I See Me: A Film Seminar for Black Teen Boys spotlights high-quality films about the Black male experience. This weeklong seminar invites African American boys ages 13-17 to bring their own experiences and points of view to discussions and activities following each day’s film. Film selections TBA.
Students will meet at the Belcourt Mon-Fri, Jun 17-21, 10am-2pm to watch films and discuss with their peers. Refreshments and lunch are included.
The seminar is FREE but students must apply to be selected. Questions? Contact Allison Inman at education@belcourt.org or 615-846-3150, extension 20.
I See Me is a co-presentation of the Belcourt Theatre’s Education and Engagement program and Vanderbilt University’s Scholar Identity Model Community Outreach Initiative.
I See Me is facilitated by Gilman Whiting, associate chair and professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University and director of Vanderbilt’s Scholar Identity Institute; with support from the Belcourt’s education and engagement staff.
Note: I See Me will feature films designed to spark conversation about important issues. Because of that, some films contain adult situations, profanity, drug/alcohol use, brief nudity, sexual situations, and violence.
Applications are due Mon, Jun 10. Participants will be notified Tue, Jun 11.
Mon, Jun 17: THE GREAT DEBATERS
Tue, Jun 18: DRYLONGSO
Wed, Jun 19: FINDING FORRESTER
Thu, Jun 20: JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE
Fri, Jun 21: LUCE
THE GREAT DEBATERS
Dir. Denzel Washington | USA | 2007 | 126 min. | PG-13
Poet and professor Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington) teaches at the predominantly black Wiley College in 1935 Texas. He decides to start a debate team, something nearly unheard of at a black college. While at first he butts heads with the influential father (Forest Whitaker) of one of his best debaters, eventually he is able to form a team of strong-minded, intelligent young students, and they become the first black debate team to challenge Harvard’s prestigious debate champions.
DRYLONGSO
Dir. Cauleen Smith | USA | 1998 | 86 min. | NR
A lost treasure of 1990s DIY filmmaking, Cauleen Smith’s DRYLONGSO embeds an incisive look at racial injustice within a lovingly handmade buddy movie/murder mystery/romance. Alarmed by the rate at which the young Black men around her are dying — indeed, “becoming extinct,” as she sees it — brash Oakland art student Pica (Toby Smith) attempts to preserve their existence in Polaroid snapshots, along the way forging a friendship with a woman in an abusive relationship (April Barnett), experiencing love and loss, and being drawn into the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. Capturing the vibrant community spirit of Oakland in the ‘90s, Smith crafts both a rare cinematic celebration of Black female creativity and a moving elegy for a generation of lost African American men.
FINDING FORRESTER
Dir. Gus Van Sant | USA | 2000 | 136 min. | PG-13
A unique relationship develops between an eccentric, reclusive novelist (Sean Connery) and a young, amazingly gifted scholar-athlete (Rob Brown). After the novelist discovers that the young athlete is also an excellent writer and secretly takes him on as his protégé, they develop an unlikely friendship. As they learn more about each other, they learn more about themselves, and ultimately, with the help of his new mentor, the basketball star must choose the right path.
JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE
Dir. Dawn Porter| USA | 2020 | 96 min. | PG
An intimate account of legendary U.S. Representative John Lewis’ life, legacy and more than 60 years of extraordinary activism — from the bold teenager on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement to the legislative powerhouse he was throughout his career. After Lewis petitioned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help integrate a segregated school in his hometown of Troy, Alabama, King sent “the boy from Troy” a round trip bus ticket to meet with him. From that meeting onward, Lewis became one of King’s closest allies. He organized Freedom Rides that left him bloodied or jailed, and stood at the front lines in the historic marches on Washington and Selma. He never lost the spirit of the “boy from Troy” and called on his fellow Americans to get into “good trouble” until his passing on July 17, 2020.
LUCE
Dir. Julius Onah | USA | 2021 | 80 min. | NR
A liberal-minded married couple (Tim Roth, Naomi Watts) is forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.
