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Brooklyn Babylon
''Brooklyn Babylon'' is a 2001 film written and directed by Marc Levin, and a modern retelling of the Song of Solomon, set against the backdrop of the Crown Heights riot, starring Black Thought of The Roots. Plot summary In Brooklyn's Crown Heights, where West Indian Rastafarians and other Blacks live next door to the Jewish Chabad community, ethnic tensions are high. After a minor car crash, the headstrong Judah and other Jewish men who patrol the neighborhood as vigilantes confront Scratch, a mouthy hustler. Passengers in the cars make eye contact: Sol, a hip-hop musician, songwriter, and artist (Scratch's friend), and Sara, who is betrothed to Judah but wants to go to college and be on her own. Over the next few days, while Scratch and Judah's conflict escalates in violence, Sara and Sol connect in ways that echo Sheba and Solomon. Production Brooklyn Babylon was the second-made of Levin's late nineties hip-hop trilogy, which began with Slam, a searing prison drama starring ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marc Levin
Marc Levin is an American independent film producer and director. He is best known for his '' Brick City'' TV series, which won the 2010 Peabody award and was nominated for an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking and his dramatic feature film, ''Slam'', which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Caméra d'Or at Cannes in 1998. He also has received three Emmy Awards (1988, 1989, 1999) and the 1997 DuPont-Columbia Award. Early life Levin was born January 31, 1951 in New York City and raised in Elizabeth and Maplewood, New Jersey, the son of documentary filmmaker Alan Levin. He attended Wesleyan University (class of 1973), and has described the university as key in shaping his career in film. Marc was raised Jewish. Career 1980s In 1982, Levin and his father, Al, teamed up on ''Portrait of an American Zealot'' which was made part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent film collection. In 1984, he made ''Inside Story: Fall Rive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rastafari Movement
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas. Rastafari beliefs are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible. Central is a monotheistic belief in a single God, referred to as Jah, who is deemed to partially reside within each individual. Rastas accord key importance to Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974; many regard him as the Second Coming of Jesus and Jah incarnate, while others see him as a human prophet who fully recognised Jah's presence in every individual. Rastafari is Afrocentric and focuses attention on the African diaspora, which it believes is oppressed within Western society, or "Babylon". Many Rastas call for this diaspora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dash Mihok
Dashiell Raymond Mihok (; born May 24, 1974) is an American actor and director best known for playing Brendan "Bunchy" Donovan in the Showtime drama ''Ray Donovan''. Early life Mihok was born in New York City, the son of theater actors Andrea Mihok (née Cloak) and Raymond Thorne (né Mihok).Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine He has two older sisters: Gwen Mihok, an actress, and Cecily Trenka, a science teacher. He is of Czech and British descent. Mihok grew up in Greenwich Village and lived in the artist community Westbeth on Bank Street. Mihok went to PS 3, a public elementary school in Manhattan, currently named the John Melser Charrette School. He attended the Center School (MS 243) for middle school. While attending Bronx High School of Science, where he played baseball as a middle infielder, Mihok joined CityKids Repertory, and appeared in the short-lived TV show, '' CityKids,'' which featured local New York child actors and Jim Henson's The Muppets. Mihok also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Hoch
Daniel Hoch (born November 23, 1970) is an American actor, writer, director and performance artist. He has acted in larger roles in independent and art house movies and had a few small roles in mainstream Hollywood films, with increasing exposure as in 2007's '' We Own the Night''. He is also known for his one man shows. Theatre Two of his three one-man-shows, ''Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop'' and ''Some People'', were published together in 1998. In both pieces he explores the multi-cultural (and multi-lingual) New York he grew up in, providing adept monologues in the languages of the people, Cuban Spanish, Dominican Spanish or Nuyorican, Jamaican Patois or Trinidadian English. A prevailing theme in Hoch's work, within its spectrum of unification and deep similarities under superficial differences, is the power of hip hop. Naive or street-wise white youth believing or dreaming that they are black, African-American kids dreaming of making it as a rapper, a Cuban street vendor's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the east and southeast, Missouri to the south, Nebraska to the west, South Dakota to the northwest, and Minnesota to the north. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, Iowa was a part of French Louisiana and Spanish Louisiana; its state flag is patterned after the flag of France. After the Louisiana Purchase, people laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt. In the latter half of the 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy transitioned to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing, processing, financial services, information technology, biotechnology, and green energy production. Iowa is the 26th most extensive in total area and the 31st most populous of the 50 U.S. states, with a populat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whiteboyz
