As an Act of Protest

 will be showing on at the

  Anthology Film Archives 

located at 32 2^nd Avenue (corner of 2^nd St.) 

in Manhattan’s East Village.  

Tuesday, October 29^th, at 7:30PM 

Phone 212-505-5181 Suggested donations $4/$6/ $8

New York, New York – John Brown X Productions presents "As an Act of Protest", a new feature-film by New York guerilla first time filmmaker and theatre director Dennis Leroy Moore. Moore, 26 years old, wrote, directed and acted in this film which is more like a classical African-American Theatre piece rather than a conventional foray into narrative cinema. "As an Act of Protest" is fierce, intense, and visceral. Set in New York City, the story focuses on Cairo Medina, a young black actor, and his "rite-of-passage-station-of-the-cross" journey to escape the psychological torture of colonization by searching for ways to counter the effects of racism and police brutality before they destroy him. Moore’s "As an Act of Protest" introduces a new voice to the world of underground cinema, and it is a clear line in the sand, which demands the eradication of racism, and oppression in all forms. The film sheds light on the new generation of black American artists and the repressed rage of the Black male in particular, which he is seldom free to express.

In essence and heart, "As an Act of Protest" is a true hip-hop film in that it showcases some of the common attributes of true serious hip-hop music – bravado, righteousness, political consciousness, and the dreams of revolution. In this same vein a group of actors, non-actors, including the Last Poets, and a small crew, came together and dedicated themselves to make sure that this film would be completed. It is a harsh, fragmented movie that unfolds like a dream and is simultaneously intellectually challenging, and emotionally stimulating. It is not unlike a piece of music, a score of some kind – for it has a style all of its own, while at the same time remains true to the form of Tragedy. 

It is a menagerie of powerful scenes, "As an Act of Protest" made its world premiere at the Pan African Film Festival, L.A in February 2002. Ayuko Babu, founder and director of the Pan African Film Festival was impressed with the honesty of this film. In an interview with the Miami Herald, at the American Black Film Festival, Miami June 2002, Babu acknowledged "race is an unspoken issue in America today. (If you’re African-American) Nobody‘s affirming what you feel. For the white and nonwhite public, there’s no public education program for the white to understand what the nonwhite is going through. That’s why this film is important."

"As an Act of Protest" is a true American film in the sense that its writer and director, Moore, is a black man and its producer, Melissa Dymock, is a white woman. Together, they came together to explore the dynamics of the greatest social disease in the American canon: racism. In 1998, after completing a revival of "Blues For Mister Charlie" by James Baldwin with Moore at the National Black Theater in Harlem, Dymock, "felt that my own white folks are still not seeing that blacks, as a people, are still being victimized by the racist foundations of this country. Most people choose not to see the problems around us and I am proud that I produced a film that seeks to poke a hole through the phony ‘everything’s alright’ façade that we live in. An extreme film from an extreme artist in an extreme time which needs to be seen."

To be on our guest book-please write to THEOCT29VIPLIST@aol.com

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update 1 July 2008