harrietsgunmedia:

htjfilmfestival:

HTJ-2013 (FFA): Best Black LGBT Short Film (Nominees)

Bumming Cigarettes - (Directed By: Tiona.M)
http://bummingcigarettesfilm.tumblr.com/
http://vimeo.com/51232736

Inside Out - (Directed By: Wayne Hobdy)
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/insideout-a-dramatic-series—3 (Support)
http://youtu.be/c04HPR7wQks

Pause - (Directed By: Eight Peace Productions)
http://youtu.be/4_cEZ68G03c

Slow - (Directed By: Darius Clark Monroe)
http://vimeo.com/daclamo/slow

Who we will win this year?
YOU decide, with YOUR vote..?

VOTE NOW
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e7efkqs6hfzybn1b/start

*THANKS for nominating Bumming Cigarettes for best Black LGBT Short Film!!! 

Source: htjfilmfestival

harrietsgunmedia: Harriet’s Gun Media X Sistah Sinema Spring 2013 Screening Tour w/ updated cities!!! BUY TICKETS HERE: http://www.sistahsinema.com/#!tickets/c6jy April 12, 2013 | Atlanta, GA | Rush Center w/ Director tiona.m. & Actor Alia Hatch in attendanceApril 18, 2013 | Greensboro, NC | Geeksboro Coffeehouse CinemaApril 20, 2013 | Seattle, WA | Langston Hughes Film Festival Sponsored Screening w/ Director tiona.m. in attendance `April 21, 2013 | Portland, OR | 5th Avenue Cinema w/ Director tiona.m.April 27, 2013 | Cleveland, OH | MOCAw/ Director tiona.m. April 28, 2013 | Chicago, IL | IAEOU w/ Director tiona.m.May 4, 2013 | Kingston Jamaica | SO(U)L CollectiveMay 25, 2013 | Oakland, CA | Numi Tea Gardenw/ Director tiona.m.
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harrietsgunmedia:

Harriet’s Gun Media X Sistah Sinema Spring 2013 Screening Tour w/ updated cities!!!

BUY TICKETS HERE:

http://www.sistahsinema.com/#!tickets/c6jy

April 12, 2013 | Atlanta, GA | Rush Center
w/ Director tiona.m. & Actor Alia Hatch in attendance

April 18, 2013 | Greensboro, NC | Geeksboro Coffeehouse Cinema

April 20, 2013 | Seattle, WA | Langston Hughes Film Festival Sponsored Screening
w/ Director tiona.m. in attendance `

April 21, 2013 | Portland, OR | 5th Avenue Cinema
w/ Director tiona.m.

April 27, 2013 | Cleveland, OH | MOCA
w/ Director tiona.m.

April 28, 2013 | Chicago, IL | IAEOU
w/ Director tiona.m.

May 4, 2013 | Kingston Jamaica | SO(U)L Collective

May 25, 2013 | Oakland, CA | Numi Tea Garden
w/ Director tiona.m.

“Everyone is At Risk” Says Bumming Cigarettes, A Film about HIV Stigma in Black Lesbian Communities

Bumming Cigarettes Promotional posterOne evening, I met a friend for dinner. After the typical pleasantries, she shared a deeply personal story and the lessons she learned. I was grateful. This strong, remarkable, and highly successful woman put herself in a vulnerable position for one reason – to share her lesson with me, another woman of color.

Tiona McClodden does the same with her moving short Bumming Cigarettes. She shot the film at the very clinic where she took her HIV test, The Washington West Project in Gayborhood of Philadelphia. But McClodden doesn’t simply tell a story, she shares her story; she shares our stories. She explores one of the scariest moments of her adult life–waiting for the test results of a deadly disease–and, in so doing, empowers the viewer to face that moment with strength and certainty.

Bumming Cigarettes – a narrative depicting its protagonist getting an HIV test – shows that we are all at risk for sexually transmitted infections regardless of our race, sexuality, or gender identity. The likelihood of contracting a sexually transmitted infection between women varies significantly. Herpes, HPV (genital wart virus), and bacterial vaginosis are transmitted fairly easily between women during sex. HIV, hepatitis B, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are less likely to be transmitted than herpes, HPV, or bacterial vaginosis – but it is still possible. Most of these STIs are treatable, especially if diagnosed early.

READ MORE….

