Cane River Virtual Rental
in partnership with MFAH's exhibition of Soul of a Nation
with virtual Q&A with Sacha Jenkins and Bun B
Houston Cinema Arts Society is partnering with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for a special virtual engagement of Cane River in conjunction with the MFAH's new exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. Cane River will play via MFAH's virtual cinema from July 22nd- August 30th accompanied by an online conversation with Sacha Jenkins (son of the film's late director Horace Jenkins and director of Fresh Dressed and Wu Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men) and Bun B on HCAS YouTube Channel on Tuesday, July 28th at 7pm CST. You can watch the Q&A here. This program is supported by funding from Humanities Texas and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the federal CARES Act.
Soul of a Nation is on view in Houston from June 27th through August 30th as the final presentation of the three-year tour. The exhibition explores what it meant to be a Black artist in America during two revolutionary decades, from the 1960s and the Civil Rights movement to the early 1980s and the emergence of identity politics. The story unfolds in thematic sections with a special emphasis on aligned groups in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and another focus on the work of artist Betye Saar. Among the many other artists featured are Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Roy DeCarava, David Hammons, Lorraine O’Grady, and Faith Ringgold.
Written, produced, and directed by Emmy Award-winning documentarian, Horace B. Jenkins, and crafted by an entirely African American cast and crew, Cane River is a racially-charged love story in Natchitoches Parish, a “free community of color” in Louisiana. A budding, forbidden romance lays bare the tensions between two black communities, both descended from slaves but of disparate opportunity — the light-skinned, property-owning Creoles and the darker-skinned, more disenfranchised families of the area.
This lyrical, visionary film disappeared for decades after Jenkins died suddenly following the film’s completion, robbing generations of a talented, vibrant new voice in African American cinema.
| Country, Year | United States, 1982 |
|---|---|
| Director | Horace B. Jenkins |
| Writer | Horace B. Jenkins |
| Cast | Tommye Myrick and Richard Romain |
| Producer | Horace B. Jenkins |
| Language | English |
| Runtime | 104 MINS, SECS |
| Subject | Film |
| Event Type | Film |
Special Guests
Sacha Jenkins
Sacha Jenkins is a New York–based, Emmy Award-nominated filmmaker who likes to take long, barefoot walks on the beach. Television producer, filmmaker, writer, musician, artist, curator, and chronicler of hip-hop, graffiti, punk, and metal cultures, Jenkins has directed the critically acclaimed Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (2019), Word is Bond (2018), and Burn Motherfucker, Burn! (2017), and Fresh Dressed (2015). While still in his teens, Jenkins published Graphic Scenes & X-Plicit Language, one of the earliest 'zines solely dedicated to graffiti art.
Bun B
It’s been well over 25 years since Bernard Freeman—known better to the world as Bun B—changed the hip-hop landscape as one half of the legendary UGK alongside the late Pimp C. In 2006 Bun B won an ASCAP Award for Top R&B/Hip Hop Song for his writing and performance on the single “Give Me That” and also holds an MTV Music Award for Best R&B Video for Beyonce’s “Check On It”. His third solo album, 2010’s Trill O.G. was met with critical acclaim. By 2013, he would release his last project before his musical break, The Epilogue. As a professor of Theology at Houston’s Rice University, Bun along with Professor Anthony Pinn led a course about Religion and Hip-Hop Culture. In August 2018, Bun B delivered Return of the Trill, a full length effort produced by Big K.R.I.T.. From selling millions of albums to Grammy nominations, changing academia, publishing, sneaker, food, and car culture, plus philanthropy, there isn’t much that Bun B hasn’t done. Bun B is also a board member of the Houston Cinema Arts Society.