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Films

2024 Michigan Student Film Festival

Come watch the best K–12 Michigan student films on the big screen. Held annually at the Detroit Film Theatre, the Michigan Student Film Festival has been the signature event of Digital Arts, Film & Television (DAFT) for 56 years. This juried festival is a high honor for students and has served as a gateway for past participants to careers in the film industry. All types of genres will be shown, including narratives, animation, news broadcasts, experimental films, and documentaries.  For families with children 10 and up.  Program schedule: 10 a.m., Kindergarten–8th grade awards 12:30 p.m., 9–12th grade awards

Films

Freep Film Festival: Luther: Never Too Much

USA/2024 — dir. Dawn Porter The signer Luther Vandross started his career supporting David Bowie, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, and many more. He was nicknamed "the Velvet Voice," and despite having multiple platinum albums and top 10 hits, he struggled to break out of the R&B charts. “Considering the stamp he put on the American music industry, it feels strange there hasn’t yet been a documentary about his legacy until Dawn Porter’s Luther: Never Too Much … after experiencing her loving portrait you can’t imagine Vandross’ story being told by anyone else.” — Tomris Laffley, Indiewire Tickets for all Freep Film Festival screenings hosted at Detroit Film Theatre are available in advance at freepfilmfestival.com. Produced by the Detroit Free Press, the Freep Film Festival focuses on documentaries, especially those with connections to Detroit and Michigan. Screenings include in-depth discussions with directors, film subjects, and community members. Freep Film Festival also presents live events at venues throughout metro Detroit, with activities centered in the downtown core. 

Films

Freep Film Festival: The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit

USA/2024 — dir. Mark Stryker | 78 min. You can’t tell the history of Jazz without telling the story of Detroit. The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit explores the lives of the city’s innovative and influential musicians during Detroit’s dramatic rise as an industrial power. Scores of world-class musicians have rolled off Detroit’s assembly line, nurtured by the profound legacy of mentors such as Barry Harris, Marcus Belgrave, and Rodney Whitaker. The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit reminds audiences how and why the city has become the once and future crossroads for American Jazz masters.  Tickets for all Freep Film Festival screenings hosted at Detroit Film Theatre are available in advance at freepfilmfestival.com.  Produced by the Detroit Free Press, the Freep Film Festival focuses on documentaries, especially those with connections to Detroit and Michigan. Screenings include in-depth discussions with directors, film subjects, and community members. Freep Film Festival also presents live events at venues throughout metro Detroit, with activities centered in the downtown core.  

Films

Freep Film Festival: Rouge

(USA/2023—dir. Hamoody Jaafar) In the 1950s, legendary high school basketball coach Lofton Greene led the recently racially integrated River Rouge High School Panthers to a record number of state championships in a league made up of segregated schools. Now, almost 70 years later, former Panther LaMonta Stone has returned to the struggling industrial town of River Rouge to help the Panthers chase the school's 15th State Championship.  In this coming-of-age story, Stone and four student athletes strive to fulfill generations' worth of work, on and off the court. The film includes appearances by Michigan State Basketball's head coach Tom Izzo, Detroit Pistons announcer George Blaha, and longtime Free Press high school sportswriter Mick McCabe. Produced by the Detroit Free Press, the Freep Film Festival focuses on documentaries, especially those with connections to Detroit and Michigan. Screenings include in-depth discussions with directors, film subjects, and community members. Freep Film Festival also presents live events at venues throughout metro Detroit, with activities centered in the downtown core.  Tickets for all Freep Film Festival screenings hosted at Detroit Film Theatre are available in advance at freepfilmfestival.com.  

Performances

Friday Night Live!: The Black Opry Revue

Black musicians have always been integral to country, folk, blues, and Americana music genres; in many instances, it was Black musicians who first created these forms. The American music industry has an equally long history of not supporting them, or excluding them completely. For these reasons, Black Opry was founded by Nashville's Holly G. as a collective of like-minded musicians, writers, producers, and supporters who created a website where Black artists could be heard and celebrated. The Black Opry Revue is the touring element of this collective and highlights their diversity of sound and stories. Every Revue features a unique line-up of Black artists. For this program Friday Night Live will include performances by Isaiah Cunningham, Christine Melody, Jett Holden, and Nathan Graham.  This program is part of a companion series of film and music events presented in celebration of Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts Feb. 4–June 23, 2024. Regeneration is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.   Black History Month at the DIA is generously supported by Arn & Nancy Tellem.

