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CONTACT: New York, NY (BlackNews.com) - Many complicated and opposing, not to mention controversial, viewpoints are often presented about Africa. Perhaps because of this, Africa is, without a doubt, one of the most fertile grounds in our modern age for new, fresh and exciting exploration. The AfroPoP DVD Series is a celebration of the cultural and historical growth that has occurred in the last generation with films tailored to a world audience from filmmakers with insightful, artful and often unique local perspectives. These films are carefully selected to portray a more balanced view of Africa than you'll get on the nightly news and to provide fuel for what must be a global conversation on the present day realities and contemporary lifestyles of Africans, both on the continent and in the Diaspora. On August 31st 2007, NBPC is proud to present this first volume of a series, and we look forward to even more fresh, insightful and artful selections in the future. So, stay tuned! For more information on AfroPoP, and other NBPC initiatives, visit the NBPC website at, www.nbpc.tv Hip Hop Revolution Using an experimental narrative style, South African filmmaker Weaam Williams has infused her film with a texture and life that breathes with every cut. "Hip Hop Revolution" is first an exploration of the lives of a generation so touched by this genre and its culture that they are inspired to question, survive and conquer an unjust political system. Through the struggles of DJs, B-Boys, MCs and creative graffiti artists, "Hip Hop Revolution" depicts an element of hip hop so often forgotten - its power to inspire and catalyze change. ABOUT WEAAM WILLIAMS 10 Days In Africa In a wonderfully textured narrative style, African American filmmaker Regi Allen makes a sojourn to three West African countries to discover for himself the truth behind the myths that separate black identity in Africa from black identity in the Diaspora. With a critical lens often pointed at himself, Allen creates an intoxicatingly chaotic film that raises as many questions as it answers. Filled with deeply moving cinematic stills and 8MM footage, 10 Days In Africa is a song of love intended to heal many wounds, while weaving a complicated path to his firmer understanding of black identity. ABOUT REGI ALLEN His collaboration on Sandy Wilson's "So Many Things To Consider" and Jane Wagner's "Girls Like Us", were both selections of the Sundance Film Festival Short Film Series. "Girls Like Us" won Best Short for the series in 1996. His "art documentary", tendaysinafrica (2002), featured in this series, has played on both continents. Regi lives in Washington DC, works as an editor at the Discovery Channel, and is a experimental hip-hop dj/vj at large. Welcome To Nollywood "Welcome To Nollywood" is an artful and insightful documentary on the hustle and bustle of the quickly growing Nigerian movie industry, the third largest film producer in the world. With engaging interviews from leading industry professionals and intriguing behind-the-scenes footage, Meltzer's depiction is entertaining, complex and a must-see for all who seek to know why this evolving industry is grabbing such large audiences around the world. ABOUT JAMIE MELTZER ABOUT NBPC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2007
N. Christian Ugbode, Programming/New Media
National Black Programming Consortium
(212) 234-8200 x228
NEW YORK CITY MEDIA ARTS ORGANIZATION RELEASES DVD SERIES ON AFRICAN LIFE & POPULAR CULTURE 
The first three titles in NBPC's new African life and pop culture series
ABOUT THE FILMS
Dir. Weaam Williams, South Africa, approx. 48 mins.
Weaam Williams, is a published poet and short story writer. She studied a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of Cape Town, and then electronic media, camerawork and editing at the Cape Video Education Trust. 'Hip-Hop Revolution', is her second 48-minute documentary to be completed. The film has been a three-year labor of love. With 'Hip-Hop Revolution,' she has managed to combine her expertise as a poet/mc and filmmaker, using an experimental narrative style. "The feminine Divine" is her first feature documentary, which was aired on and commissioned by SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation). The film explores the lives and journeys of three South African women who are natural healers. Weaam also works as an insert producer/director for the popular SABC magazine shows, "Street Journal" and "Noted." She is a partner in a company called Shamanic Organic Productions, whose passion is to merge multi-media and healing.
Dir. Regi Allen, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire & Senegal, approx. 44 mins.
Regi Allen is an editor, producer and media design artist, who is currently developing new ideas for television and alternative media. His prior works include: "Planet Brooklyn, An Acid Jazz Film" for PBS's Reel New York Film Series, hosted by Laurie Anderson, and a Planet Brooklyn (1996) video art series that won various film festival awards including The Community Choice Award for Best Experimental film, from the National Black Programming Consortium; he has also won Best Show Award, from Washington D.C.'s Rosebud Foundation for his work on the video art-poetry documentary Voices Against Violence (1994).
Dir. Jamie Meltzer, Nigeria, approx. 56 mins.
Jamie Meltzer began his filmmaking career as a news stringer - shooting natural disasters, police chases and fires for the San Francisco Bay Area TV News. Off The Charts: the Song-Poem Story, his documentary feature film debut, was acquired by ITVS/PBS for the series "Independent Lens". The film was broadcast nationally on PBS in February 2003. It has played at festivals worldwide, including the San Francisco International Film Festival and South by Southwest, and throughout rock clubs in the US (paired with such acts as NRBQ, Robbie Fulks, Edith Frost, and Cynthia Plaster Caster). His latest documentary feature, Welcom to Nollywood, investigates the popular and wildly successful Nigerian film industry. Mr. Meltzer teaches in the MFA in Documentary Film Program at Stanford University.
The National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC), a national, nonprofit media arts organization, is the leading provider of black programming on public television and the greatest resource for the training of black media professionals within the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). NBPC develops, produces and funds television and online programming about the black experience and, since its founding in 1979, has provided hundreds of broadcast hours documenting African American history, culture and experience to public television. For more on NBPC and its initiatives, visit www.nbpc.tv
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