Deluxe Art Show celebrates 50th anniversary
Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS) partners with the DeLuxe Theater and the 5th Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic DeLuxe Art Show in Houston, which featured Black and white artists together for the first time in US history.
“The show’s Black modernist legacy acts as a key engine of Black creativity and art making, ingenuity and politics,”‘ says HCAS Artistic Director Jessica Green.
Schedule is as follows:
Thursday, September 23rd, 7:30pm – FREE
Moonstruck Drive-In: 100 Bringhurst St, Houston, TX 77020
Time: Garrett Bradley, 2020, 81 min.
“Fox Rich is an entrepreneur, author, and mother of six who has spent the last 21 years fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, who is serving a 60-year sentence for an offense they both committed. Commanding observations are seamlessly woven with uninhibited family videos to craft a beautifully intimate family portrait that also reminds us of the systematic separation of African American families—first through enslavement and now through mass incarceration. Time poignantly confronts and challenges expectations—this is not a story of brokenness but one of enduring love.”
Friday, September 24th, 7:30pm – virtual and FREE (Available until September 30th)
The 5th Ward, Invention, Modernism: Three Short Films
“The program will close out with a pre-recorded Q&A with directors Stefani Saintonge, Flash Gordon Parks, and Isaac Yowman, moderated by HCAS artistic director Jessica Green.”
F*cked Like A Star: Stefani Saintonge, 2018, 8 min.
“F*cked Like a Star is an experimental adaptation of an extract from Toni Morrison’s 1981 novel, Tar Baby; a story that explores sexual and racial tensions associated with an individual’s journey to autonomy. Focused on skillful traditional “woman’s work” – braiding, cooking, sewing, and shot through a macro lens, the audience is meant to see their work as an ant would, highlighting the majesty of what is normally thought of as mundane, repetitive labor.”
Archie Bell: Flash Gordon Parks, 2019, 36 min.
“Archie Bell is comprised of interviews conducted by Houston entrepreneur, DJ, and filmmaker Flash Gordon Parks with 5th Ward living legend Archie Bell of Archie Bell & the Drells. Songs from the Drells include the sublime 1968 track Tighten Up, one of the earliest funk hits in music history.”
Memory Builds the Monument: Isaac Yowman, 2021, 16 min.
“Musical legends Ray Charles, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin often performed at the hottest nightclub in Houston’s 5th Ward, Club Matinee, informally known as ‘the Cotton Club of the south’ by musical legends and area residents alike. The film taps the vivid recollections of current and former 5th Ward residents who remember those magical years.”
For tickets and more information, please visit cinemahtx.org