Lectures

Skilled Labor: Black Realism in Detroit

Thank you for your interest. This event is sold out. Join us for a panel discussion with Detroit artists Sydney James, Hubert Massey, and Mario Moore, co-organized by Cranbrook Art Museum and the Detroit Institute of Arts, with introductions by Laura Mott, chief curator, Cranbrook Art Museum, and Katie Pfohl, associate curator, Contemporary Art, Detroit Institute of Arts.  Organized to accompany Cranbrook Art Museum’s exhibition Skilled Labor: Black Realism in Detroit, on view through March 3, 2024, this discussion will take place in the DIA’s Rivera Court, the location of Diego Rivera’s iconic Detroit Industry Murals.   The Detroit Industry Murals are a hallmark of the DIA and the city of Detroit, and have influenced generations of artists, particularly those who are part of Detroit’s vibrant contemporary mural movement. During this discussion, James, Massey, and Moore will discuss Rivera’s enduring influence on mural practice in Detroit. A symbol of creative vibrancy for the city, contemporary mural work also raises questions of representation, equity, and ownership connected to Rivera’s explorations of labor and industry almost a century ago. This vital dialogue among artists will explore how mural work continues to shape Detroit’s artistic and cultural landscape.  Image: Hubert Massey, Sketch for Detroit-Crossroad of Innovation (in process). Courtesy of Dr. Hubert Massey. 

Artist Demonstration: Hubert Massey and the Art of Buon Fresco

Join master muralist Dr. Hubert Massey as he demonstrates the ancient painting method that Diego Rivera used in the creation of the Detroit Industry Murals. This will be the ultimate how-to and hands-on guide to buon fresco, a technique where the artist uses a hand-ground emulsion of mineral colors, oil, and water to paint directly onto wet plaster. Murals created with buon fresco have a visual impact that cannot be copied in any other medium, and their colors remain vibrant for centuries. Dr. Massey has preserved the skills and vision of this technique in major murals at the Flint Institute of the Arts, Detroit Athletic Club, and recently, the Detroit Regional Convention Center.   For families with children of all ages. Registration encouraged.   

