The 19th Annual African American Film Festival
Jazz Legends & Cinematic Icons
Feb 13 – 16, 2025 • Curated by Dr. Terri Francis
5-Show Series $60 • Save $25 when you purchase the entire series. All films in Rinker Playhouse • General admission
Jazz is the quintessential American art form yet it has always attracted fascination and respect in concert halls and night clubs around the world, particularly in France. Originating in the early 20th century, in New Orleans, it evolved from ragtime through big band and swing, to bebop and an array of other forms. Bandleader and composer James Reese Europe first helped to popularize jazz in France through his direction of the 369th Infantry Regiment Band, aka, “The Harlem Hellfighters” during World War I. Europe and the band traveled all over France in early 1918 performing for troops and civilians alike. Later Eugene Bullard, Cole Porter, Bricktop, Ella Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker were among the performers drawn to Paris during the Jazz Age, (1914-1940). As a dancer, Baker was a singular creative force and her breakout success in the Black Review at the Théàtre des Champs-Élysées surely fueled the atmosphere in which jazzmen like Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong would thrive.
Jazz and cinema have a longstanding collaboration. In fact, the Library of Congress contains a database, Jazz in the Movies, that lists an astounding 20,000 plus cinema, television and video productions with jazz and blues figures. Jazz Legends and Cinematic Legends presents merely five of the most exquisite duets ever between jazz and the movies.
Beginning with Josephine Baker’s film debut in 1927, the series arcs from the secular to the sacred with Mahalia Jackson’s rendition of the Lord’s Prayer in Jazz on a Summer’s Day. From the Caribbean, to Paris to New York to Rhode Island, the films explore both the wounds and the creative powers of African Americans and their place at the heart of American identity. And of course the films star gorgeous actors like Denzel Washington and Diahann Carroll, herself a musician, and they are scored with beautiful music from Duke Ellington, Jon Batiste, and more.
Join Dr. Terri Francis, professor and author of Josephine Baker’s Cinematic Prism for the 19th Annual African American Film Festival – a feast for the eyes and a listening session for the soul.
Guests attending PEAK performances in the Rinker Playhouse will receive one complimentary beverage with every ticket purchased (underage guests will be offered a non-alcoholic selection).
PEAK performances made possible by a grant from the MLDauray Arts Initiative in honor of Leonard and Sophie Davis
With support from
