East as they flee persecution to seek safety in the U.S. A documentary film by Tom Shepard Airs on WORLD Channel via local PBS stations – June 28 (and on WorldChannel.org from (June 28-July 12) and radio/ live streaming interview with Tom Shepard, Melanie … More UNSETTLED: Seeking Refuge in America – Broadcast Premiere
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ+ FILM FESTIVAL – Originally set to take place June 18-28, 2020, the film festival is now scheduled for Fall 2020, with expanded festival offerings throughout the year. Today, Frameline Executive Director James Woolley announced the postponement of the Frameline44 San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Originally set to take place June 18-28, 2020, … More FRAMELINE Postpones the FRAMELINE44 LGBTI San Francisco Film Festival
Updated: The below Article was written before the COVID-19 postponement of the Sonoma Film Festival’s decision to screen its Festival Online. Happily Elephant Refugees will be screened on the opening night platform , July 30, 2020: Sales have opened NOW as a package with another film, The Guardian Elephant Warriors Of Reteti. BOTH FILMS CAN BE … More Elephant Refugees to be Screened at Sonoma International Film Festival
Dear Friends, African Human Rights Coalition (African HRC) is proud to announce its partnership with California Film Institute (CFI) for the upcoming free community impact and educational screening of the award-winning feature documentary Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America, in Marin County, California. You are invited to the screening! Bay Area filmmaker Tom Shepard’s powerful new documentary tells the untold stories … More CFI Hosts Educational and Community Screening in Marin of Award Winning Documentary UNSETTLED
Frameline, presenter of the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the world’s largest and longest-running queer film festival, is pleased to announce the appointment of James Woolley as Executive Director. Woolley brings with him over a decade’s worth of film festival management experience, most recently as the Head of Marketing and Customer Relations at the … More Frameline Announces New Executive Director
With special thanks to the featured asylum seekers and refugees Mari, Cheyenne, Junior and Subhi, for having the courage and fortitude to tell your stories before you had barely landed! Dear Friends, This week I had the great honor of accepting the OUTFEST Los Angeles 2019 juried Best Feature Documentary award for the Film UNSETTLED … More Tom Shepard’s UNSETTLED Wins Prestigious OUTFEST, Los Angeles Award
Hey, Lesbians and Feminists Let’s start with a much watch documentary: A Great Ride It is Pride month. This year San Francisco Pride’s theme is Generations of Resistance. In 2017 San Francisco Pride honored Sally Miller Gearhart with a long overdue Heritage of Pride, Pride Freedom Award. Now Sally shines in a new documentary directed … More Reclaiming Lesbian Space and Fighting Erasure with Sally Miller Gearhart
As the Nation Rallies to Raise Awareness for Sexual Violence, A team of Filmmakers Launch a Unique Project hoping to Change the Law for Domestic Violence. JENNIFER, 42 Kickstarter Campaign: SEE IT HERE! (Brooklyn, NY, October 1, 2018) An unusual theme for an animated movie, domestic violence is at the center of the hybrid feature film … More Filmmakers Poised to Impact Change for Domestic Violence Laws
Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu filed a petition at the High Court of Kenya this week, seeking to have the ban on her film, Rafiki, overturned. Rafiki is the first Kenyan film to be invited to show at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in its 70+ year history yet remains banned for distribution, broadcast and exhibition … More LGBT Kenyans Support the Case to Overturn Ban on Film Rafiki
Fifty voices in a unique and most important reflection on LGBTQ! Do not miss the LA Premiere of Between the Shades – At Dances with Films and Chinese Theatre Hollywood Between the Shades is a documentary by filmmaker Jill Salvino and features 50+ voices, among them: Beth Malone (of Broadway’s Fun Home & Angels in America), … More Tickets for Los Angeles Premiere of Between the Shades
FULL LINEUP FOR 28TH EDITION RUNNING MAY 24 – JUNE 3. Brett Haley’s HEARTS BEAT LOUD to close festival; World Premiere of Christiaan Olwagen’s CANARY selected as Centerpiece Gala. TORONTO, ON – May 4, 2018 – The 28th annual Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, one of the largest events of its kind in the world, revealed its … More Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film festival Announces Lineup
On its road to acclaim, the new LGBTQI documentary, Between the Shades, has been given a weekend block to premier at The Soho International Film Festival. The film, premiering at the New York venue on June 17th, examines the immense power of labels and the transcendence of love, while putting faces to the letters that … More LGBTQI Documentary to Premiere at Soho International Film Festival.
