The annual Hayti Heritage Film Festival concluded another successful year. Held February 18-21, the HHFF drew an audience of over 1000 from across the Triangle and state who viewed feature length, shorts, and documentaries. Over 35 films were submitted to be screened during this four day event and over 20 were chosen and viewed.
One of the longest continuously running festivals in the country, the Hayti Heritage Film Festival is an integral part of the programs and traditions at the Hayti Heritage Center. The Festival’s mission is to celebrate African American cinema and the African cultural Diaspora, by highlighting established and emerging filmmakers; and films showcasing the contributions and uniqueness of the Black artistic traditions in film. Our film selections embody the richness of Black culture while recognizing universal themes and the similarities that exists among all cultures. The festival was established in 1993 as a collaboration screening of a small collection of films on the African American experience that included the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. with funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council and North Carolina Arts Council.
Yearly the Hayti Heritage Film Festival (HHFF) showcases the diverse works of and about people of African descent. HHFF expanded into new territory in 2009 with adding competition categories, stepping up efforts to recognize up and coming filmmakers by adding competitive award, a short film challenge, all day student workshops, celebrity panel discussions and much more.
Hayti Heritage Film Festival awards were given on the closing day to the following filmmakers. Yvonne Welbon received the Trail Blazer Award for her contributions to the film industry. Welbon is an award-winning independent filmmaker and freelance producer. Since 1991, she has made eight films and produced a dozen others. Her independent films have screened on PBS, Starz/Encore, TV-ONE, IFC, Bravo, the Sundance Channel and in over one hundred film festivals around the world. Ms. Welbon is currently the Department Chair and Professor of the Journalism and Media Department at Bennett College in Greensboro.
Sisters in Cinema documentary by Welbon was screened prior to the awards ceremony. Sisters in Cinema is a seminal work that pays homage to African American women, who against all odds made history. The careers, lives and films of inspirational women filmmakers, such as, Euzhan Palcy, Julie Dash, Darnell Martin, Dianne Houston, Neema Barnette, Cheryl Dunye, Kasi Lemmons and Maya Angelou are showcased within the film. Interviews are interwoven with film clips, rare archival footage and photographs and production video of filmmaker at work.
Winner of Best Film went to MISSISSIPPI DAMNED, by Tina Mabry & Morgan Stiff which was filmed in North Carolina and winner of multiple film festival awards. Based on a true story, three poor, Black kids in rural Mississippi reap the consequences of their family’s cycle of abuse, addiction, and violence. Wanting to escape was the easy part. They independently struggle to escape their circumstances and must decide whether to confront what’s plagued their family for generations or succumb to the same crippling fate, forever damned in Mississippi.
Winner of Best Short Film went to Bree Newsome for her film WAKE. A recent graduate of New York University with a B.F.A. in Film and Television, Bree Newsome has been creating art and telling stories for as long as she can remember. A high school summer program at North Carolina School of the Arts solidified her desire to pursue a degree in film. While still in high school, Newsome created an animated short, “The Three Princes of Idea” which earned her a $40,000 scholarship from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. As a sophomore at NYU, she wrote and directed the humorous PSA “Your Ballot, Your Voice”, which went on to win Grand Prize in the Tisch/MTV Rock the Vote PSA Contest. A native of North Carolina, Newsome decided to return to her roots for her final film as an undergraduate at NYU, writing and directing “Wake”, a tale steeped in the southern Gothic tradition. In the film, Newsome explores ideas about creation and power as well as religion and social custom. Just beginning its run in the film festival circuit, “Wake” is quickly creating buzz and picking up steam. After winning Best Short in the 16th Annual Hayti Heritage Film Festival this past February, “Wake” was selected for official competition in NYU’s prestigious First Run Film Festival where it is the running for numerous craft awards, the Wasserman Award and the Charles and Lucille King Foundation Award which includes a prize of $15,000 and an exhibition at the Haig P. Manoogian Screenings in Los Angeles. Past winners of the NYU First Run Film Festival include Spike Lee, Ang Lee and Nancy Savoca…
North Carolina has often been dubbed as the “Hollywood East” with enormous contributions to the film industry. Recent features like Universal’s Leatherheads, Warner Bros’. Richard Gere/Diane Lane romance Nights in Rodanthe, Fox Searchlight’s The Secret Life of Bees and most recently Jeb Stuart’s Blood Done Sign My Name have all found a wealth of resources in the Tar Heel State.
The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. (SJHF) founded in 1975, is an African American cultural and educational institution deeply rooted in the historic Hayti community of Durham, North Carolina. SJHF is dedicated to advancing cultural understanding through diverse programs that examine the experiences of Americans of African descent – locally, nationally and globally. The Foundation is committed to preserving, restoring and developing the Hayti Heritage Center, the former St. Joseph’s AME Church, a National Historic Landmark, as a cultural and economic anchor to the greater Durham community.
