Festival Registration

Pick up passes purchased online or purchase passes in the Fest Office.

Jeanette Hill

MASTER CLASS: Creating Characters Your Audience Will Love…Or Hate!

Madison

Instructor:  Jeanette Hill; 90 minutes                 

The suspension of disbelief. You’re familiar with the term. Just so you know, if your audience can’t connect with your characters, they won’t connect with your story. Through exercises and activities, learn how to develop three-dimensional characters-their appearances, traits, and voices unique to each one.  Create characters your audience will want to know.

Bobby Yan

MASTER CLASS: Directing for Film and Television

Jackson

Instructor: Bobby Yan, PNMC Celebrity Co-Chair

An advanced primer on the craft of directing from script to screen.

Rhavynn Drummer

MASTER CLASS: Master the Audition Rhavynn Drummer

Roosevelt

Instructor:  Rhavynn Drummer

Students will receive the opportunity to get in-depth information about auditioning characters for television and film projects.  Not only will this information delve into techniques and common mistakes in an audition room, but actors will get the chance to perform a mock audition AND receive feedback on their performance.

Film Festival Opens in the Washington

FILM SHORT: OnBoard

(40 min.; Mini-Doc)

Washington

Filmmakers: Shannon Nash,  Merline Saintil & Deborah Riley Draper   

OnBoard follows the evolution of board diversity from Patricia Roberts Harris in 1971 to the present day, as seen through the eyes of Black women who are making a positive difference in global corporate spaces.               

Film Festival Opens in the Hamilton

FILM SHORTS:  FANNIE, Q.U.E.E.N.

Film Short:  FANNIE  (10 min.; Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Abeni Bloodworth                          

Sharecropper turned social justice advocate, Fannie Lou Hamer publicly highlights the scare tactics used in Mississippi to prevent Black Americans from voting.  Hammer forces this country to examine itself with one question, “Is this America?

Film Short:  Q.U.E.E.N. (13 min.; Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Brittany "B.Monét"   

Q.U.E.E.N. tells the story of a teenage girl with a troubled past who uses writing as her muse to say all the things she is too afraid to say. Through self-discovery and a little bit of courage, Imani faces her biggest fear at a rap battle.

Lisa Price

READING: On the Train

Reading: On the Train                                                

Grant

Writer: Lisa Price

Shortly after the overturning of Roe, political correspondent Nia Anderson, has a brief confrontation with Senator Chad Fox the ‘face of morality’. When she confronts him about the pending increase in African-American maternity and infant mortality and mortality rate, his insult leads to the damaging of her career.

FILM SHORTS: The Leijend, Contact Man

Film Short:  The Leijend (25 min.; Sci-Fi)

Washington

Filmmaker: Javon Johnson

A psychological thriller that pits a man against his greatest fear, himself. Who will win this life and death battle.

Film Short:  Contact Man (6 min.; Sci-Fi)

Washington

Filmmaker: Christina Bachelor

After the murder of his sister, a super human in hiding seeks to avenge her death. Through the use of his detective skills and teleportation powers, he searches for his purpose and revenge.

Javon Johnson

MASTER CLASS: Freeing Your Creative Voice and Industry Talk

Instructor:  Javon Johnson

Roosevelt

In this Master Class Javon Johnson will instruct on the following:  Writing from an organic space; Writing for stage versus television/film; Seeking agent representation; Learning how to get from the page to production; Learning the development process (ie. drafting, revising, and editing); and the proper format and structure.

FILM SHORT: The Bridge That Brought Us Through

(37 min.; Mini-doc)    

Filmmaker: Tom Lassiter                                    

Hamilton      

South Carolinians built nearly 500 Rosenwald Schools for African American students in the Jim Crow era. But just a small percentage survive today. They are witnesses to an era important to all South Carolinians, regardless of race. And why so many Rosenwald Schools have disappeared in the Palmetto State is a uniquely South Carolina story.

READING: Change of Heart

Lincoln

Writer: Seth Freeman  

A terrific woman's heart is giving out, and without a transplant she will die. Fortunately, a donor is found with the perfect heart – a heart which she plans to continue to use.  This play explores how we decide what things are worth, even our bodies, even our lives.

