The 5th Annual LightReel Film Festival released most of its slate for this year’s festival including announcing its opening night film. The festival will open with the upcoming KiKi Layne feature, DANDELION, a romantic drama where she plays a struggling singer/songwriter searching for her “voice.”

The opening night film event will be the first in a long line of special “gala” events that include a film by Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone, QUANTUM COWBOYS, Dianne Houston’s documentary, FREEDOM HAIR, and several festival circuit favorites, the heart-wrenching drama from India, YELLOW BUS and the poignant US drama, AFRICAN GIANTS.

LightReel will salute the work of iconic director Spike Lee by screening his most beloved movie, DO THE RIGHT THING. The 35th anniversary of DO THE RIGHT THING will be one of two Centerpiece films of the festival shown on Friday night.

The 40th Anniversary celebration of the classic Prince rock drama, PURPLE RAIN will be held during the festival’s first-ever community film event. The event will be a free screening held at the festival site, the Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at 7:30 pm.

“We are thrilled to be returning to Washington, DC this year and to present our festival live once again. DC is known for its vibrant music scene, and we’re excited to showcase a lineup of films that will resonate with our audience and get them moving to the beat,” said festival director and founder Tim Gordon. “And having the talented KiKi Layne join us is the icing on the cake. Her presence adds an extra layer of excitement and star power to the festival.”

Officially, the LightReel Film Festival is not designated as an international film festival but as the tradition continues, LightReel will feature thirteen films from ten different countries including Japan, Kenya, Jamaica, South Africa, and the United Kingdom to name a few.

In addition to having the new community film event, LightReel’s schedule will feature a “secret” film, eight gala events, and a yet-to-be-announced closing night film. The LightReel Film Festival will be held at the Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market from June 5-8, 2024. The slate passes, tickets and more information about the festival can be found at: www.lightreelfilm.com

NARRATIVE FEATURES

A Little Family Drama

A Mexican American family, whose lives revolve around their legendary restaurant, prepares for their annual family reunion dinner oblivious to the fact that a shattered taco truck dream is about to change everything.

USA | 85 min
Director: Nadia Zoe
Writer: Nadia Zoe, Ramón Torres
Producer: Nadia Zoe, Ramón Torres, Michael Karp
Cast: Jeff Meacham, Alma Martinez, Romi Dias, Diana Torres

African Giants

Over a weekend visit in Los Angeles, two first-generation Sierra Leonean American brothers navigate the changing dynamics of brotherhood after a surprise announcement.

USA | 106 min
Director: Omar Kamara
Writer: Omar Kamara
Producer: Omar Kamara, Leo Blumberg-Woll, Jordan Vernon Tyner
Cast: Dillon Daniel Mutyaba, Omete Anassi, Tanyell Waivers

Behind Closed Doors

This is the story of a young woman, Amani, from the countryside of Jamaica, who is given the unlikely opportunity to move to Kingston to attend law school. However, she soon learns nothing in life is free.

USA | 111 min
Director: Mark Anthony Deacon
Writer: Tachelle Ferron
Producer: Orville Matherson
Cast: Shevrado Oliver, Darron Donaldson

End of Trip – Sahara

Step back in time to the vibrant 1970s, when two young Spanish adventurers, Javier and Rafa, venture into the Sahara Desert, driven by a hunger for thrilling escapades and the yearning for an unforgettable journey.

Spain | 128 min
Director: Antonio Rodriguez Cabal
Writer: Antonio Rodriguez Cabal
Producer: Antonio Rodriguez Cabal, Maria Rodriguez Palao
Cast: Antonio Junco, Maru Valdivielso, Enrique Simon, Luis Hostalot, Pep Corominas

Freedom Hair

Based on the inspiring, true story of Melony Armstrong, a mother who works at a shelter for battered women decides to start a natural hair braiding business to achieve financial independence for herself and others.

USA | 97 min
Director: Dianne Houston
Writer: Dianne Houston
Producer: Rob Pfaltzgraff, Lana Link, Stacey Parks
Cast: Simona Brown, Sophia Bush, Erica Tazel, Jeremie Harris, Sharon Conley

Old Righteous Blues

A young man is forced to confront his limitations, face the ghosts of the past, and rise above establishment constraints to unite a fractured community and realize his life-long dream of leading his town’s Christmas Choir Band (Kerskoor) to its former glory.

