The Langston Hughes African American Film Festival presents 3 days of African American-themed film and video works spanning 75 years of the diverse Black experience. Works include drama, documentary, and films for children, too! This festival was made possible through the Cultural Development Authority of King County and additional support from the Greater Seattle Chapter of the Links, Inc. The Festival is in its first year, and is curated and organized by Zola Mumford.

Some of the featured screenings are:

* Afropunk: the Rock n’ Roll N*gger Experience, February 21 -- Co-sponsored by 911 Media Arts Center. James Spooner's riveting, prizewinning new documentary explores race identity in the punk rock music scene. The work tackles hard questions such as loneliness, exile, inter-racial dating and black power. Afropunk features performances by Bad Brains and contains exclusive interviews with members of Fishbone and the Dead Kennedys. Filmmaker James Spooner will be present for a question-and-answer session following the screening. The Toronto International Film Festival has described the film as “a rare gem in Afro-diasporic filmmaking”.

* Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, February 21 -- He was there at most of the important events of the Civil Rights Movement -- but always in the background. This documentary asks "Why?" It presents a vivid drama, intermingling the personal and the political, about one of the most enigmatic figures in 20th -century American history. One of the first "freedom riders," an adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and A. Philip Randolph, organizer of the march on Washington, intelligent, gregarious and charismatic, Bayard Rustin was denied his place in the limelight for one reason -- he was also gay.

* The Dream Keeper: the Life of Langston Hughes, February 22 -- Hughes wrote of the beauty, dignity, and heritage of blacks in America. Interviews, music, and dance performances convey his work and influence, discussed by James Baldwin and Hughes biographer Arnold Rampersad.

* Wild Women Don't Have the Blues, February 20, shows how the blues were born out of the economic and social transformation of African American life early in the 20th century. It recaptures the lives and times of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters and the other legendary women who made the blues a vital part of American culture.

Founded in 1972, the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center is the artistic and cultural hub for Seattle's Central District neighborhood. Named after the famed African American Harlem Renaissance poet, novelist, playwright and essayist, Langston Hughes, it is a premier performing arts center that provides an artistic home for cultivating, nurturing, and promoting emerging artists and talented amateurs.

Information on admission fees and show times will be available in late January.