Once again, going it alone

By Jan Zahler Lebow

Feb. 2, 2003 12 AM PT

Special to The Times

From Thursday to Feb. 17, two things will be occurring in Los Angeles: the Pan African Film Festival and the temporary disappearance of a number of my friends.

For several years it has been the same strange story. The same friends I never have a problem arranging plans with, people who share a love for traipsing through remote villages in Guatemala, Bali and Turkey, who line up with me on weekends for the latest Chinese, Iranian or French films, who accompany me to the concerts of African artists at UCLA’s Royce Hall, will find themselves hopelessly burdened with impossible schedules when I invite them to accompany me to the festival, which takes place at the Magic Johnson Theatres in the Crenshaw district.

It is a huge irony that many residents of this city celebrate diversity, pride themselves on their worldliness and have a love affair with film, yet are so bogged down in stereotypes of a monolithic black community riddled with socioeconomic failure and crime that they are afraid to venture into a solidly middle-class neighborhood to attend a festival that would help allay their fears.

The irony becomes magnified upon discovering that the Pan African Film Festival’s aims are “to promote cultural and racial tolerance and understanding, to reinforce positive images and help destroy negative stereotypes, and to foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles.” The invitation is a wonderful opportunity for all, but few people outside the black community ever accept.

It’s not that they aren’t interested in the films; it’s just that, largely influenced by how the media have portrayed South Los Angeles in the past several years, my Third World-trotting Westside friends are convinced that the neighborhood is unsafe, particularly for white folks, and that they will be gunned down or carjacked by gangbangers if they visit the area. I point to my white skin and remind them that I’ve been a frequent visitor to the neighborhood for more than 30 years and have yet to be victimized, but my assurances are just not enough to erase stereotypic images formed from newspaper articles, TV shows and movies.

Which is a pity, because despite the media’s relentlessly negative portrayal, the neighborhood is a vibrant and welcoming place, and over the years the Pan African Film Festival has featured some powerful movies. Two years ago, an Egyptian film, “The Closed Door,” told the story of a poverty-stricken teenage boy in Cairo who was torn between his love for his mother and his loyalty to the fundamentalist mosque that was providing him with the basic necessities the government failed to provide. It was a Shakespearean tale with a tragic ending, but it helped me to understand in a way no newspaper article ever could the desperation that leads to fundamentalism in some Islamic countries.

Last year’s film “100 Days,” a love story about two adolescents caught up in the genocidal massacre that claimed 800,000 lives in a hundred days when the Hutus tried to exterminate the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994, struck a similar emotional chord, as did “The Man on the Shore,” a movie about a little girl living in Haiti during Duvalier’s brutal regime.

Films such as these personalize events that are often too overwhelming in scope for us to comprehend, and allow us to care about things that, too often, are reported upon through the cold, detached eye of media not overly concerned with what is taking place “over there.” If recent events have taught us anything, it is that we can no longer afford not to care.

Humor included

Not all of the films in the festival are so serious. Last year there was a humorous movie from South Africa that focused on the developing friendship between a white man and a black boy, an obvious metaphor for the country’s ongoing efforts at racial reconciliation. A Brazilian entry, “Orfeu,” was a riotously colorful update of the classic carnival film “Black Orpheus,” and “Kirikou the Sorcerer” was a delightful, animated African folk tale with an excellent soundtrack by Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour. The biggest hit of last year’s festival, “Harlem Aria,” was an inspirational film about a young black man from Harlem who becomes an opera star.

The films come from Africa and the Caribbean, as well as from Latin America, Europe, Canada and the U.S. Directors often accompany their work and engage in question-and-answer sessions. In short, the festival has something for everyone interested in film or foreign cultures. It features movies that are otherwise overlooked by local theaters and provides a window into parts of the world that are all too frequently ignored.

This year I will once again tell my friends about the well-maintained and comfortable theater, the friendly audiences who swap tips about which films to see and which to avoid, the safe parking, the smorgasbord of fine films. As added incentives I will offer the African arts and crafts show that takes place concurrently in the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Plaza mall next door and the nearby cozy coffeehouses and cafes where we can go after the movies for an espresso or Senegalese yassa au poulet or some Jamaican jerk chicken.

But, sadly, I will once again probably step to the ticket counter and request, “One, please.”

Pan African lineup

What: Opening-night screening of “Civil Brand”

When: Thursday, 7 p.m.

Where: El Capitan Theatre, 6830 Hollywood Blvd.

Price: $250

What: Tribute honoring Carl Lumbly, Obba Babatunde and Danny Glover, screening of Charles Burnett’s “To Sleep With Anger”

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Magic Johnson Theatres, 4020 Marlton Ave., Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza

Price: $30

What: Centerpiece screening of “Standing in the Shadows of Motown”

When: Feb. 13, 6:45 p.m.