Regina Taylor

CELEBRITY READING: A Black Album Mixtape

Jackson

Writer: Regina Taylor                     

A series of shorts speaking out on relevant issues of today because now is not the time to be silent.

FILM SHORTS: Birthday Cake; Friends Like Dee

Film Short:  Birthday Cake (11 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Thomas Bauer                     

It's Donnie's Birthday. A good reason for his wife to bake his favorite chocolate cake and reflect on the time spent with a loved one.

Film Short:  Friends Like Dee (18 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Sandra Hamlin

A distraught woman is uplifted by her friends in a most surprising way.

READING: All Rise

12:15pm:  

Madison

Writer: Evan McCreary

“Following the murder of her teenaged son at the hands of police, Valerie Williams finds herself in a tumultuous battle with the criminal justice system in a desperate attempt to avenge her young son’s stolen life. Throughout the play, Valerie, her husband Matt, and their two daughters are thrust into the harrowing consequences of the systems of oppression and racism that are rooted in the American legal and police systems.

William Andre Buchanan

FILM SHORTS:  T.I.M.E.; Dignity

Film Short:  T.I.M.E. (10 min.; Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: William Andre Buchanan

Treasure Intimate Memories Everyday=T.I.M.E.  A peak into the tender bond between a father and his daughter as their lives evolve.

Film Short:  Dignity (25 min.; Romantic Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Pat Battistini

"Dignity" is a love story between a woman and her family. However, the family's strength is tested when a moral decision must be made.

Javon Johnson

PANEL DISCUSSION: Where the Money Resides: How to be a “Consistent” Working Actor

Jefferson/Adams

Inspiring Actors, Filmmakers and Writers want to be a part of the Entertainment Industry and they want to be recognized for their work. Winning an award such as an Oscar, an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a SAG Award or a Tony signify your peers acknowledge and appreciate your work.  However, some never experience this kind of respect.

Industry professionals will pull back the curtain and help you peer through the lens—giving you a ‘behind the scenes skinny’ on how things really work in the worlds of Stage and Film. This is an interactive panel with Q &A between the audience and industry professionals.

Panelists:

Rhavynn Drummer, national casting director and producer

Rose Bianco, actress, stage, film and television

Javon Johnson, celebrity festival co-chair, actor, director, writer, and producer for stage, theatre and film

Lorey Hayes, Multi-award winning writer, director, Stage, Film, Television

Ted Lange

CELEBRITY READING: Blues in My Coffee

Roosevelt

Writer: Ted Lange

Blues In My Coffee is a romantic comedy with robust edges and a surprise at the end of the drink.   Two black guys have just ordered their favorite coffees in Starbucks.  Walker is a comic book geek and desires all things blonde including his Blonde Vanilla Lattee, a vanilla creation through and through.  Alonzo T. Sterling is only a few credits shy of his degree, wants to be a chef, and prefers a two shot of Dark Roast Expresso.              

FILM SHORT:  Unlocking the Doors of Opportunity

(30 min.; Mini-Doc)

Filmmaker: Tom Lassiter                                

Washington

A Jewish philanthropist and an African American educator devise a plan to build public schools for Black children throughout the South, despite Jim Crow’s tight grip on public funds. North Carolinians built nearly 800 Rosenwald Schools – more than any other state – changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of students prior to integration.

FILM SHORTS - Art 21: Rose B. Simpson; 3 Phases of Isa

Film Short:  Art 21: Rose B. Simpson (14 min.; Mini-Doc)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Art21 

Set primarily in her native Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, this film is a gentle portrayal of how artist Rose B. Simpson creates and explores inventive ways of making art. She draws from the land's culture and history, her ancestors' knowledge and heritage, and skills passed down to her by her mother and grandmother.

Film Short: 3 Phases of Isa (17 min.; Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Mildred Langford  

In a marriage riddled with domestic violence, a woman confronts the younger versions of herself attempting to gain the freedom she so desperately seeks.

OUTDOOR FOOD & MUSIC EVENT

Enjoy our Outdoor Foodie Event -- Portland style!

