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Luminal Theater

@luminaltheater

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Screening Black films in & for the Black community! Caribbean Film Series at BAM, 10/14 & 15 in Brooklyn. See links for tix.
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Many don’t believe or understand the transformative power of film & media, but as you can see from this clip, the 1915 film smash “The Birth of Nation” magnified how racist white supremacist ideologies feed into unfounded paranoia. This notorious scene here, depicting their interpretation of the 1870 South Carolina State House of Representatives, with senators eating fried chicken, imbibing, and picking at their toes, racist as it is, is at least one not showing violence inflicted against Blacks in the film, but sets up one of their reasons for it. ⁠ ⁠ FYI, the Red Summer of 1919 followed this film’s uber-popularity.⁠ ⁠ For our October Luminal Theater Film Club, “The Birth of a Nation”. A so-called landmark achievement of filmmaking that undeniably demonstrates the deep roots of America's racist history, D.W. Griffith’s direction combines battle scenes and romance with a viciously bigoted portrayal of Black Americans. ⁠ ⁠ Upon its release, it was the biggest feature-length blockbuster yet to be produced in the United States, and the first to be shown in the White House. After seeing the film, President Woodrow Wilson, a known racist even by the standards of his time, declared it was "like writing history with lightning!" In cities and states across the country, the film energized the NAACP, which fought to have the film banned, or at least the most gruesome scenes censored.⁠ ⁠ The film also inspired Black folks to move into filmmaking as a way to offer alternative images and stories, which we’ll explore in next month’s selection.⁠ ⁠ Watch “The Birth of a Nation” before we meet! The film is available to stream for free (‘cause we would NOT ask you to pay to watch this) via C-SPAN and Archive.org with full and censored versions.⁠ C-SPAN: Part 1 & Part 2⁠ Archive.org: full uncensored; full censored⁠ ⁠ ⁠ We’ll meet on Sunday, November 8th at 4PM to discuss at http://www.luminaltheater.org/film-club-2⁠ ⁠ #FILMCLUB #LUMINALTHEATERFILMCLUB⁠ ⁠ by @luminaltheater
This Halloween, check out us at VillainSCon 2026 (@villainSConbeaufort) as part of BLACK VAMPIRES IN COMICS AND POPULAR CULTURE.Dr. Ebony Toussaint (@ebonyt_phd), owner of Hellcat Comics, is joined by Curtis Caesar John, Black Cinema Guru and Executive Director of The @LuminalTheater , and Dr. Napoleon Wells, author - psychologist - professor - storyteller, for a fascinating discussion of Black vampires in pop culture. ⁠ ⁠ 📍 WHERE: THE FOUNDRY, BEAUFORT SC⁠ 🕐 WHEN: OCTOBER 31st 12:20PM⁠ ⁉️ HOW: Tickets at https://www.villainsconbeaufort.org/tickets ⁠ ⁠ #villainscon #halloween #blackhorror #horror #horrorfilms⁠ by @luminaltheater
Our October Luminal Theater Film Club selection is a problematic film.⁠ ⁠ Almost a century after its release, “The Birth of a Nation” remains one of the most controversial films ever made. A so-called landmark achievement of filmmaking that undeniably demonstrates the deep roots of America's racist history, D.W. Griffith’s direction combines battle scenes and romance with a viciously bigoted portrayal of African-Americans. ⁠ ⁠ Upon its release, it was the biggest feature-length blockbuster yet to be produced in the United States, and the first to be shown in the White House. After seeing the film, President Woodrow Wilson, who was known for being extremely racist even by the standards of his time, declared it was "like writing history with lightning!" ⁠ ⁠ In cities and states across the country, the film energized the NAACP, which fought to have the film banned, or at least the most gruesome scenes censored.⁠ ⁠ The film also inspired African Americans to move into filmmaking as a way to offer alternative images and stories, which we’ll explore in next month’s selection.⁠ ⁠ Watch “The Birth of a Nation” before we meet.⁠ ⁠ It's available to stream for free (‘cause we would NOT ask you to pay to watch this) via C-SPAN and Archive.org with full and censored versions.⁠ ⁠ We’ll meet on Sunday, November 8th at 4PM to discuss at http://www.luminaltheater.org/film-club-2⁠ by @luminaltheater
