Karamu House: Summer Film Series

Additional time info:

• Do The Right The Thing (1989) | July 1st at 6pm
  • Salvatore “Sal” Fragione (Danny Aiello) is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria’s Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin’ Out believes a pizzeria in a Black neighborhood should showcase Black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin’ Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
  • Starring Lee and Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson, and is the feature film debut of Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez.
  • Followed by a panel discussion. Panelist will be announced soon!

• Mo’ Better Blues (1990) | July 15th at 6pm
  • Financially irresponsible Giant (Spike Lee) manages a jazz group, but his sax player, Shadow (Wesley Snipes), wants to replace him with a better businessman. Bleak (Denzel Washington), the band’s trumpeter, then tries to defend his close pal Giant, leading to a power struggle between the two musicians. Meanwhile, as Bleak tries to straighten things out with his band mates and manager, he also must choose to be with either sweet teacher Indigo (Joie Lee) or sultry singer Clarke (Cynda Williams).
  • Starring Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Spike Lee, who also directed.
  • Followed by a special musical performance. Musical guests to be announced soon!

• School Daze (1988) | July 29th at 6pm
  • At historically black Mission College, the activist-minded Dap (Larry Fishburne) immerses himself in a world of political rhetoric and social movements — one day he hopes to rally the students as a united front. At the other end of the spectrum, Julian (Giancarlo Esposito), the head of the biggest fraternity on campus, is more concerned with maintaining a strict social order. In between, Dap’s conflicted cousin, Half-Pint (Spike Lee), spends most of his time rushing the fraternity.
  • Starring Larry Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell-Martin.
  • Followed by a special performance and panel discussion with members of historically Black greek organizations. Guests announced soon!

Matinee Showings:

• The Green Pastures (1936) | July 8th at 1pm
  • A preacher in a small African-American church in Louisiana tells his Sunday school class stories from the Bible as if the characters were part of a local fish fry. He starts with the creation of the world by God, known as “De Lawd” (Rex Ingram), and tells how God went on to create heaven, which is just like their farmland, and then created man and woman, followed by their fall and finally the coming of Jesus Christ. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

• Claudine (1975) | July 22nd at 1pm
  • Claudine (Diahann Carroll) is a single mother in New York City who endures an exhausting commute to the suburbs where she works as a maid for wealthy families. In one carefully tended white community, she meets Roop (James Earl Jones), a charismatic but irresponsible garbage collector. Romance quickly ensues, but Claudine doubts that their relationship is good for her six children, and Rupert, despite his good nature, is reluctant to take on fatherhood.