Glass Art Society Conference 2023 - Day 1

10:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Sally Prasch: Flame to Furnace to Lathe (Demonstration) George Kennard and Sally Prasch have been teaching together and collaborating for many years and when available they use a glass blowing lathe in the studio. In the 1970’s Prasch started bringing scientific glassblowing and lampworking techniques into the hot glass studio, but it was not embraced at that time. Glassblowing lathes are becoming more accepted and used in the glass art world and will become a common trend. Kennard and Prasch will demonstrate how they have used the lathe for teaching and their work. Mark Vanderburg will be helping Sally with this Lecmo. Delicate soft glass items will be pre-made over the torch to be incorporated into the final piece. You won’t want to miss this demonstration. 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Glass Art Society Conference 2023: The Flame: The Art and History of Flameworking (Film) The documentary film “The Flame: The Art and History of Flameworking” tells the story of a journey undertaken to discover the origins of glass lampworking, a technique which is still not well known but it is used by thousands of people around the world: the lampworkers. Glass lampworking is less known than furnace glass working, which does not involve a team but only a person who works to realize unique objects by only using the flame and glass sticks. Just one person in front of a desk can realize with glass the ideas they have in mind. This idea of intimacy will be constant during the documentary, backlighting photography and low-key images, that will bring the spectator into the working flame. Eric Goldschmidt, lampworker for Corning Museum of Glass, will guide us through this journey. 12:30–2 p.m. Glass Art Society Conference 2023: Steven Hagan: All Juice, No Seeds (Demonstration) Citrus fruits are vibrant, colorful, delicious and they currently dominate the body of work that Steven Hagan produces. Hagan will assemble a version of a larger-than-life citrus sculpture.  1–2:30 p.m. Glass Art Society Conference 2023: The Flame: The Art and History of Flameworking (Film) The documentary film “The Flame: The Art and History of Flameworking” tells the story of a journey undertaken to discover the origins of glass lampworking, a technique which is still not well known but it is used by thousands of people around the world: the lampworkers. Glass lampworking is less known than furnace glass working, which does not involve a team but only a person who works to realize unique objects by only using the flame and glass sticks. Just one person in front of a desk can realize with glass the ideas they have in mind. This idea of intimacy will be constant during the documentary, backlighting photography and low-key images, that will bring the spectator into the working flame. Eric Goldschmidt, lampworker for Corning Museum of Glass, will guide us through this journey. 3:30–5 p.m. Glass Art Society Conference 2023: Christopher Day Politely Shouts (Demonstration) The early work that Christopher Day produced was a way of creating a conversation which, at the time, was like walking through a desert looking for water. Since George Floyd and Black Lives Matter it's been hard for Day to find dry land, and this has pushed the reigniting of even more conversations regarding slavery and its brutal past. Day’s work has copper and rope and anything that complements the message of the subject and through this process Day has created a trademark or signature to the work. Day will speak regarding the racial tension that the United States and the UK both have in common throughout history and give an insight of how this has affected the artist personally. Glass has given Day an outlet to express emotions and the hope is that the visibility might inspire someone else to be brave enough to tackle their demons. 7–8:30 p.m. Art That Gives Back: The Michigan Glass Project Documentary | 90 Minutes  Art that Gives Back tells the inspiring story of a dedicated community of artists who dig deep to give back to their struggling city. As budget cuts decimated essential arts programming in public schools, The Michigan Glass Project, led by a tight-knit crew of glass pipe makers, knew they had to do something to bring art classes back to the children of Detroit. Since 2012, they have hosted an annual multimedia festival in the Russell Industrial Center, bringing flame workers, visual artists, painters, musicians, and thousands of glass enthusiasts together to fund Art Road Detroit, a nonprofit that brings art classes directly back into schools. To date, The Michigan Glass Project has raised over $500,000, and has assisted in reinstating art curricula for more than 2,200 children throughout the city. This retrospective documentary from award-winning Director Daniel R. Collins (Daniel R. Collins - IMDb) details over ten years of the extraordinary efforts put forth by the Michigan Glass Project. It challenges stereotypes about the cannabis community, illuminates the power of community to create change, and above all celebrates the future of Detroit, embodied by its emerging generations of creative young students.   This program is presented in partnership with the Glass Art Society and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Films

Leonor Will Never Die

Philippines/2022—directed by Martika Ramirez Escobar | 99 minutes Once a groundbreaking figure in the Filipino film industry during its action movie glory days, Leonor (the wonderful Sheila Francisco) now struggles with mounting bills, the untimely loss of her son, and the general indignities of old age. While revisiting an unfinished script about a fearless protagonist trying to avenge his brother’s murder, the cinema-obsessed and irresistibly cranky Leonor suffers one more test of her endurance when she’s struck on the head by a falling television set. As she lays unconscious in the hospital, fantasy and reality blur when Leonor finds herself awake inside of her own script, becoming – not surprisingly – the hero of her own improbable tale. An innovative blend of pulpy action homages, playful comedy, and touching family drama, Leonor Will Never Die is an imaginative, witty tribute to the art of moviemaking – and the joy of movie-watching. Winner, Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit, 2022 Sundance Film Festival; Best Narrative Feature Award, Center for Asian American Media (CAAMFEST 2022). In Filipino with English subtitles.  “Wonderfully unclassifiable! Martika Ramirez Escobar’s heartfelt, zany tribute to the magic of movies and the power of love.”  – A.O. Scott, The New York Times  

Lectures

The Artist is Human: A. I. Won’t Break My Soul, Artist Lecture by Michael Menchaca

Michael Menchaca (they/them) is an interdisciplinary Xicanx artist using print and new media to generate anti-colonial, anti-racist, and anti-capitalist visions of the world. In the talk, “The Artist is Human: A.I. Won’t Break My Soul,” Menchaca will discuss the A.I. industry, text-to-image generators like Image GPT and large language models like ChatGPT and the cultural implications.  This talk is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Printmaking in the Twenty-First Century. Support for the talk comes from the DIA’s Friends of Prints, Drawings and Photographs.  The talk is free and open to the public.    Image: Michael Menchaca, Castizo no. 2, 2019, from the suite, La Raza Cósmica 20XX, 2019, screen print. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Friends of PDP Photographic Fund in honor of Lindsey Buhl, 2021.249.2.