If you’re a Black cinephile, you probably know actor Duane Jones best from “Ganja & Hess” or “Losing Ground”. If you’re a horror fan, it's “Night of the Living Dead”. Either way, he was undeniably an enigmatic dude. ⁠ ⁠ Not that Jones was calculated and distant. No, he was cool in that classically Black folks way of being cool — and his distinguished life and career as an actor, lover of drama, and educator contains many lessons for us all. ⁠ ⁠ Read our classic blog entry “The Mysterious Duane Jones” by blog contributor Dennis Leroy Kangalee, as he reflects on Duane Jones’ career and on how he would have fared in modern Hollywood. ⁠ ⁠ READ:⁠ www.luminaltheater.org/wavelengths/2024/10/30/the-mysterious-duane-jones⁠ ⁠ #blackhollywood #duanejones #blackactors #nightofthelivingdead #filmblog #luminalblog #luminalfilmblog #blackbodies #blackcinema #ganjaandhess #losingground #halloween #blackvampires⁠ by @luminaltheater
Day 2 of the the Oct '26 ed. of #CaribbeanFilmSeries is today and kicks off with a short film by up & coming filmmaker Laïssa Alexis' "Panyen Banbou" (BAMBOO BASKET). Laïssa she/her) is a Haitian-born, New Jersey-based artist and filmmaker. Her film "To Build a Monument", a documentary about ancestorhood and ways of honoring the dead, premiered at the 2024 Newark LGBTQ Film Festival. Laïssa enjoys daydreaming about the future and hopes to use cinema to articulate these dreams. See ' "Panyen Banbou" tonight before @samuelsuffren dynamic trilogy "Les Vagues dans les yeux" (Waves in the Eyes) Tix at BAM.org Special thanks once more to presenting partner @haiticulturalx #Caribbeanfilm #caribbeancinema #haitiancinema by @luminaltheater
Starting TONIGHT! Back at BAM on October 14th and 15th for The Caribbean Film Series, a program by Third Horizon, The Luminal Theater, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Join us for a provoking program spotlighting the migratory undercurrents of Cuba and Haiti in the pursuit of dreams. This edition is presented in partnership with Cinema Tropical ( @cinematropical )and Haiti Cultural Exchange ( @haiticulturalx ). October 14th | 7:00PM 🔸ÁNGELA | Juan Pablo Daranas Molina | United States | 2018 | 12 Minutes | Spanish with English subtitles 🔸CALLE CUBA | Vanessa Batista | Cuba, Chile, Mexico | 2026 | 93 Minutes | Spanish with English subtitles 🎬 Q&A with Filmmakers: Tag: @therealjuampa @violunafilmmaker 📆 October 14, 2026 at 7PM ET 📍 BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 🔗 Link in bio to RSVP by @luminaltheater
Meet filmmaker Vanessa Batista (@violunafilmmaker) this Wed. Oct. 14 at 7pm as her poignant documentary CALLE CUBA kicks off our Oct. ‘26 edition of the #CaribbeanFilmSeries in Brooklyn. Tix still available at BAM.org⁠ ⁠ Vanessa Batista is a filmmaker trained in playwriting at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Cuba and in film directing at the Escola de Mitjans Audiovisuals in Barcelona. Her award-winning short films Ellas (2012) and Lula (2013) screened internationally. Her feature documentary Los que se quedaron (2015) received multiple awards, screened across Latin America, Europe, and Canada, and was broadcast on TV3 and Cuban television. She also co-directed Barcelonnabis (2015). Calle Cuba (2026) is her most recent work.⁠ ⁠ Opening the night is Juan Pablo Daranas Molina’s ÁNGELA (2018) one of our fav short films of the past few years on Cuban expatriate life. ⁠ ⁠ Thank you again to @CinemaTropical for being our co-presenter for CALLE CUBA. ⁠ ⁠ #callecuba #caribbeanfilm #cubancinema #vanessabatista⁠ by @luminaltheater
CALLE CUBA screens this Wednesday, October 14 at 7pm at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) as part of the Caribbean Film Series, programmed by Third Horizon and The Luminal Theater, followed by Q&A with director Vanessa Batista. Co-presented by Cinema Tropical. CALLE CUBA takes us to a street in Old Havana, where the lives of four women intersect. Facing difficult choices around migration, identity, family, and survival, Anabel, Dayana, Mailén, and Elvira embody both the resilience and fragility of an island in crisis, holding on to their dreams amid the pressures of everyday life. Preceded by ÁNGELA (Juan Pablo Daranas Molina, USA, 2018, 12 min.) A Cuban immigrant struggles to carve a path for herself in New York City. Tix on sale now. More info in bio. . . . #callecuba #caribbeanfilmseries #cuba #documentary #comingsoon #vanessabatista by @luminaltheater
