BEFORE US…
The past and the present
the legacy and the future,
what came before us and what is before us
This is not only the theme of our slate of films and events for The Luminal’s partnership with the 2021 Sundance Film Festival but for our year on a whole.
Connecting with Black communities that are lacking in access and connection to the arts and having them experience the joys, pains, and imagination that Black cinema holds in abundance has always been our mission, and we’re now in a place to have and hold all these aspects of our lives in balance.
Take this journey with us. Be entertained, and learn. Laugh, cry, and grow. Experience cinema and events through community connections - with these virtual and in-person events - in the ways The Luminal does best.
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
SATELLITE SCREENS + BEYOND FILM PROGRAMMING
The Luminal Theater is partnering with the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to represent Columbia, South Carolina as one of the Festival’s Satellite Screens from January 28th to February 3, 2021
Centering the aesthetics, values, and needs of the Carolinas, we will create and host local events with South Carolina and North Carolina partners Carolina Film Network, Speller Street Films, Carolina Film Festival, Travis Person of Black Collective, and the CineOdyssey Film Festival, sharing local cultural conversations with broader Festival audiences, and of course screen selections from the 2021 program.
See our entire slate below and at Sundance.org
And see our in-person event pictures on Flickr AND virtual events on Vimeo and YouTube
All live film screenings will take place at Spotlight Cinemas Capital 8 in the Northeast community of Columbia (with full Covid-19 regulations in place) and Beyond Film Events will be presented virtually.
For sponsorship, press and volunteer opportunities, see the information below. And read more about this initiative in the official press release announcement at Sundance.org and via the Columbia Free Times.
FILM SELECTIONS
HOMEROOM
Friday, Jan. 29 AT 7 PM
U.S.A. (Director: Peter Nicks, Producers: Peter Nicks, Sean Havey)
Following the class of 2020 at Oakland High School in a year marked by seismic change, exploring the emotional world of teenagers coming of age against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world.
Documentary/World Premiere
PASSING
Saturday, Jan. 30 AT 6 PM
U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Rebecca Hall, Producers: Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Margot Hand, Rebecca Hall)
Two African-American women who can "pass" as white choose to live on opposite sides of the color line in 1929 New York in an exploration of racial and gender identity, performance, obsession and repression. Based on the novella by Nella Larsen.
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Alexander Skarsgård, Bill Camp.
World Premiere / U.S Dramatic Competition
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY
Sunday, Jan. 31 AT 6 PM
U.S.A. (Directors: Betsy West, Julie Cohen, Producer: Talleah Bridges McMahon)
Overlooked by history, Pauli Murray was a legal trailblazer whose ideas influenced RBG's fight for gender equality and Thurgood Marshall's landmark civil rights arguments. Featuring never-before-seen footage and audio recordings, a portrait of Murray's impact as a non-binary Black luminary: lawyer, activist, poet, and priest who transformed our world.
Documentary, World Premiere
AILEY
Monday, Feb. 1 AT 7:00 PM
U.S.A. (Director: Jamila Wignot, Producer: Lauren DeFilippo)
Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. Told in his own words and through the creation of a dance inspired by his life, this immersive portrait follows a man who, when confronted by a world that refused to embrace him, determined to build one that would.
Documentary, World Premiere
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Monday, February 1 at 9:00 PM
U.S.A. (Director: Shaka King, Screenwriters: Will Berson, Shaka King, Producers: Ryan Coogler, Charles D. King, Shaka King)
FBI informant William O’Neal infiltrates the Illinois Black Panther party when J. Edgar Hoover fears charismatic leader Chairman Fred Hampton will emerge as a Black Messiah. O’Neal lives in fear of discovery and cannot escape the deadly trajectory of his betrayal. Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Lil Rel Howery, Martin Sheen.
World Premiere
EVENTS
Week 1 events
(Re)Defining Carolina Film
January 29th at 1pm
Sitting outside of the gaze of New York, Los Angeles, and even Atlanta, there’s a uniqueness to being a storyteller working in and being from North and South Carolina. This special panel of filmmakers, critics, arts administrators and other creatives will explore and redefine the identity of filmmaking and media making coming out of the region, examining how the aesthetics and history of the Carolinas allow these creatives to build a brighter future and legacy.
Panelists include actor Dominic Santana (“All Eyez on Me”), filmmaker Roni Nicole Henderson (“All the People Could Fly”), and Carolina Film Festival founder Oliver Crooms, among others. And discuss the topics with us live and afterwards in the chat.
Carolina Music from Alfred C. Clemonts, Tiffany J, and Jabriel
Check out our soul-stirring musical interludes from Carolina artists that were played throughout the entire theatrical run of our Sundance slate of films
Watch them all at: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8086346
HOMESPUN: a South Carolina Film Retrospective
The Terrace Theater, Charleston, SC
Thurs. January 28th & Sunday, January 31st
Tune in as hip-hop artist Preach Jacobs brings his exclusive DJ sets to our Sundance Film Festival festivities, celebrating cinema from the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s.
Preach Jacobs is a hip-hop artist, writer, SC Press Association Award Winner, and Cola-Con founder, the nation's only hip-hop/comic convention. His music has been featured on NPR and Okayplayer. He has a podcast, 'The Negro League' on his Mo' Betta Soul network that includes event programming in the southeast. His latest column is featured in the Columbia weekly Free-Times titled "Fight the Power," speaking about hip-hop, politics, and social awareness.
Week 2 events
“NIGHT OF THE KINGS”
WATCH PARTY
February 1, 2021 - 3pm EST
Catch an international feature with us - Night of the Kings! Kick off your Black History Month with this feature from the Ivory Coast and a Monday afternoon of Black virtual community. Join us before the screening for the second installment of Preach Jacob’s Loft Sessions and after the screening for a shared audience discussion with Luminal curators Jacqui Brown and Curtis John. RSVP now to join our Loft Session and the post-film Q&A, and to receive a discount code for $5 off the ticket price.
RSVP here
Carolina Works-In-Progress
February 2 at 1pm
Join Roni Nicole Henderson (South Carolina) and Atinuke Akintola Diver (North Carolina), two matchless filmmakers working on fresh new film projects and looking to get community perspective on their stories and characters before completing their films.
WE DID THAT! Sundance in SC Producers Panel
February 3rd at 7pm
We wrap up the Sundance Film Festival in South Carolina with a live virtual behind-the-scenes discussion with the producers of the festival partnership, hosted by Preach Jacobs
Curtis Caesar John, Jacqui K. Brown, and Sashawna Donaldson of The Luminal Theater
Andrew Gajadhar of the Carolina Film Network
Travis Pearson, filmmaker
Oliver Crooms of Carolina Film Festival
Christopher Everett of Speller Street Films
Tre' McGriff of CineOdyssey Film Festival