By Melanie Nathan, April 26, 2016. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Cheryl Dunye’s iconic film The Watermelon Woman (1996) has been restored and digitally remastered for worldwide release and will be screened at The Castro Theater during the San Francisco International Film Festival season this coming Sunday. SFIFF Expanded explores the cultural and political … More Iconic Lesbian Film Celebrates 20th Anniversary in the Castro during SFIFF
By Melanie Nathan, October 20, 2015. BETWEEN THE SHADES is a feature film documentary exploring the shades of being gay; discussing what connects us all: Our desire to love. I had the great privilege of interviewing award-winning filmmaker, Jill Salvino. We discussed Between the Shades, her new project, and first feature length documentary. As an … More Documentary that Transcends Equality
AIDS Quilt Documentary The Last One Gears Up for Fall 2015 Screenings and 2016 National Youth Outreach Campaign Posted by Melanie Nathan, Oct 20, 2015. Film Spotlights AIDS Memorial Quilt; Reveals Progress, Setbacks and Hope in the Quest to End AIDS; Youth Campaign (Combining the Quilt Display with Screenings of the Film) Aims to … More Film About AIDS Memorial Quilt Covers its Birth and Impact
Festivals, Events, and Exhibitions this Winter and Fall for LGBT Travellers Posted by Melanie Nathan, October, 01, 2015. PHILADELPHIA, October 1, 2015 – A welcoming and diverse destination that celebrates its LGBT pride every day, Philadelphia offers a range of cultural and social events perfect for gay and lesbian travelers this fall. Highlights: OutFest, the … More A Lot of Fun for LGBT Travelers to Philadelphia
The festival is in partnership with Outfest, and presented by HBO – Runs October 22-27 Posted by Melanie Nathan, September 21, 2015. New York, NY (September 21, 2015) – NewFest, in partnership with Outfest, today announced the lineup of their 27th annual celebration of the year’s best LGBT films from around the world. The program of nearly 100 … More New York LGBT Newfest Film Festival Announces Lineup
While Mass Pardons Sought in UK, Africans are Still being Arrested Under old Penal Codes Posted by Melanie Nathan, February 2, 2015 While the United Kingdom seeks to right the wrong against homosexuals, its influence in the form of Colonial era Penal Codes, still haunt Africa. The Penal Codes serving to underpin much of the … More African Gays Still Suffer as Oscar Nominated Film Sparks Call for Mass UK Pardon
By Melanie Nathan, July 30, 2014. In a further attack against gays, the Christian and anti-gay groups of Uganda are trying a desperate move to try and defeat the Ugandan Human Rights defender Plaintiff’s from succeeding to prove that the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was signed into law in February of this year, is unconstitutional. These … More Christians and Anti-Gay Groups of Uganda Fight To Save Anti-Homosexuality Act
Posted by Melanie Nathan June 6, 2014 Journalist Susan Donaldson James has encapsulated the astounding story behind a documentary film to be be shown in the U.S.A., throughout June, on the World Channel, associated with PBS, as part of series of programs for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride month. The story reflects Internet pioneer … More AOL Tech Guru Seeks Justice for Gay Brother’s Killing
BECOMING MORE VISIBLE, – A burgeoning crisis Posted by Melanie Nathan, January 25, 2014. From behind the lens of photographer Josh Lehrer, a groundbreaking film will tell the compelling stories of five, homeless transgender teens. Their backgrounds are diverse, but their stories are strikingly similar. Rejected by their families and lured to New York City with … More Groundbreaking Homeless Trans Teen Film
Spotlights AIDS Memorial Quilt; Reveals Progress, Setbacks and Hope in the Quest to End AIDS Official Selection at Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Jan 30 – Feb 9) New York, NY, January 17, 2014 – Red Thread Productions announced today the upcoming release of a new feature-length documentary with a fresh take on the iconic AIDS Memorial … More New Documentary about the 50 Mile Long AIDS Memorial Quilt
By Melanie Nathan, November 16, 2013 Lest I forget this caveat, I am co-producing the film GAY U.S.A. the Movie, with Kristina Lapinski, the ‘lesbian filmmaker,’ famed amongst other antics, for tackling Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, at a Tea Party Debate. This, the latest video, poised to go viral, captures a series of extraordinary … More GAY U.S.A. the Movie Launches Magnificent Marriage Equality Video
Posted by Melanie Nathan, June 04, 2013. China Blue, is one of three movies being screened from Bay Area filmmaker, Micha Peled’s Globalization Trilogy. The film will be playing at the Rafael on Wednesday, June 5 at 7:00. China Blue focuses on teenager Jasmin Li, who leaves her home to work in a far-away blue jeans factory. This … More Micha Peled’s Globalization Trilogy Comes to Marin
By Melanie Nathan, May 02, 2013. American Jewish World Service is hosting an event here in San Francisco and I am asking my readers to come and join me in supporting it. And it is free! They will be featuring the documentary film, God Loves Uganda, on Wednesday May 22nd at SFJAZZ Center! See the … More Join me for a screening of God Loves Uganda in San Francisco
By Melanie Nathan, February, 25, 2013. Last week the small Southern African country of Botswana saw a highly unusual and courageous event. In a country that criminalizes homosexual acts, a film festival was held at the University of Botswana to educate the community on same-gender relationships. According to a report in the local Monitor publication, … More Despite criminalization homosexual acts Botswana educates through LGBTI film festival
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