The 10th anniversary season of the documentary series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange opens with Rachel Perkins’ Black Panther Woman, a look back at the Black Panther Party in Australia, and a legacy tarnished by #MeToo charges from one of the women involved in that movement.
Queen Sugar star Nicholas L. Ashe will host the tenth season of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange.
AfroPoP X is hosted by actor Nicholas L. Ashe, who stars in the hit OWN TV series Queen Sugar. AfroPoP, the nation’s only public television series of contemporary stories about Black life, art and culture around the globe, premieres on WORLD Channel at 8 p.m. ET (10 p.m. PT) on Monday, January 15 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The show is produced by HYPERLINK “https://sable.godaddy.com/c/61990?id=3861.102.1.21f5b311fbbff6069a4939efbd394359” \t “_blank” Black Public Media (formerly known as National Black Programming Consortium) and co-presented by distributor “https://sable.godaddy.com/c/61990?id=3861.103.1.35b7dcf4963ee8b9a4847bc696b2c8f6” \t “_blank” American Public Television (APT).
Marlene Cummins story, covered in Rachel Perkins’ Black Panther Woman, will be a part of the AfroPoP series.
The film chronicles the life of Marlene Cummins, who was an uneducated teenager in 1972 when she became involved with Australia’s Black Panther Party, joining with nine other young Aboriginal people in the Black Power struggle inspired by the American Black Panther party.
Over the course of a year, the group led protests and community programs and she began a relationship with the head of the chapter. But internal and external struggles arose, devastating her. To protect the movement, she remained silent for more than four decades about her own #MeToo moment, the rape she suffered at the hands of two indigenous leaders.
In Black Panther Woman, she opens up about the abuse and the addiction that followed. Cummins also travels to the United States for an international gathering of Black Panthers, reflecting on the global struggle. The film took the Jury Special Prize at the 2015 Festival du Film Océanien (FIFO) and the International Indigenous Award at the 2015 Wairoa Maori Film Festival.
“Marlene’s courage and commitment to making a difference in her community despite the abuse she suffered is an all-too-familiar story of women globally,” said BPM Director of Programs and Acquisitions and AfroPoP Executive Producer Kay Shaw. “We are so fortunate that she consented to tell her story with such honesty. As her openness is helping her recovery, we hope it will help other women confront their pain to begin their own healing.”
21-6-A still from Lonnie Holley: The Truth of the Dirt, about the noted visual artist and singer. The Marco Williams film is a part of the 10th season of AfroPop
The five-week series continues with Marco Williams’ Lonnie Holley: The Truth of the Dirt, Michael Fequiere’s Kojo and Jessica Beshir’s He Who Dances on Wood (January 22); Between 2 Shores(January 29), Mariette Monpierre’s gripping documentary about two Dominican women fighting to bring their children with them to their new lives in Guadeloupe, highlights a struggle faced by many immigrants today: family reunification; Ten Days in Africa (February 5), Regi Allen’s humorous and insightful look at his trip to West Africa to explore the differences and similarities between Africans and African-Americans, a special encore broadcast from the first year of AfroPoP; and Fatal Assistance (February 12), award-winning filmmaker Raoul Peck’s scathing indictment of global aid policies that failed Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake’s aftermath. Peck was a recent Oscar nominee for I Am Not Your Negro, which was funded in part by BPM.
Cristina Beato mulls the immigration issue troubling her family in Between 2 Shores by Mariette Monpierre, part of AfroPoP.
New episodes of the series will air weekly through February 12, with APT releasing the program to public television stations across the U.S. in February 2018. Films will also be streamed the day after their broadcast premiere on all station-branded PBS platforms, including HYPERLINK “http://worldchannel.org/” \t “_blank” worldchannel.org, PBS.org, and on PBS apps for iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast.
Jessica Beshir’s He Who Dances on Wood is part of the tenth anniversary season of AfroPoP: Tue Ultimate Cultural Exchange.