Les Vagues dans les yeux (WAVES IN THE EYES) director Samuel Suffren will be with us in person for our post-screening Q&A on Oct. 15th at the #CaribbeanFilmSeries. Suffren is joined by fellow Haitian filmmaker Laïssa Alexis, whose film BAMBOO BASKET opens up our night of great cinema. The Q&A will be moderated by Regine Roumain of our presenting partner Haiti Cultural Exchange. A Haitian director and producer, Samuel Suffren has made a trilogy of short films inspired by the story of his father. The first film, Agwe, was selected at Locarno and won the Best Diaspora Film at FESPACO. Dreams Like Paper Boats is the second film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and showed at our October 2024 shorts program. Blue Heart is the final part, and it also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Samuel is currently working on his first feature documentary, Lòtbò, and is also developing a feature fiction film, Je m'appelle Nina Shakira. Tix at our link and at https://www.bam.org/film/2026/caribbean-film-series2 #caribbeanfilm #samuelsuffren #haitianfilm by @luminaltheater
CALLE CUBA screens Wednesday, October 14 at 7pm at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) as part of the Caribbean Film Series, programmed by Third Horizon and The Luminal Theater, followed by Q&A with director Vanessa Batista. Co-presented by Cinema Tropical. CALLE CUBA takes us to a street in Old Havana, where the lives of four women intersect. Facing difficult choices around migration, identity, family, and survival, Anabel, Dayana, Mailén, and Elvira embody both the resilience and fragility of an island in crisis, holding on to their dreams amid the pressures of everyday life. Preceded by ÁNGELA (Juan Pablo Daranas Molina, USA, 2018, 12 min.) A Cuban immigrant struggles to carve a path for herself in New York City. Tix on sale now. More info in bio. . . . #callecuba #caribbeanfilmseries #cuba #documentary #comingsoon #vanessabatista by @luminaltheater
Showing alongside our #LuminalTheaterFilmClub feature film SUD is Lynn Sachs’ short film SERMONS AND SACRED PICTURES: The Life and Work of Reverent L.O. Taylor (1989), an exploration of Reverend L.O. Taylor, a Memphis-based minister and filmmaker, that employs Taylor’s films, audio recordings, and imagery of Memphis at the time to present a unique portrait of his role in chronicling Black life.⁠ ⁠ Taylor photographed and filmed businesses & schools in the Black community, trips to the National Baptist Convention, baptisms, social events, & individuals in the quiet dignity of their everyday lives. He compiled an extraordinary record of Black life in the South before the Civil Rights movement captured the attention of the nation.⁠ ⁠ Made in collaboration with the Center for Southern Folklore, Memphis, TN.⁠ ⁠ It’s freely available on Sachs' YouTube and Vimeo, as well as on Ovid. ⁠ ⁠ See y’all on October 4th. Join the discussion via Streamyard: www.luminaltheater.org/film-club-2⁠ ⁠ #Blackfilm #filmclub ⁠ by @luminaltheater
Celebrate Southern storytelling this fall!⁠ ⁠ Southern Documentary Fund's inaugural Southern Doc Fest takes place Oct. 10 in Durham, NC, bringing together documentary filmmakers and audiences for an unforgettable day of films and conversations.⁠ ⁠ Closing the fest is Ricky Kelly's HUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE. The doc follows the remarkable journey of Mike "Mike Gee" Smalls, a rapper who rose to Hip Hop success before reinventing himself as a licensed plumber after relocating to North Carolina. Along the way, he forms an unlikely friendship with fellow plumber and filmmaker Ricky Kelly, whose passion for storytelling helps bring their shared experiences to the screen. Through their lives as tradesmen, artists, family men, and community leaders, the documentary explores themes of race, class, creativity, resilience, and the dignity of vocational work. ⁠ ⁠ Q&A with filmmaker Ricky Kelly, and a live performance by Mike G.⁠ ⁠ 🎟️ Passes are available now through @southerndocfund⁠ ⁠ #southernfilmmaking⁠ by @luminaltheater

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