''Whiteboyz'' (sometimes styled ''Whiteboys'') is a 1999 American comedy film. The independent, limited release feature was written by Danny Hoch, Garth Belcon, Henri M. Kessler, Richard Stratton, and Marc Levin, and directed by Levin.Jennings, La Vinia Delois (2009). ''At home and abroad: historicizing twentieth-century whiteness in literature.'' University of Tennessee Press, The film opened to 37 theatres on the week of September 11, 1999. It marked the film debut of actress Piper Perabo, in a minor role. Plot The plot concerns the coming of age and misadventures of three white youths from the small town of Holyoke, Iowa who, having been seduced by the fast money and easy women of the gangsta rap lifestyle, yearn to be African American.Rabin, Nathan (April 2001). Totally '90s! A look back at the decade. p. 68 ff. '' Spin'' The trio of would-be hoodlums ventures to Cabrini–Green housing project in Chicago, Illinois, where they come into conflict with actual criminals as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonja Sohn
Sonja Denise Plack (' Williams; born May 9, 1964), known professionally as Sonja Sohn, is an American actress, activist and filmmaker, best known for portraying Baltimore detective Kima Greggs in the HBO drama ''The Wire'' (2002–2008). She is also known for having starred in the independent film ''Slam'', which she co-wrote, and appearing as Samantha Baker in the ABC series ''Body of Proof''. Her role in ''The Wire'' led to her work as the leader of a Baltimore community initiative called ReWired for Change. Early life Sohn was born Sonja Denise Williams in Fort Benning, Georgia. Her mother was Korean and her father was Black. Her parents met when her father was stationed in South Korea after the Korean War. She attended and graduated from Warwick High School in Newport News. Career Before she was an actress, Sohn was a slam poet. While performing her work on stage, she was spotted by Marc Levin who offered her a role in his film ''Slam''. She also wrote lyrics and co-wr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saul Williams
Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film ''Slam'' and the 2013 jukebox musical ''Holler If Ya Hear Me''. Early life Saul Stacey Williams was born in Newburgh, New York, on February 29, 1972, the youngest of three children. He attended Newburgh Free Academy, where he wrote his song "Black Stacey". He graduated from Morehouse College with a BA in acting and philosophy, then moved to New York City, where he earned an MFA in acting from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts. While at New York University, he became part of the New York café poetry scene. He also lived in Brazil as an exchange student from 1988 to 1989. Career Poetry By 1995, Williams had become an open mic poet. In 1996, he won the title of Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Grand Slam Cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slam (1998 Film)
''Slam'' is a 1998 American independent drama film directed, co-written and co-produced by Marc Levin and starring and co-written by Saul Williams and Sonja Sohn. It tells the story of a young African-American man whose talent for poetry is hampered by his social background. Plot Raymond "Ray" Joshua (played by Saul Williams) is a young man growing up in the Southeast, Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Dodge City, slang for a real Southeast D.C. neighborhood. /sup> Despite his innate gift for poetry and his aspiration to be a rapper, he finds it difficult to escape the pressures of his surroundings: violence and drug dealing. While participating in a drug deal gone wrong, Ray's close friend Big Mike is shot. Ray is caught by the police and sent to the District of Columbia Department of Corrections' central detention facility. He is arraigned for possession of a controlled substance at the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse and bail is set at $10,000. When his public defender explai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), was a monarch of ancient Israel and the son and successor of David, according to the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. He is described as having been the penultimate ruler of an amalgamated Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Israel and Judah. The hypothesized dates of Solomon's reign are 970–931 BCE. After his death, his son and successor Rehoboam would adopt harsh policy towards the northern tribes, eventually leading to the splitting of the Israelites between the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. Following the split, his Patrilineality#In the Bible, patrilineal descendants ruled over Judah alone. The Bible says Solomon built the Solomon's Temple, First Temple in Jerus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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