February 24th, 2012
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MINT MC: SPIDER JONES 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM
SPIDER JONES
Spider is also a highly popular motivational speaker who is much admired for his diligent work among the youth. His inspirational life story "Out of the Darkness" reveals his amazing rise from the impoverished, gang infested, inner-city projects of Detroit and Windsor and how, as a grade five dropout, he eventually returned to school at the age of thirty to become an honour student. Spider's favourite thing is talking to his Nighthawks, whether it be about sports, entertainment, or hot issues.More »
Over the past 20 years, Spider has interviewed such notables as Muhammad Ali, Mark Wahlberg, Jesse Jackson, LL Cool J, Ron Howard, Scott Grimes, Doug Gilmour, Cito Gaston, Oscar De La Hoya, Roy Jones, Kris Kristofferson, James Brown, Guy Lafleur, Carlos Delgado, Jim Brown and countless others. Among his other claims to fame was to act as a sparring partner for such boxing legends as George Chuvalo and former World Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Ellis. Spider was also a member of Muhammad Ali's training camp back in the days when 'The Greatest' fought Chuvalo.l
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Vocalist: JACKIE RICHARDSON 7:30 PM (60 Min)
PRE-FILM CONCERT in Celebration of BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Featuring JACKIE RICHARDSON, STERLING JARVIS and STEVE HUNTERA dazzling performer, Richardson has a powerful and supple voice and a warm, vibrant stage presence. The music of Jackie Richardson is an experience of soul, a profoundly personal synthesis of the remarkable gospel, blues and jazz women she has embodied on stage and screen. Jackie grew up in Richmond Hill which she still considers her hometown.
2004 Dora Mavor Moore Winner for Best Female Principal role in a Musical for Cookin' at the Cookery: The Music & Times of Alberta Hunter. Richardson has received Gemini, Dora, Juno, Jessie, Betty, Toronto Blues Society and NAACP Award Nominations.
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Vocalist: STERLING JARVIS 7:30 PM (60 Min)
PRE-FILM CONCERT in Celebration of BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Featuring JACKIE RICHARDSON, STERLING JARVIS and STEVE HUNTER
STERLING JARVISSterling Jarvis is an accomplished actor and singer whose theatre credits include The Lion King, Crowns, Of Mice and Men, We Will Rock You, The Overwhelming and Ruined for which he received a Dora Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He was most recently seen on stage in the musical Caroline or Change. Some of his television and film appearances include Perfect Strangers, The Eleventh Hour, The West Wing, Felicity, The Sentinel, ’Til Death Do Us Part , The Bridge, The Border, Covert Affairs, Life With Boys and most recently, Lost Girls. He has sung anthems for the Blue Jays, the Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs. His voice can also be heard on many commercials for TV and radio as well as singing the themes for the popular kid’s shows Zaboomafoo and Donkey Kong Country. Sterling can be seen on stage in the upcoming production of Clybourne Park at the Berkeley St.Theatre.
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Pianist: STEVE HUNTER 7:30 PM (60 Min)
7:30 PM PRE-FILM CONCERT Featuring JACKIE RICHARDSON, STERLING JARVIS and STEVE HUNTER in Celebration of BLACK HISTORY MONTH
MINT MUSICAL DIRECTOR: STEVE HUNTER (KEYBOARDS)Steve's career has been a juggling act between the studio, jingles, theater and clubs. Highlights include Etta James, Petula Clark, Bobby Vinton, Little Anthony, Joan Rivers, Emmylou Harris, David Clayton Thomas and TV appearances with Donny Osmond, Chet Atkins, and Colm Wilkinson on the 2005 Jerry Lewis Telethon.More »
Some of the shows Steve has conducted and played on include Cats, The Phantom of the Opera (with Colm Wilkinson), Joseph (with Donny Osmond), Forever Plaid, Jane Eyre, Tommy, Blood Brothers (with David Cassidy), Rent, The Lion King and most recently, Billy Elliot. Steve has had the pleasure to work with Colm Wilkinson as his musical director/arranger for the past fifteen years and recently took part in a birthday celebration for the late Ted Kennedy’s birthday celebration at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC with President Obama in the audience.
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SHORT FILM - WANGARI MAATHAI 8:40 PM (5 Min)
WANGARI MAATHAI (1940-2011) FOUNDER OF THE GREEN BELT MOVEMENT
Presented by: The GreenHeroes CampaignJust when Wangari Maathai thought no one was listening to the message of her organization, The Green Belt Movement, she received a surprising call – she had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The first environmentalist ever to be recognized with this honour, Wangari realized "that the world was listening". More »
Wangari initiated The Green Belt movement in Kenya, a program in which groups of women are paid to plant trees, proving advantageous for both the environment and the women.
