The Price of Memory

Friday, August 18 @ 7:30pm
Film Screening:
The Price of Memory
By Karen Marks Mafundikwa
Free Event

Part of JACK's year-long Reparations365 series

Followed by a discussion with the filmmaker,
moderated by Carl Hancock Rux

As part of the year-long series Reparations365, JACK screens this 2014 documentary tracing the reparations lawsuit brought by a group of Jamaicans against Queen Elizabeth II during her 2002 visit for her Golden Jubilee Celebrations. The film follows Ras Lion a mystic Rasta farmer who petitioned the Queen, and Michael Lorne, an attorney who brought the lawsuit. Also shared are the stories of earlier Rastas who pursued reparations in the 1960s, and who undertook an historic mission to Africa to organize official repatriation. Filmed over a decade, the film captures a period during which the debate on reparations reaches Parliament in both Jamaica and the UK. The Price of Memory is a compelling exploration of the enduring legacies of slavery and the case for reparations.

Runtime: 83 minutes.
Food will be served.
FREE

Curated by Carl Hancock Rux.

TRAILER

Karen Marks Mafundikwa (Director/Producer/Writer/Editor) is a Jamaican filmmaker who previously produced and co-wrote the documentary feature film Shungu: The Resilience of a People, which follows the people of Zimbabwe during economic crisis and political stalemate. It garnered international broadcasts and has been screened on three continents including premieres at IDFA and BFI London Film Festival; winner of the prestigious Ousmane Sembene Award at Zanzibar Film Festival 2010 and Best Documentary, Kenya International Film Festival 2010. She has a BA in Broadcast Journalism from New York University and MSc in International Development from Tulane University School of Law.

Carl Hancock Rux (Co-Curator, Reparations365) is an award-winning poet, performer, playwright and novelist. He is the author of the novel, ASPHALT, the OBIE Award-winning play, TALK, and the Village Voice Literary prize-winning collection of poetry, PAGAN OPERETTA. Mr. Rux is the recipient of the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts Prize, and the Bessie Schomburg Award, NEA/TCG Playwright in Residence fellowship and the NEA Leadership Initiatives Meet the Composer Grant, among other awards.

Reparations365: From Memory To Movement is JACK's year-long series of performances, workshops and discussions around the topic of distributive justice for Black Americans. Launched in February 2017, the series consists of at least 20 public offerings featuring a convergence of scholars, artists and activists. Through the series, participants will discover multiple ways to engage with the topic, all with an intention of offering tangible take-ways for participants and a concrete movement forward.

The performances feature a host of artists in dance, theater and music exploring the topic of repairing racial injustice. The series also includes several community conversations, panel discussions and interactive workshops curated with the participation of our neighbors and members of the artistic and activist community in New York.

This series is made possible by a Humanities New York Action Grant, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and from many individual donors.