This is an update to my previous blog You’re Invited: Celebratory Events of Canadian Black History Month February 2012.
Please add the following events to your itinerary of celebratory events of Canadian Black History Month in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
“Dr. Jay and the Kuumba Festival combined the pulsating rhythm of the Caribbean with a national pastime of the Great White North. This free family event can be summed up in three words – Soca On Ice”, as shown in this video:
Harbourfront Centre invites you to
DJ Skate Night
FREE
8:00PM
The Natrel Rink:
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto
Soca on Ice
- Saturday, February 4, 2012
- “Come celebrate the Kuumba festival as DJ Skate Night explores hot Caribbean rhythms that will surely heat up the ice with Dr. Jay De Soca Prince“
Reggae Revolution
- Saturday, February 11, 2012
- DJ Patrick Roots and his crew, including Junior Selector and DJ Chocolate, are hosting a special reggae celebration.
- “Fusing the familiar sounds of reggae with cool city nights, the team will provide some hot culture in the dead of winter. Lace up and stay warm!”
NFB Mediatheque invites you to:
GET TO KNOW ME… through CREOLE MUsIC!
- “Spice up your mid-winter days with the vibrancy of the French Caribbean in this 3D clay animation workshop.
- Discover your own connection with Creole culture, the result of many cultures coming together to create something new. Music will be a driving force of this unique activity
- Join Magalie Laville in a half hour Creole music presentation for participants!”
- Saturday, February 4
10 AM to 12PM – all ages workshop in English
12 PM to 12:30 PM – performance by Magalie Laville
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM – all ages workshop in French
- Sunday, February 5
12:30 PM to 2:30 PM – all ages workshop in English
2:30 PM to 3 PM – performance by Magalie Laville
- In partnership with Festival Kompa Zouk Ontario.
- $5/child, FREE for accompanying adults. For ages 3 to 13. Call 416-973-3012 to register.
FREE FAVOURITES: BLACK SOUL and SPEAKERS FOR THE DEAD
February 8 at 4 PM and 5 PM
FREE
- Black Soul
- “As an old lady initiates her grandson into his past, a series of perpetually transforming images painted directly under the animation camera unfolds before our eyes. A film without words.”
- Martine Chartrand | NFB | 2000 | 10 min
- Speakers for the Dead
- “Black Loyalists settled the town of Priceville, Ontario, in the 1820s, but their history slowly disappeared. In the 1930s, an Ontario farmer buried the tombstones of a black cemetery under a pile of rocks. In the 1980s, black and white descendants of the original settlers came together to restore the cemetery and to discover some lost history.”
- Jennifer Holness & David Sutherland | NFB | 2000 | 50 min
FRENCH-LANGUAGE BLACK HISTORY MONTH FAMILY PROGRAM: HOP and HARRY JEROME: L’HOMME LE PLUS RAPIDE AU MONDE
February 11 at 2 PM
$5 per family
Presented in partnership with Cinéfranco and the Centre francophone de Toronto.
- Hop
- “A David and Goliath story for modern times. Meet Justin, a young Pygmy without papers who fights a solitary battle aginast the Belgian state to find his missing father.”
- See the trailer here.
- Dominique Standaert | Belgium | 2002 | 104 min | In French, with English subtitles
- Preceded by Harry Jerome : l’homme le plus rapide au monde
- “Canadian Harry Jerome overcame racism to reach the heights of track-and-field success. When an injury threatened to end his career, Jerome trained diligently and went on to achieve one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.”
- Ileana Pietrobruno | NFB | 2011 | 10 min 15 s | In French, with English subtitles
ALL BALLS DON’T BOUNCE: SPORTS WEEKEND
All Balls Don’t Bounce is a sports and entertainment media content collective. Learn more here.
February 17 – 18
FREE
February 17 at 7 PM
- Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears
- “They say that Philadelphia is the capital of boxing and Joe Frazier’s Gym is the White House.
- This is the story of a father, a son and a forgotten legacy.”
- Mike Todd | UK | 2011 | 72 min
February 18
- 3 PM – White Wash
“A documentary exploring the complexity of race in America through the struggle and triumph of black surfers.”
Ted Woods | USA | 2011 | 78 min
- 5 PM – Fire in Babylon
“The breathtaking story of how the West Indies triumphed over its colonial masters through the achievements of one of the most gifted teams in sporting history.”
Stevan Reily | UK | 2010 | 87 min
- 7 PM – Mighty Jerome
“The story of the rise, fall and redemption of Harry Jerome, track and field star and one of Canada’s greatest athletes.”
Charles Officer | Canada | 2010 | 84 min
Location for the above NFB Mediatheque’s events:
MEDIATHEQUE
150 John Street (at Richmond St W)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3C3
416-973-3012
Happy Black History Month!
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