Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich has started production on a feature documentary on the late Montreal-raised jazz legend Oscar Peterson. A news release from Avrich’s Melbar Entertainment Group says Kelly Peterson, the widow of the virtuoso pianist, will act as consulting producer on “Oscar Peterson: Black and White.” The film is billed as a “docu-concert” and […]
For Toronto Black Film Festival founder Fabienne Colas, this year’s edition feels like it’s happening in a different era. Running now through Sunday online across Canada, the ninth annual movie marathon comes amid Black History Month, the first one in this country since the Black Lives Matter movement of last summer raised global awareness of […]
Toronto Mayor John Tory on Monday launched the Awakenings program , a ” virtual series ” of projects by ” Black, Indigenous and artists of colour.” The series is part of the City of Toronto’s efforts to address anti-Black racism,and according to a news release, will explore “untold stories,new perspective and invite the public to join the […]
LOS ANGELES — The documentary genre’s power of immediacy is evident in “Not Done: Women Remaking America,” which includes the still-unfolding possibility of the first Black female vice-president and the loss of Breonna Taylor. The film depicts a powerful female-driven advocacy, one represented by Black Lives Matter, #MeToo and other 21st-century movements that have built […]
For fans of Jamaican comedian Oliver Samuels who missed his performance last weekend on Jay Martin’s 50th Birthday Celebration and Crowdfunding event, there is another chance to catch the show this weekend. Also appearing on this “telethon /award type” show are Kardinal Offishall, Russel Peters, Jully Black, Mike “Pinball” Clemons, Melanie Durrant and others, says […]
Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka arrived in Haiti on Monday last for a “surprise and discreet visit.” An official from the Haitian Ministry of Sports said that Osaka, 22, was accompanied by a few members of her family and is expected to visit the famous Citadelle Laferrière, in Milot (North). The winner of […]
Regina King and Uzo Aduba used the come-as-you-are fashion edict for Sunday’s virtual Emmy Awards to highlight the national struggle for social justice. Both Black actresses wore T-shirts featuring Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old EMT from Louisville, Kentucky, who was shot and killed by police in March. King’s T-shirt featured Taylor’s face. “The cops still haven’t […]
Toronto-raised filmmaker Charles Officer remembers returning to his home city after playing professional hockey in England around age 18 and his mother being upset over his dreadlocks. “The front cover of every newspaper was a Black boy criminalized with dreadlocks and my mother was freaking out,” Officer, now 44, recalled in an interview. “She wanted […]
By Stephen Weir The 15th annual Toronto-based CaribbeanTales Film festival opened last night online. “ In spite of what’s happening in the world right now, we have continued to forge ahead,” said festival founder and moviemaker Frances-Anne Solomon. “ In our new online programming we able to reach an even wider, global audience than the […]
By Stephen Weir The annual Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) will be held online from September 23 to October 4. For 16 years, the MIBFF has presented films from all over the world, providing a platform to thousands of Black artists who otherwise would not have been seen or heard. The MIDFF usually alternates […]
