Juneteenth Arts and Film Festival debuts Saturday at Polk State College Lakeland
LAKELAND — Filmmakers will offer viewers a fresh perspective at the first Juneteenth Florida Arts and Film Festival this Saturday.
The Juneteenth Observance Lakeland Committee will host the first Juneteenth Florida Arts and Film Festival Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., at Polk State College's Lakeland Campus, 3425 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland.
The event is the final of a series of 2023 Juneteenth events celebrating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. It is sponsored by Polk State College, MidFlorida Credit Union, Morris & Leah West Foundation, The African American Chamber of Commerce Polk County Inc., and the Bailey Family.
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The following films will be shown for the uniqueness of the story offering in a 10- to 90- minute documentary or short film made based on the theme of "Juneteenth Wave of Freedom":
Starting at 11:45 a.m., the featured documentary "African American descendants living in Samana, Dominican Republic," directed by Stephanie Claytor discusses how freed Blacks living in Philadelphia fled to the Dominican Republic (then Haiti) and their descendants live there today.
The Hiztorical Vision Productions, founded and directed by Theo Moore II, will screen "Afrikan by way of America" at 12:45 p.m. The film shares the story of the Africatown community in Alabama, highlighting the unsung heroes who played a pivotal role in this African settlement. The film has been made possible by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. It's roughly 45 minutes in length and won the festival's Best in Theme.
The comedic movie "Alemanji" directed by Chuckwunonso Dureke will premiere at 2:15 p.m. as the festival's winner of Best Full Feature. It follows main character Alemanji Fouka, played by actor Stamaur Mitchell, as he faces severe consequences of being sent back to his home country, and must decide if partying with his friends and possibly landing the girl of his dreams is worth disobeying his strict parents. It runs about 50 minutes.
"The Arrival of the First African in English America" directed by Ric Murphy is based on the 2020 book "The Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia." It tells the story of 32 Africans and returning to them what history and its controversies had stolen: their voices. Starting at 4:30 p.m., it is the winner of the festival's Best of Festival and Best Feature Documentary awards.
The short film "Destiny Made" by director Joenique Rose shares the tale of Ashenka's re-entry into her children's lives after several short stints in jail and how it affected her older children. The film, less than 15 minutes, starts at 6:15 p.m. It won the festival's Best Short Film and Best Short Documentary.
An honorable mention will go to "Cine Poetry," a 10 minute, 46 second piece by director Lex Lowry. The film attempts to bridge together the artistic worlds of spoken word and cinematic narratives.
Each film or documentary will be followed by a brief period for discussion and question-and-answer with the judges or film maker. There is the opportunity to mingle with the filmmakers at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Polk State's Technology Building auditorium. For additional information, call Doris Moore Bailey at 863-271-3386.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Juneteenth Arts and Film Festival to screen 4 films Saturday
