The Acapulco Black Film Festival

Popocatepetl, a volcano located 45 miles southeast of downtown Mexico City, awakened from its slumber the week of June 22, 1997. For several days, it spewed volcanic ash across Mexico City, delaying and diverting air traffic at Mexico’s largest airport. Nevertheless, it was not the only seismic activity that erupted in Mexico that week, as two hundred miles south of its cosmopolitan neighbor, a seminal event unfolded in Acapulco. Six hundred people, including some of black America’s most celebrated film celebrities, gathered at the Acapulco Convention Center to witness the birth of The Acapulco Black Film Festival.

Byron E. Lewis, Sr., Chairman and CEO of Uniworld Group, Inc., one of the largest black advertising firms in the United States, was the festival’s progenitor. Motivated by the recurring theme, “If you build it, they will come,” the Uniworld organizers, with the assistance of the Mexican government, the Black Filmmakers Foundation, the Acapulco Tourism Board and Hotel Association, and a myriad of financial supporters, were able to fill a void in the film festival circuit six months from the time of conception.

Festival curator and executive producer Warrington Hudlin’s ability to find original, well-scripted black independent films was much in evidence. Of the nine films shown, three wre shorts by black women. The fact that there were no full-length pictures in the festival by black women speaks to the double whammy that black women filmmakers encountered. First, Hollywood’s perception that cinematic stories told by black women are even less marketable than those told by black men; second, the difficulty shared by black male filmmakers in securing financing.

Diverse and rich in narrative, each of the short films depicts a “slice of life” that audiences can relate to. Statistically Speaking, a romantic comedy directed by Nandi Bowe and starring Alfre Woodard, gently pokes fun at a commonly held belief that women over forty-five have a better chance of getting hit by a car than getting married. Tuesday Morning Ride, on the other hand, starring Ruby Dee, is a touching look at how one elderly, infirm couple chooses to live and die in a society which does not value their collective wisdom and experience. Dianne Houston, the director of this poignant drama, was the only African-American nominated for an Academy Award during the 1996 “Hollywood Blackout.” Dr. Hugo, the last of the short films, was directed by Kasi Lemmons. This period film relies heavily on photography, close-up shots, and great music to introduce the viewer to Dr. Hugo and his unconventional brand of medicine. Set in a Savannah-esque environment, Dr. Hugo makes very personal house calls to treat the ills of his beautiful patients. In doing so, he administers his own special medical care. When the husband of one of his patients must be treated for a problem resulting from his marital indiscretions, Dr. Hugo discovers, much to his horror, that “what goes around comes around.”

Each of these short films has a rich narrative content that transcends the race of the filmmaker. Issues concerning the plight of the single middle-aged woman, love, marriage, infidelity, and the aged, are universal themes and issues that impact at some time or another on everyone. To view black film as targeted towards minorities only deprives general audiences of the richness and unique perspectives offered by black filmmakers.

While all of the remaining films are unique, three merit particular attention. Two of the full-length independent films, Follow Me Home and Bleeding Hearts, while stylistically worlds apart, deal with the issue of race in America and its explosive impact on individual lives. The third film, a romantic comedy entitled Hav Plenty, marks the debut of an up-and-coming young filmmaker, Christopher Cherot, a twenty-something who wrote, directed, and stars in the movie, made for $65,000.

In Follow Me Home, directed by Peter Bratt, four California artists, intent on painting the White House with images that reflect the diversity of America, meet a mysterious woman carrying a special package. Together, they travel towards a collision course in which America’s racist divide...