DECEMBER 2020 at the SALON

The CMU International Film Festival has gone to a year-round virtual film series for 2020-21.  This month the Doc Salon joins their screening of Idrissou Mora-Kpai's America Street.  

On America Street in Charleston’s East Side neighborhood, Joe is the owner of a small corner store, the heart of an old but slowly disappearing black community. Almost half of all African-Americans trace their origins back to Charleston, a city that is still haunted by its slave-owning past. In the face of the multiple challenges that African Americans face, Joe is determined to stay hopeful and to resist losing his neighborhood to the rising forces of gentrification.

The film captures three months during 2015   of Joe's daily struggles, set against the backdrop of racist violence in the city, from the killing of Walter Scott by a police officer to the Emanuel Church massacre by a young white supremacist.

Idrissou Mora-Kpai is an award winning filmmaker whose films have been screened at numerous prestigious festivals, such as Berlin, Rotterdam, Vienna, Milano, Busan, and Sheffield. Born in Benin, West Africa, Idrissou makes social documentaries tackling post-colonial African societies, African migrations and diasporas.  He teaches film as an Assistant Professor at Ithaca College, NY.

The Pittsburgh Connection:  Idrissou lived in Pittsburgh and taught at Pitt while in production of America Street.  It was funded by local foundations (Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh Foundation,GPAC) and has many local names among its credits.

HOW TO WATCH AND JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS
The CMU International Film Festival is streaming America Street Nov. 30-Dec. 6. You can reserve a pass starting TODAY, Nov. 27, through Row House Cinema.  Admission is FREE for the first 150 to reserve (use promo code CMUIFF ); after that, admission is $1, but donations to the festival are welcome.  The Documentary Salon is also a sponsor of this screening. Reserve a pass for the screening here.

A discussion with Idrissou, moderated by Univ. of Pittsburgh professor Waverly Duck, is Thursday, Dec. 3 @ 7:00pm.  Register for the discussion here.  Spaces are limited.