2023 SCHEDULE
Friday - November 3rd
OPENING DAY
6pm
Opening Night Reception
Join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating art, activism, and the power of change. Featuring an exclusive film screening, captivating art, live performances, and more. Don't miss this night of inspiration and connection.
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Art Exhibit: Explore captivating artworks that reflect the spirit of change agents from around the world.
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Savor delectable cuisine and cocktails in the company of like-minded individuals.
7:40pm - 8:
Keynote Speaker
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Opening Night Film - US
Super Vision: Passion of a Hustler - 105 mins
Director: Damon Jamal
Director’s Bio:
Damon Jamal is a self-taught filmmaker who was born in Berkeley and came up in Oakland, California. In the urban music video genre, he established himself as a household name in the Bay Area as the go-to director for premium projects with modest budgets.
He has since worked with hundreds of music artists including P. Diddy, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, E-40, Tyga, and Philthy Rich.
In 2013, he directed his first feature film, "Rolling" starring Matthew Thompson (Dallas Buyers Club) and Joy Regulano (Supernatural). The film is a coming of age drama that explores the diverse backgrounds of seven Bay area students who break into their local high school to make a movie. Rolling has been compared to a modern day "Breakfast Club," and was honored with to premiere at the Oakland International Film Festival.
In 2017 he also won several awards for producing the short film "Nothing is Sacred" which also was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2021, his third feature film "Entanglement" was released which features Cisco Reyes (Next Day Air), Jasmine Burke (Saints and Sinners), Omar Gooding (Baby Boy) and the super talented Angie Stone. The film is a Romantic dramedy and is top ranked on Amazon Prime.
His latest project is the thriller "Survival" featuring Elise Neal and Demetrius Grosse which played at several film festivals, winning Best Feature Film at The People's Film Festival in Harlem, NY as well as Best Dramatic Film at the Detroit Black Film Festival. The film was released on streaming platforms September 25, 2023.
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Saturday November 4th
CLOSING DAY
Film Screenings
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11am - 12:40pm
Immigration Status
For The Sake of Ava - 100 mins
Director: Mohsen Seraji
Synopsis: A theater group of teenage girls in Iran accept their show to participate in a prestigious festival abroad. The main actress, named Ava, is a girl with an Iranian mother and an Afghan father, that's why she doesn't have a birth certificate or passport. The director of the show decides to replace Ava with a boy to solve the problem, but the other members of the group decide to do anything for Ava, the passport producer, from bribing the employee of the passport office to taking the head of the passport office hostage and even leaving illegally with human trafficking...
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Short Program
1:00pm - 2:35pm
The Mother Within
The Mum in Me - 83mins
Director: Hilde Merete Haug
Synopsis: 'The Mum in Me' is a touching, brave and hyper relevant documentary about a taboo topic: What happens to a woman emotionally, mentally and socially when she is hit by involuntary childlessness? And how does the society react? The backdrop of this film is the fact that 15-25% of the population in Western countries are childless, and it is not being talked about in public.
The director is the storyteller taking the audience on a challenging, but also heartwarming and humorous personal journey together with other childless women and some psychology specialists. Not many filmmakers dare to invite into such a vulnerable life situation. This is a fragile and deeply honest journey into the existential depth of a woman's mind.
A Story About Not Giving Up: The Autistic Twins - 11mins
Director: Shaun Chen
Synopsis: A documentary about how a pair of Chinese autistic twins and their mom overcome life difficulties through non-stop persistence and determination.
Total Time: 95mins
2:50 - 4pm
India's Beauty and Pain
Anthem for Kashmir -
Director: Sandeep Ravindranath
Synopsis: Censored by the right-wing government of India, Anthem for Kashmir is a short narrative on the Indian occupation of Kashmir highlighting issues of forced-disappearances, half-widows, encounter-killings and pellet-gun victims. Accompanied by a Tamil protest rock track with lyrics referring to these human rights abuses.
Spring Tide - 27mins
Director: Roy Thomas
Synopsis: Radha is a widow living near a riverside in a remote village in India. Her husband was
a "Theyyam!"performer (a native ritual festival) and an electronic repairer by profession. Her only daughter is a high school student. Radha works as a weaver in a handloom weaving centre a bit far away. The daughter, Megha, reaches back home from school every day before her mother arrives. She is alone in the house for nearly two hours in a remote area. Two local men appear in the vicinity daily, one for fishing and another for extracting toddy from coconut trees. The story pivots around this situation and depicts the insecurity and suppression of women in the male dominating society.
Unspoken - 30mins
Director: Parth Chopra
Synopsis: With the pressure of moving to a new city and fighting with depression, a young boy (Mihir) seeks comfort through writing his experiences in a diary. It is only when all hope seems to be lost for his optimism that he finds someone (The Girl) who understands the person beneath the words.