August Bullock

READERS SERIES AWARDS

Roosevelt

Readers Series & Film Fest Awards presented

Classic Film/Television Screening: East Side/West Side

Roosevelt

Festival Registration

Pick up passes purchases online or purchase passes in the Fest office.

Don Wilson Glenn

MASTER CLASS: Original Scripts from Workshop to Production

Madison

Instructor:  Don Wilson Glenn; 45 minutes                  

Starting with creation, the process of pen to paper, discussing the standard industry formatting; copyright and ownership; submission, commission and soliciting; and finally the playwright’s expectation from workshop to full production.

Kaypri

MASTER CLASS: Theatre Producing 101: My Script is Done, Now What?

Grant

Instructor:  Kaypri

Checklist on how to know if your script is ready for production including the essential workshop process.  Additional information on the following:

• You are a producer already! Mining the skills you already have
• Hiring a crew must do’s and need to knows
• Why PR is your most important investment and key to a successful production
• Finding your audience beyond your inner circle
• Finding opportunities to share your work beyond where you live and work

Vera J Katz

MASTER CLASS: A Technique for Working on a Monologue

Roosevelt

Instructor:  Professor Vera J. Katz

Attendee should bring a prepared monologue with a copy for instructor.  If necessary, the instructor will provide a monologue for you.

Film Festival Opens in the Washington

Film screenings in the Washington room.

FILM SHORTS - Indigenous Resistance: Now and Then; I Play Loser

Film Short: Indigenous Resistance: Now and Then (15 min.; Mini-Doc)       

Filmmaker: ‘Wáats’asdíyei Joe Yates                         

Washington

Witness how Indigenous people endure psychological, emotional and economic trauma at the hands of their Caucasian conquers. Statehood, blood quantum, ANCSA, boarding schools, denied the freedom to speak their language and perform their cultural dances. Yet through it all—their ancestral traditions bind them—making them resilient and fueling them with hope.

Film Short:  I Play Loser (15 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Jezer Serafica

Boog is a talented, fierce competitor in the Fighting Game community. Having never achieved 1st place, the young man becomes obsessed with knocking down his friends after struggling with a new video challenge.

Bobby Yan

Film Festival Opens in the Hamilton

Film Short:  3 Phases of Isa (17 min.; Drama)        

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Mildred Langford

In a marriage riddled with domestic violence, a woman confronts the younger versions of herself attempting to gain the freedom she desperately seeks.

Film Short:  XXVisible (12 min.; Drama)                  

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Bobby Yan    

It's 2020, COVID-19 has shut down the entire world. In the midst, a successful, young Asian American struggles to navigate life during the lock down. A series of events forces the man to confront issues of self-identity and racial politics, culminating into an aggressive Anti-Asian attack against his family.

William Andre Buchanan

MASTER CLASS: Film Finance & Funding

Lincoln

Instructor:  William Andre Buchanan

Angel investor and Film Financier William Andre Buchanan will host a workshop on how to get your projects funded by sharing several techniques to secure funding for your projects.

Valerie Yvette Peterson

READING: The Knowledge of Good and Evil

Grant

Writer: Valerie Peterson                         

THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL is a story that takes a look into the lives of two African American brothers, as they are faced with difficult decisions that will challenge their shared upbringing, spirituality, and moral compass.

FILM SHORTS: The Dragonfly Tale; Birthday Cake

Film Short:  The Dragonfly Tale (30 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Lorey Hayes

A story about faith and trust in God to heal lives. Laced with laughter and light-hearted moments, join a Black family navigating racial and economic hurdles in 1964 Texas. Together they journey through victimization, public scrutiny and personal accountability.

Film Short:  Birthday Cake (11 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Thomas Bauer

It's Donnie's Birthday. A good reason for his wife to bake his favorite chocolate cake and reflect on the time spent with a loved one.

Greg Stallworth

READING: A Black Father’s Plea

Madison

Writer: Gregory Stallworth                      

A Black Father’s Plea is a stage performance of two acts that addresses the perils of a black father who is absent in his son’s life. During this absence, the son seeking male mentoring goes to the streets to seek encouragement and advisement only to be steered to a life on the streets that includes crime, drugs and gun violence.

