Patois New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival will be hosting several upcoming events which will feature artworks, performances and productions by local, and non-local, creators.
The Patois Film Festival blends art and activism to create a space that entertains, as well as educates. Various artists will be attending the festival and showcasing their prospective works of art.
Patois New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival
Patois Film Collective and Working Films will be presenting "Beyond Walls," on Thursday, September 28 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the John Thompson Legacy Center.
"Beyond Walls" is a collection of five films about abolishing the prison industrial complex, followed by a post-screening discussion with local organizers
This collection of short films defines and amplifies what prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition means. The five films examine prison abolition from a wide range of perspectives in the hopes of inspiring viewers to imagine, and take action toward, a society invested in community and not policing practices.
The free screening and discussion will be a way to learn more, and find out how to get involved and take action in the community. The films featured in "Beyond Walls" are "Practical Abolition," "Defund the Police," "Calls From Home" and "What These Walls Won't Hold."
"Practical Abolition" and "Defund the Police" are two short animations that challenge the idea that investing in policing will solve societal issues. The two films, instead, imagine the possibility of a society that's invested in resources that actually keep communities safe.Sylvia Ryerson's, "Calls From Home," is an intimate portrait of prison expansion in rural areas. The film documents WMMT-FM's longstanding radio show, which sends messages over the public airwaves and is able to reach listeners who are incarcerated in Central Appalachia. This radio show provides a lifeline to those incarcerated, to the world outside.
Adamu Chan's critically acclaimed film, "What These Walls Won't Hold," explores how relationships built on trust, shared liberating struggles and connections among other abolitionist organizing work can become forces of resistance and change.
"Beyond Walls" is a project produced by Working Films, which is a national nonprofit organization located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Working Films recognizes the power of stories to inspire and transform.
Working Films builds partnerships between nonfiction media-makers, nonprofit organizations, educators, advocates to advance social justice and environmental sustainability and support changes within communities.
Also during Patois' film festival, on Thursday, September 21 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Dynamo Toys will be hosting a book signing with feminist author, Tristan Taormino. Taormino is an organizer, sex educator and pornographic filmmaker. The book signing will take place at 2001 St Claude, where Taormino will perform a reading from her new book at 7:30 p.m. and will be signing books until 8:30 p.m.
From September 22 until September 24 at 7:30 p.m., Patois presents an immersive performance experience of Synamin Vixen's book "Daughter of a Nymph Divine." This experience dives into a physical world of movement, projection and sound. Audience members are encouraged to wear headphones, as observers adventure through the space.
Also on September 22, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., will be the inaugural unveiling of the "Artists of Public Memory Commission," presented by Prospect New Orleans. This public-art installation will be featuring "Abolition Playground" by the New Orleans-based multimedia artist, Kai Lumumba Barrow. The installation will be on display at the Norman C. Francis Parkway throughout September until March.
Patois will also be presenting the premier of "Cuba in the Crosswinds," on October 18. This is a documentary film by the award-winning Cuban journalist, Liz Oliva Fernández. The film is produced by "Belly of the Beast," an independent media outlet.
PATIOS Film Festival
Patios was founded in 2004 by a group of New Orleans artists and activists, the festival's mission is to create accessible spaces for art and social justice.
Patios is an all-volunteer collective that is dedicated to cultivating New Orleans' human rights community, supporting the work of local organizers and organizations involved in these struggles and providing a space for artistic expression of local and international issues.
