This month's Last Mondays at the Movies screening takes a journey into black history in the U.S.
Save the date for I Am Not Your Negro, which screens on Monday, Feb. 25 at the Massey Theatre.
The documentary by filmmaker Raoul Peck brings to life a book started by American novelist James Baldwin. In 1979, he wrote a letter to his literary agent describing Remember This House , which was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. But, at the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left only 30 completed pages of the manuscript.
Peck’s film envisions the book Baldwin never finished, resulting in what’s described as a “radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America,” using Baldwin’s original words and archival material.
“I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the civil rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter,” says a synopsis of the film. “And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of these three leaders, Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for.”
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. film, followed by a Last Word post-film discussion, led by Margaret Olal - a longtime labour, racial equity and women's equity activist, who's currently serving on the Aboriginal and Workers of Colour Standing Committee with the B.C. Regional Council of Unifor. Tickets are $9 general, or $8 for seniors and students. See www.ticketsnw.ca to buy in advance, or pay cash at the door.
See www.artscouncilnewwest.org for more details about the movie series.