The movement set off the United Nations One Billion Trees Campaign. Each year, the campaign aims to have one billion trees planted worldwide. In 2004, the Nobel committee awarded Wangari with the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Kenya."The honor was not just for me. It was also for the thousands of women who planted 30 million trees throughout Kenya as part of the Green Belt Movement."
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FILM: PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI 8:50 PM (90 Min)
PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI Featuring: Morgan Freeman and the students of Charleston High School
Director-Producer: Paul Saltzman, Producer: Patricia Aquino
Prom Night in Mississippi is a 2009 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Paul Saltzman. The documentary follows a group of 2008 Charleston High School high school seniors in Charleston, Mississippi as they prepare for their senior prom, the first racially integrated prom in Charleston history. More »
Synopsis:
In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School in Mississippi under one condition: the prom had to be racially integrated. His offer was ignored. In 2008, Freeman offered again. This time the school board accepted, and history was made. Charleston High School had its first-ever integrated prom - in 2008. Until then, blacks and whites had had separate proms even though their classrooms have been integrated for decades. Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman follows students, teachers and parents in the lead-up to the big day. This seemingly inconsequential rite of passage suddenly becomes profound as the weight of history falls on teenage shoulders. We quickly learn that change does not come easily in this sleepy Delta town. Freeman's generosity fans the flames of racism - and racism in Charleston has a distinctly generational tinge. Some white parents forbid their children to attend the integrated prom and hold a separate white-only dance. "Billy Joe," an enlightened white senior, appears on camera in shadow, fearing his racist parents will disown him if they know his true feelings. PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI captures a big moment in a small town, where hope finally blossoms in black, white and a whole lot of taffeta. -David Courier, Sundance Film Festival -
DISCUSSION: PAUL SALTZMAN 10:20 PM (40 Min)
POST-FILM DISCUSSION with PAUL SALTZMAN AND PATRICIA AQUINO
Director-Producer: Paul Saltzman, Producer: Patricia Aquino
Discussion Subject: MOVING BEYOND PREJUDICE
PAUL SALTZMAN, Producer-Director of Prom Night In Mississippi
Paul Saltzman is a two-time Emmy® Award-winning Toronto-based film and television producer-director with over 300 productions to his credit. More »
After briefly studying Engineering Science, he did congressional civil rights lobbying in Washington, D.C., and voter registration work in Mississippi, which would later lead him to go back to the area to explore the concept of race and racism with Prom Night in Mississippi.
He began his film and television career at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a researcher, interviewer and on-air host, and then moved to the National Film Board of Canada. In 1973, Paul founded Sunrise Films Limited and produced and directed documentaries for the next decade, including the acclaimed series Spread Your Wings. In 1983 he produced and directed the premiere of HBO's Family Playhouse and a special for American Playhouse. In the same year, he co-created and produced the family action-adventure television CBC-Disney Channel series Danger Bay.
Since then he has produced television series like My Secret Identity, Matrix and Max Glick, as well as miniseries and movies of the week. He co-produced the feature film Map of the Human Heart, an international epic directed by Vincent Ward. He also executive produced Martha, Ruth & Edie as well as Sam & Me, which received an Honorable Mention in competition for the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2008, he made his feature-film directorial debut with the documentary, Prom Night in Mississippi, with Morgan Freeman. He is currently editing his 2nd feature, the documentary Return to Mississippi, with Harry Belafonte, the KKK and Morgan Freeman. Paul is a member of the Director's Guild of Canada and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. -
DISCUSSION: PATRICIA AQUINO Producer-Director of Prom Night In Mississippi
POST FILM DISCUSSION (10:20PM -11:00PM)
Facilitated by PAUL SALTZMAN (Producer-Director) and PATRICIA AQUINO (Producer)
Discussion Subject: MOVING BEYOND PREJUDICEPatricia Aquino: Producer of Prom Night In Mississippi
Before joining Sunrise Films Limited, as Vice-President of Operations, in 2000, Patricia Aquino, Producer of Prom Night in Mississippi and co-owner, with Paul Saltzman, of Return to Mississippi Prods. Inc., was a franchise owner of Black Isle Communications. At Sunrise, she co-published The Beatles in India Limited Edition books, as well as overseeing that project's operations and administration.