Reel Sisters Literary & Film Tribute to Moms
Featured Artists & Films!
Harlem Poet Layding Kaliba Reads “A Mother’s Song” & “In the Absence of God”
Artist
Layding Lumumba Kaliba is the author of six masterful books of poetry, including the soon to be published From Jump Street – A Burnt Offering. Layding was African Voices Magazine’s poetry editor for fifteen years. A board member of Cemotap, Inc., Layding was also Cemotap’s choice to replace the late, great poet George Edward Tait as Poet Laureate of Harlem. He is also co-founder of The Linyak Project, a cultural organization that promotes jazz, poetry and education programs. Layding has read his work at numerous colleges and radio stations across the nation.
Films
I Am Not OK
I Am Not Ok | Director: Gabrielle Lansner: A mother and son respond to the unending killings of black Americans. The lyrics of writer/activist Tiffiney Davis and master dancer Pat Hall pay tribute to George Floyd while calling for an end to violence against Black men.
My Mom, The Scientist (Work-in-progress)
My Mom, The Scientist (Work-in-Progress): Producer/director Thomas Allen Harris and his mom Rudean Leinaeng will discuss My Mom, The Scientist. She will read from “Coal, War & Love: A Novel.”
Souls
Souls, directed by Malakai, is a touching film about a young girl coming to terms with her grandmother’s declining health. Her 60-year-old grandmother is an ex-NASA scientist who develops Alzheimer’s.
Shantel Moses, Moderator
Shantel Moses is a Yale-educated, Brooklyn born actor and co-creator of That Blended Channel, which chronicles her life with her family; partner Kevin Ng and 8 year old son Kai Ng as they navigate the world as a Black and Chinese family in Brooklyn, New York. Her most rewarding role is that of mom to Kai—who is both her greatest gift and her greatest challenge.
Shantel’s been blissfully corporate-free since 2017 after over +25 years working in Marketing and Sales with companies like Kraft-Heinz, Target, Trader Joe’s, SC Johnson and Accenture. A self proclaimed citizen of the world, her most prized possession is her extended page passport. She has traveled, lived in or worked in over 43 countries and is fluent in both Italian and Spanish. Additionally, she ’s also the Director of Marketing for MOM Film Fest (www.momfilmfest.org) a 501(c)(3) non-profit that amplifies the voices of fellow mom creators in the film and television industry.
Thomas Allen Harris
Thomas Allen Harris is an award winning filmmaker and artist whose work across film, video, photography, and performance illuminates the human condition and the search for identity, family, and spirituality. In 2009, Harris founded Digital Diaspora Family Reunion, LLC (DDFR) a socially engaged transmedia project that has incorporated community organizing, performance, virtual gathering spaces, and storytelling into over 65 unique audio-visual events in over 75 cities. DDFR culminated in the national broadcast of Family Pictures USA on PBS, garnering an audience of over 5.3 million, which was critically received by the New York Times, the L.A. Times, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. He continues to speak and teach on the value of the family photo album as a tool for social change and is a Professor in the Practice at Yale University.
In 2021, Harris launched the Family Pictures Institute for Inclusive Storytelling to spread the work he has been engaged in over the past 10+ years and expand upon it through robust research, evaluation, scholarly discussion and artistic interpretation. The Institute is funded by The Ford Foundation, Heinz Endowments, the Wyncote Foundation and will be housed at Yale University.
I Am Not OK Cast & Team
Tiffiney Davis
Tiffiney Davis, is the Executive Director of the Red Hook Art Project, a non-profit organization that provides free visual art, music, academic and stress management instruction to children and youth who live in and around Red Hook, Brooklyn. She has dedicated her life to breaking barriers in the name of the arts and working tirelessly as a community activist.
Pat Hall
Pat Hall is an internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer and teacher. Her work and teaching style is most influenced by African, Caribbean, and contemporary American dance. She has performed and taught on four continents and has collaborated with Gabrielle on many projects including, “River Deep, a Tribute Tina Turner,” in which she portrayed Tina Turner.
Felicidades a todos por sus esfuerzo 💪 👏que sigan drindando sus conocimientos a toda la comunidad mil gracias