Rose Bianco

PANEL DISCUSSION: Overcoming Barriers – Embracing our Culture and Differences in Theatre & Film

Description: Artists of Color (AOC) have dealt with racism, colorism, whitewashing, and stereotypes throughout vaudeville, theatre, film, and television. However, they have always found a way to publicly tell and celebrate their culture and differences.

This panel will discuss what was, what is, and what is to come for AOC in the entertainment industry.

In the Roosevelt room.

Panelists: 

Rose Bianco, actress, theatre, television, and film

Alicia Payne, Canadian multi-disciplinary storyteller (stage, film, television, and radio)

Jeannette Hill, award-winning playwright and creative activist, founder of JWHill Productions LLC and Sight  Ain’t Seeing Theatre Company.

Glenn Alan, award-winning playwright, director, stage producer, executive producer of DC Black Theatre Festival

Lorey Hayes, Multi-award winning writer, director, Stage, Film, Television

Moderator:  Jeannine Foster-McKelvia, playwright, director, and adjunct assisstant professor of theatre at the CUNY College of Technology and at Marymount Manhattan College

FILM SHORTS: Indigenous Resistance: Now & Then; Toni. Mamie. Connie.

Film Short: Indigenous Resistance: Now & Then (15 min.; Mini-doc)

Filmmaker: ‘Wáats’asdíyei Joe Yates

Hamilton

Witness how Indigenous people endure psychological, emotional and economic trauma at the hands of their Caucasian conquers. Statehood, blood quantum, ANCSA, boarding schools, denied the freedom to speak their language and perform their cultural dances. Yet through it all—their ancestral traditions bind them—making them resilient and fueling them with hope.

Film Short: Toni. Mamie. Connie.  (5 min.; Historical Drama)

Hamilton
Filmmaker: Ashleigh Curry

Set in the 1950's, it centers around three African American women playing their last game with an African American men's baseball team. Witness some of the hurdles they overcome to become front runners in a game that has no place for them.

FILM SHORTS: Tin Can; Q.U.E.E.N.

Film Short:  Tin Can (20 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Pat Battistini

A down on his luck rodeo clown must make hard decisions to rediscover joy in his life.

Film Short:  Q.U.E.E.N. (13 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Brittany "B.Monét"

Q.U.E.E.N. tells the story of a teenage girl with a troubled past who uses writing as her muse to say all the things she is too afraid to say. Through self-discovery and a little bit of courage, Imani faces her biggest fear at a rap battle.

FILM SHORTS: 3 Phases of Isa; Tin Can

Film Short: 3 Phases of Isa (17 min.; Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Mildred Langford

In a marriage riddled with domestic violence, a woman confronts the younger versions of herself attempting to gain the freedom she desperately seeks.

Film Short:  Tin Can (20 min.; Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Pat Battistini            

A down on his luck rodeo clown must make hard decisions to rediscover joy in his life.

READING: Irony Tragedy for Destiny

Lincoln

Writer: Larry Americ Allen                      

The road to the Governor’s Mansion is Lance’s challenge in Irony Tragedy for Destiny. On the campaign trail Lance promised to bring fairness, equality and justice to all people. While making his campaign promises, he encounters other challenges.

READING: Where Blood Runs, Still

Grant

Writer: E. Claudette Freeman                  

Never forget. Those words ring as an urgent challenge through Where Blood Runs, Still. Never forget is accepted mandate of the once vibrant Mamie Albritton; whose hauntings of love past and legacy denied become more than she can bear.

FILM SHORTS: Friends Like Dee; Dignity

Film Short:  Friends Like Dee (18 min.; Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Sandra Hamlin

A distraught woman is uplifted by her friends in a most surprising way.

Film Short:  Dignity (25 min.; Romantic Drama)

Washington

Filmmaker: Pat Battistini            

A love story between a woman and her family. However, the family's strength is tested when a moral decision is made.

Jeanette Hill

SPECIAL READING: Don’t Call Me Brother

Jackson

Writer: Jeanette Hill                      

Andrew Merritt is at a crossroads personally and professionally. His appointment to assistant police chief of Community Liaisons and the killing of another black youth by a police officer under questionable circumstances has the city ready to explode Those on the force are asking ‘Is he Blue enough?’ While his community is asking ‘Is he Black enough?’  Making his job even more difficult is his highly visible and influential, activist brother, Hassan, who wants the police held accountable and department wide reform.  As events unfold, he begins to wonder…Is this promotion a step up…or a set up?

