Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Free Outdoor Screening of 'Bronx Princess' This Weekend

Bronx Princess Trailer from Yoni Brook on Vimeo.

This Saturday, 8/29, the award-winning PBS POV (Point of View) documentary Bronx Princess will screen for free on the lawn of Mullaly Park in the ‘Little Ghana’ neighborhood blocks away from where it was filmed, as part of the Rooftop Films Summer Series. An African Arts Festival inspired by the film, including performances by Ghanaian-American hip-hop artist Blitz the Ambassador, who scored the music for the film, will be offered along with poetry readings to create a block-party atmosphere. Hands-on arts activities for children and college resources for teenagers will make it a unique back-to-school event.

Another film, Nora, will also be screened, but unfortunately I don't have any info on that one. The evening will begin at 6pm and end at 10:30pm. Both films will be screened at 9pm. Rain date is 9/1. Mullaly Park is located at River Ave and 164th Street. To get there via subway, take 4, B, D trains to 167th Street and walk west to Cromwell Ave. Make a left, and walk south one block to park.

Here's a little description of the award-winning Bronx Princess documentary:
Bronx Princess tells the true story of Rocky Otoo, the Bronx-born teenage daughter of royal Ghanaian parents. With freedom in sight, this sassy, college-bound overachiever rebels against working at her mother’s beauty shop near the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. When Rocky and her mother’s relationship reaches a breaking point, Rocky flees to her father, a chief in Ghana. What follows is captured in “Bronx Princess,” a tumultuous coming-of-age story set in a homeland both familiar and strange. Rocky's precocious — and very American — ideas of a successful, independent life conflict with her father's traditional African values. Reconciling her dual legacies becomes an unexpected chapter in this unforgettable young woman's education.
After the screening, Rocky Otoo, her Ghanaian family and filmmakers Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed will answer audience and media questions.

If you can't make it to this weekend's event, keep in mind that Bronx Princess will have its New York broadcast premiere on Tuesday, 9/22 at 10 p.m. on THIRTEEN as part of the POV series.

Click here for more info regarding this weekend's event.

~ErLu

1 comment:

Nick Napolitano said...

Saw Bronx Princess as part of the BxMuseum of Art's August First Friday event on the lawn of the Andrew Freedman Home. The film is extremely engaging, capturing Rocky's struggle to understand her identity as the child of Ghanaian immigrants living in the Bronx, feel at home during a visit to Ghana, and cope with the angst felt by many young adults towards their parents. A friend who works nearby the store run by Rocky's mother stopped in for a visit after watching the film and to thank her for sharing this powerful story.