South Africa | 99 min
Director: Muneera Sallies
Writer: Carol Shore
Producer: Dumi Gumbi, Catharina Weinek, Carol Shore
Cast: Ayden Croy, Euodia Samson, Stefan Erasmus

Penitentia

Alejandro ‘Ale’ Villacaño is a young associate lawyer who has landed a job at a prestigious law firm. Ensnared in a case rife with corruption, corporate negligence, and abuse of power, Ale must decide what kind of lawyer he is meant to be.

USA | 99 min
Director: Chris Robert Lawing
Writer: Chris Robert Lawing
Producer: Chris Robert Lawing, Natasha Coppola-Shalom
Cast: Glenn Stanton, Rusty Schwimmer

Quantum Cowboys

Two hapless drifters, Frank and Bruno, team up with Linde to recover her land and trek across 1870s Southern Arizona to find an elusive frontier musician.

USA | 99 min
Director: Geoff Marslett
Writer: Geoff Marslett, Howe Gelb
Producer: Melodie Sisk, Bill Way
Cast: Lily Gladstone, Kiowa Gordon, John Way, David Arquette

Yellow Bus

In the sweltering Arabian Gulf heat, Ananda’s dreams of a better life than the one she left behind in India are shattered after her child is forgotten on a school bus. Armed with the dead child’s ashes, she stands up against society’s ‘invisible’ caste, demanding accountability and refusing the customary blood money.

India | 112 min
Director: Wendy Bednarz
Writer: Wendy Bednarz
Producer: Guneet Monga, Achin Jain, Nadia Eliewat
Cast: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Kinda Alloush, Amit Sial, Aarushi Laud

DOCUMENTARIES

Becoming Black

In the 1960s, a white couple living in East Germany tells their dark-skinned child that her skin color is merely a coincidence. As a teenager, she accidentally discovers the truth. What sounds like fieldwork about social dislocation becomes an autobiographical essay film and a reflection on themes such as identity, social norms, and family ties, viewed from a very personal perspective.

Germany | 91 min
Director: Ines Johnson-Spain
Producer: Anahita Nazemi

Decoupling

The film ‘Decoupling’ is the story of a “Chinese” father as he navigates the breakdown of relations between China and the US and what that means for his own family.

China | 64 min
Director: Yinan Wang
Producer: Yinan Wang

Demon Mineral

DEMON MINERAL documents the indigenous struggle for vital living space in the radioactive desert of the American Southwest.

USA | 88 min
Director: Hadley Austin
Producer: Nevo Shinaar, Emma Robbins

Get On The Bus!

In May of 2022 on the James Taylor Justice Coalition’s second Justice Day event, participants collected a sample of soil from the site where Mr. Taylor was hanged. A busload of over 50 youth and adults left Chestertown, MD in the wee hours of August 25 to transport that soil sample to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery.

USA | 68 min
Director: Justinian Dispenza
Producer: Phil Dutton, Tanner Presswood

gOD-Talk

gOD-Talk explores the lives of seven Black Millennials—Atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, African Traditional Religion, and Spiritualist—and the challenges and discoveries they have with faith in the 21st century.

USA | 117 min
Director: Kim Moir
Producer: Teddy Reeves, Kim Moir

Ray of Hope

The 26-year armed conflict in Sri Lanka compelled numerous Eelam Tamils to seek refuge in foreign nations, notably in Canada. “Ray of Hope” delves into the intricate aftermath of trauma within a community that is now breaking its silence, aiming to attain justice for the multitude who have gone missing or perished.

USA | 90 min
Director: Ryan Singh
Producer: Patricia Scarlett, Nikila Cole

Rigged

The recent U.S. college admissions scandal is not merely an aberration in an otherwise virtuous system. It lays bare a US higher education culture in which wealth and influence remain the predominant values. RIGGED examines how this obsolete value system favoring wealth in our higher education system increases the disparity between rich and poor and thereby undermines the future of American Democracy.

USA | 80 min
Director: Matt Zodrow
Producer: Matt Zodrow

Rising Hope

The documentary explores issues surrounding the state’s historically oppressive policies towards Black Mississippians, the massive employment loss following NAFTA, and the devastating effects of defunding public education for consecutive generations

USA | 104 min
Director: Theo Avgerinos
Producer: Theo Avgerinos

The Blues Society

In the segregated Memphis of the 1960s, blues masters and beatniks created a music festival that rocked the foundations of a conservative world.

USA | 78 min
Director: Augusta Palmer
Producer: Augusta Palmer

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About The Author

Dean Rogers

Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter

I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!

My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.

Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.

As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.

All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.

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