William Andre Buchanan

FILM SHORTS - Art 21: Rose B. Simpson; T.I.M.E.; Neighbor

Film Short:  Art 21: Rose B. Simpson (14min.; Mini-Doc)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: Art21  

Set primarily in her native Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, this film is a gentle portrayal of how artist Rose B. Simpson creates and explores inventive ways of making art by drawing from the land's culture and history, her ancestors' knowledge and heritage and skills passed down to her by her mother and grandmother.

Film Short:  T.I.M.E. (10 min.; Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: William Andre Buchanan

Treasure Intimate Memories Everyday=T.I.M.E.  A peak into the tender bond between a father and his daughter as their lives evolve.

Film Short:  Neighbor  (6 min.; Light Drama)

Hamilton

Filmmaker: William Andre Buchanan  

He looks iffy. He dresses street. He's not our kind of people...right? Or is he?

Stephanie Frederic

PANEL DISCUSSION - Celebrating Our Stories Through The Lens: The Development and Making of 'FANNIE'

Roosevelt

Fannie Lou Hamer was an African American civil rights activist in the 1960’s. She publicly and passionately broadcast the sufferings of Blacks in the racist South especially with regards to voting. This heroine’s inspiring story was depicted in a staged reading written by Regina Taylor and then in the film, FANNIE. Actress Aunjanue Ellis brings this trailblazer to life with a riveting and heart wrenching solo performance.

Christine Swanson directed this critically acclaimed short along with producers Stephanie Frederic and Abeni Bloodworth. Bloodworth, CEO of ChromaticBlack.org, launched the Ida B. Wells Fund. It provides funding for selected short films that disrupt the master narrative. Two different genres heralded by women of color using the lens to celebrate stories not commonly told.

Panelists: 

Stephanie Frederic, journalist and executive producer

Christine Swanson, film & television director

Abeni Bloodworth, executive producer and CEO ChromaticBlack.org

Aunjanue Ellis, award-winning actress

Regina Taylor, award-winning actress and playwright

Moderator:  Angela Ray

Margarette Joyner

READING: A Message from an Ancestor

(Writer: Margarette Joyner)

Madison

Chaku, takes us through her journey from her homeland of Dahomey, Africa to the plantation. We see them dancing in celebration of completing her initiation into adulthood. Then we hear thesounds of capture, as she is led to the slave ship.  Ayo, Chaku’s daughter, and an ancestor, imparts wisdom by taking us through the rights of passage in the African tradition.

Don Wilson Glenn

READING: American School House: ICE

Grant

Writer: Don Wilson Glenn                      

The end of segregation in the rural southern school system, I was 7 in 1972 around me was changing.  My community was no longer a homogenous neighborhood of African Americans fearing and worshiping the same gods.  As the community changed out of the shadows stepped SHIRLEY CHISHOLM FOR PRESIDENT!

Jeannine Foster-McKelvia

CELEBRITY READING: The Ghostmans

Jefferson/Adams  

Writer: Jeannine Foster-McKelvia                     

Two young men pursued by the Klu Klux Klan leave a small town in Mississippi for a big city in the North. Everyone’s life changes. Segregation, dreams. Disappointments, criminal justice and a mother’s love.

PNMC FESTIVAL GALA

Festival Gala in the Lloyd Center Ballroom

FESTIVAL BRUNCH

Enjoy a delicious brunch in the Ballroom with fellow guests and special guests. Included with purchase of festival pass.

Willamette Falls Buffet includes:

• Sliced Seasonal Fruit
• Assorted Cold Breakfast Cereals
• Scrambled Eggs with Herbs & Tillamook Cheddar
• Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Danish Pastries, Muffins, Croissants & Scones
• Butter & Fruit Preserves
• Choice of two: Country Smoked Bacon, Black Forest Ham, or Link Sausage

CLOSING REMARKS

Closing remarks presented after brunch in the Ballroom.