OUT OF FRAME: Black, White, Whatever

By Olive Demetrius

I came across this great moment in film when this was referred to me by Sabelo another Out Of Frame featured artist. Black White Whatever struck me as a voice that sometimes gets left out of the dialogue on pluralism.

It is beautifully shot and edited. It is a high power shot of goodness for some of our adult ADD sufferers(you know who you are and you already forgot what you came for)

Here is some more about the artists that made it possible

KELLY ZEN-YIE TSAI (Spoken Word Poet, Producer) is a Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based Chinese Taiwanese American spoken word artist who has featured at over 300 performances worldwide including 3 seasons of “HBO Def Poetry.”  She constantly strives push the boundaries of spoken word poetry and innovate it for the stage, page, and screen.  “Black, White, Whatever” is her third spoken word video and the first produced by her production company, Moving Earth Productions.  Her previous spoken word videos include “By-Standing: The Beginning of An American Lifetime” (Dir. Karen Lin) won special recognition at the Media That Matters & VIBE UrbanWorld Film Festivals, and her second spoken word video “Weapons of Mass Creation” (Dir. Kamilah Forbes) was commissioned by San Francisco not-for-profit Youth Noise’s nationwide Youth Summit Tour.  For more info, www.yellowgurl.com or www.youtube.com/kztsai.

JAZZMEN JOY LEE-JOHNSON (Director) is a film & video artist, animator, multi-medium designer, dancer, musician and activist from Baltimore currently residing in Johannesburg, South Africa.  A graduate from Rhode Island School of Design, her work as a director, editor and producer has been recognized in a range of outlets including her award winning work in the ‘05 Hip-Hop Odyssey International Film Festival & as a Thomas Watson Fellowship winner.  Her work has taken her to Benin, Mail, South Africa, India and Brasil.

ALLI MAXWELL (Producer) is a director/producer working in theater and film. Of her most recent theater works, she has directed multiple productions as a director and company member of At Play Productions, an NYC based theater company & the resident company of The 24 Hour Plays Off-Broadway. At Play and its 40 emerging actors, directors, writers and producers came together through a project created by Kevin Spacey and The 24 Hour Play. Her current film projects include production coordinator for “The Black List,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has since been bought by and currently airs on HBO. She is also in various stages of production as Producer on projects with spoken word artist Kelly Tsai, people’s poet Kahlil Almustafa and music videos for The Lost Crusaders.

Life and Debt (Full-Length Film)

You might of heard of it. You may have seen it but did you know that this film that director Stephanie Black who directed this lushly edited film. She skillfully weaves the text of Jamaica Kincaid’s ” A Small Place” If you don’t live in a large city or you aren’t connected to an artist community you might not have ever heard about the facts examined in this film.

This film can be compared to any documentary that exposes the far reaching effects of globalization on developing countries. It also brings home the point that through globalization slavery wasn’t abolished it has been outsourced and renamed. It is now cloaked as free trade.

One of kind- Little Miss Jocelyn

I discovered Little Miss Jocelyn one night from a good friend of mine. It is the brainchild if Jocelyn Jee Esein. She is the only women of color to have her own sketch comedy show in Britain and really I don’t see her equivalent anywhere else. Correct me if I am wrong. Please.

Her humor is bizarre, profane and oh so delicious.

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