lhaaff: See the film and enjoy a Q&A discussion with filmmaker Tiona McClodden on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Seattle WA - presented in partnership with Sistah Sinema. Sistah Sinema started in Seattle, WA in January 2011. In the Spring of 2012, Women of Plenty launched Sistah Sinema - San Antonio (curently in hiatus). In June 2012, Sistah Sinema - Cleveland was launched. Sistah Sinema - Portland & Atlanta launched in January of 2013. Sistah Sinema - Greensboro went live in April 2013 and Sistah Sinema - Kingston in May. For details on bringing Sistah Sinema to your city, click here. Our goal is to become an international distribution network for Queer Women of Color cinema. Bumming Cigarettes (USA, 2012) 22 minutes Directed by Tiona McClodden Bumming Cigarettesis a short film about a brief and intimate meeting between a young Black lesbian woman who is in the process of taking an HIV test and a middle aged Black Gay HIV Positive man. Coming off of the devastation of a bad breakup with a girlfriend, Vee musters up the courage to go and take an HIV test to put her worst fears to rest. What she experiences during her trip to a local clinic is much more than she expects while sharing a cigarette with a stranger, Jimmy, during the 10 minutes that she awaits her test results. Alia Hatch makes a strong debut in this short film, as a young Black lesbian woman looking to discover her status. This is a breakthrough performance for James Tolbert, a native Philadelphian and professional actor living with HIV for 21 years. Alia and James deliver a moving performance in this film that explores complex issues surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic including the loss of intimacy and stigma that persons living with HIV/AIDS may encounter, while also encouraging awareness around HIV/AIDS testing and the way we treat persons living with the disease. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/51232736 Shown with Zanele Muholi’s Difficult Love Difficult Love (South Africa, 2011) 48 minutes Zanele Muholi / Peter Goldsmid   A highly personal take on the challenges facing black lesbians in South Africa today emerges through the life, work, friends and associates of “visual activist” and internationally celebrated photographer, Zanele Muholi. How real are the freedoms of newly won democracy for this diverse minority? This documentary offers a moving answer - and a compelling plea for understanding and tolerance. It offers a poignant personal journey illustrated by Zanele’s photographs and a diverse range of encounters - lesbian activists, critics, commentators, victims and even a lesbian sangoma (traditional healer). It counters the charge head-on that being lesbian or gay is “unAfrican” or unChristian. 
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lhaaff:

See the film and enjoy a Q&A discussion with filmmaker Tiona McClodden on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Seattle WA - presented in partnership with Sistah Sinema. Sistah Sinema started in Seattle, WA in January 2011. In the Spring of 2012, Women of Plenty launched Sistah Sinema - San Antonio (curently in hiatus). In June 2012, Sistah Sinema - Cleveland was launched. Sistah Sinema - Portland & Atlanta launched in January of 2013. Sistah Sinema - Greensboro went live in April 2013 and Sistah Sinema - Kingston in May. For details on bringing Sistah Sinema to your city, click here. Our goal is to become an international distribution network for Queer Women of Color cinema.

Bumming Cigarettes (USA, 2012) 22 minutes

Directed by Tiona McClodden

Bumming Cigarettesis a short film about a brief and intimate meeting between a young Black lesbian woman who is in the process of taking an HIV test and a middle aged Black Gay HIV Positive man. Coming off of the devastation of a bad breakup with a girlfriend, Vee musters up the courage to go and take an HIV test to put her worst fears to rest. What she experiences during her trip to a local clinic is much more than she expects while sharing a cigarette with a stranger, Jimmy, during the 10 minutes that she awaits her test results.

Alia Hatch makes a strong debut in this short film, as a young Black lesbian woman looking to discover her status. This is a breakthrough performance for James Tolbert, a native Philadelphian and professional actor living with HIV for 21 years. Alia and James deliver a moving performance in this film that explores complex issues surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic including the loss of intimacy and stigma that persons living with HIV/AIDS may encounter, while also encouraging awareness around HIV/AIDS testing and the way we treat persons living with the disease.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/51232736

Shown with Zanele Muholi’s Difficult Love

Difficult Love (South Africa, 2011) 48 minutes

Zanele Muholi / Peter Goldsmid

 

A highly personal take on the challenges facing black lesbians in South Africa today emerges through the life, work, friends and associates of “visual activist” and internationally celebrated photographer, Zanele Muholi. How real are the freedoms of newly won democracy for this diverse minority? This documentary offers a moving answer - and a compelling plea for understanding and tolerance. It offers a poignant personal journey illustrated by Zanele’s photographs and a diverse range of encounters - lesbian activists, critics, commentators, victims and even a lesbian sangoma (traditional healer). It counters the charge head-on that being lesbian or gay is “unAfrican” or unChristian. 

(via tionam)

Source: lhaaff

Young, Gay, Black—and at Risk for HIV by Kenyon Farrow

afrolez:

“…Too often when we hear stories about people who have HIV, it is followed by a discussion of what they did to put themselves at risk. But for many young gay black men, what they’ve done isn’t what is driving them to have the highest HIV rates in the country. Several studies show black gay and bisexual men wear condoms more often than white men. But because they are coming of age sexually in a population that already has a high HIV prevalence, one slip-up creates a higher probability of infection. Many young gay black men live and begin their sexual lives in a racially segregated world where HIV has had three decades to gain a foothold. Adding to the isolation, some research shows that other racial groups of gay men in the U.S. view black men as the least desirable sexual partners, and there’s a great deal of data overall showing that African Americans remain more geographically segregated than other groups, concentrated in heavily black communities and counties around the country…” ~ Kenyon Farrow, for The Atlantic

READ IN ITS ENTIRETY —> http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/young-gay-black-151and-at-risk-for-hiv/265792/

(via jalylah)

Source: afrolez

harrietsgunmedia:

Harriet’s Gun Media is teaming up with Sistah Sinema to bring Bumming Cigarettes to a few cities this Spring!

Atlanta, GA: Fri. April 12, 2013.

Portland, OR: Sun. April 21, 2013

Cleveland, OH: Sat. April 27, 2013

*Executive Producer/Filmmaker tiona.m. will be in attendance at each screening date.

*updated with new dates and venue dates!