February 10, 2016
Page 11
Black History Month
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Black Caesar is a 1973 blaxploitation crime drama ilm starring Fred Williamson and Gloria
Hendry and a musical score by James Brown. The ilm will play Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. with
Williamson in attendance as a special guest as part of the fourth annual Portland Black Film
Festival at the Hollywood Theater, 4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd.
Black Film Festival
Stars, ilmmakers and the black experience
The Portland Black Film Festival re-
turns to the Hollywood Theatre in north-
east Portland this week with seven ilms
screening over the next two weeks to
showcase the cinematic achievements of
African-American stars, ilmmakers, and
the black experience.
Founded by the non-proit Hollywood
Theatre, and Portland writer and ilmmak-
er David Walker, the festival aims to of-
fer diverse perspectives and stories in an
art form all too often dominated by white
ilmmakers.
Seven outstanding programs are sched-
uled. The festival opens on Wednesday,
Feb. 10 with the 1972 classic ilm “Buck
and the Preacher,” and will culminate on
Saturday, Feb. 27, in a screening of the
1973 Blaxploitation classic “Black Cae-
sar” with star Fred “The Hammer” Wil-
liamson in attendance.
Williamson, aka “The Hammer” is a
former professional football defensive
back who played mainly in the American
Football League during the 1960s. As an
actor, he is most well-known for his ilms
in the 1970s and ’80s, including “Three the
Hard Way,” “Bucktown 1990: The Bronx
Warriors,” Black Caesar,” and “From Dusk
Til Dawn.”
The times and dates for Portland Black
Film Festival screenings are as follows:
Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.: “Buck
and The Preacher,” a 1972 ilm starring
Sidney Poitier as Buck, a trail guide lead-
ing former slaves to homesteads in the
West, and Harry Belafonte, the preacher.
When vicious white men and bounty hunt-
ers begin to terrorize and stop wagon trains
heading west, Buck and the Preacher must
ight back by any means necessary.
Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.: “Santa
Fe Satan (Catch My Soul),” a 1974 rock
opera version of Othello starring Richie
Havens. Shakespeare’s tragedy of revenge
and racism this time plays out in the New
Mexico desert, with Othello as the paciist
leader of a hippie commune. Long consid-
ered lost, this rare 35mm print was only
recently discovered.
Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m.: “Pen-
itentiary,” a 1979 movie about a hitchhik-
er who gets in a ight with two bikers, and
one of the bikers is killed. Ending up in
prison, he joins the prison’s boxing team
in an effort to secure an early parole and to
establish his dominance over the prison’s
C OnTinued On P age 15
Fred Williamson