Total Run Time - 67mins
4:15pm - 5:15pm
The American way - Greed, Freedom, Injustice? Activism
Vax - 12:30mins
Director: Barak Shpiez
Synopsis: Deep in the research laboratory of Triple Hills Pharma, an accidental discovery could save the lives of millions, unless it kills profits.
Separate - 6mins
Director: Kestrin Pantera
Synopsis: Separate is a post-apocalyptic survival story. When the Supreme Court rolls back marriage equality and orders couples! "lawful children to be taken and placed with "traditional” families, a daughter and dad flee their home, dodging citizen bounty-hunters, to find refuge in a gay-ballroom safe-house across the border.
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​The Poison Garden 37mins
Director: Chris James Mancini, Evelyn Santos
Synopsis: It tells the true stories of 3 acts of racial terrorism that occurred in and out of South Florida's courts in the 1930's and draws parallels to the problems of law enforcement of today
Total Disaster - 11:30mins
Director: Keil Orion Triosi, Molly Gore
Synopsis: Armed with realistic bird puppets, trickster environmental activists pretend to be a giant oil company—staging a satirical press conference to introduce "RéHabitat," a plan to rescue animals from the East African Oil Pipeline by relocating them to #more sustainable” habitats. Using humor and mischief, they expose a deadly ecological disaster in a zany effort to help
Total Run Time - 55mins
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6pm- 7:45pm
The Cry, It’s Mental
Ninety Minutes Later - 90 mins
Director: Cyndy Fujikawa
Synopsis: A feature length documentary about actor Vanessa Marquez, who was shot and killed in her home by police during a 90-minute long wellness check. Marquez, who suffered from both physical and mental illnesses was best known for the television series ER, and her breakout role as Ana Delgado in the 1989 film Stand and Deliver. Her co-stars from this seminal film attempt to uncover the circumstances of the shooting, obtain the unavailable police body- worn camera footage, and seek justice on her behalf.
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The Reflection of Francisca Newman - 15mins
Director: Jon freckle Garcia
Synopsis: In this cinematic fairytale, Francisca Newman, a psychologically disturbed ballerina, fails at her life audition. Her perfectionism starts to take a noticeable toll on her mental health, where in a world of passion and beauty, sensibility and enlightenment becomes darkness.
In this increasingly violent and surreal competition at the hands of her own reflection, a familiar voice starts talking to her as an old forgotten friend. A voice that takes her on a journey through her own memories in order to find herself, before her reflection becomes a stranger.
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Total Run Time - 105mins
Saturday November 4th
CLOSING DAY
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Workshops & Public Forum
pm - 2:30pm
PTAFF Artivist Incubator: Presents the “Impact Catalyst Workshop”
The Impact Catalyst workshop will offer immersive and interactive experiences, providing participants with the opportunity to learn and practice the skills required to drive change effectively. This hands-on workshops will cover areas such as social entrepreneurship, grassroots activism, policy advocacy, sustainable design, and ethical leadership. Attendees will gain practical knowledge, develop problem-solving abilities, and cultivate a mindset for impactful change.
Workshop Presenters
Ciera Foster
Terrah Bennett Smith
John Broadway
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2:55pm - 4:10pm
"Hip Hop as a Change Agent: Not just a genre, but a force for change”
The panel will dive into the golden era of “Conscious Hip Hop” when artists used their rhymes to speak out against social injustices, inequality, and racism. We will discuss how Hip Hop became a powerful tool for advocacy/activism and empowerment.
This panel will dissect the shift from “Conscious Hip Hop” to “Gangsta Rap” we will delve into the complexities of the shift, and the reason behind it.
What was the impact of the transition on the industry and how was it portrayed in the media?
We will look at what lies ahead for Hip Hop, is there a resurgence of “Conscious Hip Hop” what is its potential to be a catalyst for meaningful change? What can we expect from the next generation of Hip Hop Artists? Finally, we will discuss how we can ensure that this cultural powerhouse remains a positive force for transformation.
Panelist includes;
Tim Conley, Jah Orah, Marquette Hawkins, B Star, Tommy Soward, Tatia Calhoun
Moderated by: Sean Hill
8pm - 10pm
Closing Night Event
Ode To Hip Hop - Rhythms of Revolution: The Hip Hop Chronicles
Synopsis:
Rhythms of Revolution: The Hip Hop Chronicles is a dynamic and electrifying dance and spoken word program that pays tribute to the profound impact of legendary Hip Hop artists on social justice movements in the United States and across the globe. This performance is a compelling fusion of dance, music, and storytelling that celebrates the enduring power of Hip Hop as a catalyst for change.
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PTAFF Change Agent Awards Ceremony
2023 Award Recipients
Immortal Technique - PTAFF 2023 Artist Change Agent
Fahryn Littleton - Youth Community Change Agent
Abiodun Koya - International Change Agent
Tec Leimert - Innovative Change Agent
Etienne Maurice - Community Change Agent
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