AfroPoP is produced by Angela Tucker and directed by Duana Butler with the generous support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts.
To find out more about the series, visit HYPERLINK “http://www.blackpublicmedia.org/” \t “_blank” www.blackpublicmedia.org. For viewing information, check local listings or HYPERLINK “http://www.aptonline.org/” \t “_blank” www.APTonline.org. For details about Black Panther Woman, visit Facebook (@blackpantherwomandocumentary).
About Nicholas L. Ashe
Nicholas L. Ashe stars as Micah West in the critically acclaimed OWN series Queen Sugar, directed by Ava DuVernay (Selma) and executive-produced by Oprah Winfrey. His harrowing performance in the current season has resulted in critical praise and attention from industry professionals and fans. Earlier he played Viola Davis’s son in the courtroom drama Custody, which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
Ashe made his acting debut at age 10 in the role of Young Simba in the national tour of The Lion King. Onstage, he is perhaps best known for his Lincoln Center debut opposite Marin Ireland in Abe Koogler’s world-premiere production of Kill Floor, receiving glowing reviews from the New York Times for his pivotal role. He also played the role of Junior in Manhattan Theatre Club’s critically acclaimed production of Choir Boy (directed by Trip Cullman), reprising the role at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
Ashe is also a talented vocalist, pianist and composer. Under the tutelage of renowned playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, he has developed original stories and music of his own. In 2015, he created a scholarship for young artists in his hometown of Freeport, Long Island. He collaborated with Cierra Glaude on a short film titled Last Looks, which had its world premiere at the 2017 Urbanworld Film Festival.
About Black Public Media
Black Public Media (BPM), formerly the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC), is committed to enriching our democracy by educating, enlightening, empowering and engaging the American public. The nonprofit supports diverse voices by developing, producing and distributing innovative media about the Black experience and by investing in visionary content makers. BPM provides quality content for public media outlets, including, among others, PBS and PBS.org and BlackPublicMedia.org, as well as other platforms, while training and mentoring the next generation of Black filmmakers. Founded in 1979, BPM produces the AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange documentary series and manages the 360 Incubator + Fund, a funding and training initiative designed to accelerate the production of important Black serial and interactive content.
About American Public Television
American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations. For more than 10 years, APT has annually distributed one-third or more of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. Founded in 1961, among its 250 new program titles per year, APT programs include prominent documentaries, performance, news and current affairs programs, dramas, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies. America’s Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, Cook’s Country, AfroPoP, Rick Steves’ Europe, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television, Front and Center, Doc Martin, Nightly Business Report, Midsomer Murders, A Place to Call Home, Lidia’s Kitchen, Globe Trekker, New Orleans Cooking with Kevin Belton, Simply Ming and P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home are a sampling of APT’s programs, considered some of the most popular on public television. APT licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. Entering its 13th year, Create®TV — featuring the best of public television’s lifestyle programming — is distributed by American Public Television. APT also distributes WORLD™, public television’s premier news, science and documentary channel. To find out more about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org.
About World Channel
The WORLD Channel delivers the best of public television’s nonfiction, news and documentary programming. The channel features original content by and about diverse communities to U.S. audiences through local public television stations and streaming online at HYPERLINK “http://worldchannel.org/” \t “_blank” worldchannel.org. WORLD reached 33.3 million unique viewers 18+ last year (52% adults 18-49) and over-indexes in key diversity demographics. WORLD is programmed by WGBH/Boston, in partnership with American Public Television and WNET/New York, and in association with PBS and National Educational Telecommunications Association. Major Funding for the WORLD Channel is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. For more information about The WORLD Channel, visit HYPERLINK “http://www.worldchannel.org/” \t “_blank” www.worldchannel.org.
Edited by Audrey J. Bernard
21-5-Kojo follows a New York City child prodigy drummer, part of AfroPoP’s tenth season.
AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange.
