Are you ready for one intense Cinema Dissection? Join our class in discussing Spike Lee’s BAMBOOZLED. Let’s engage with his controversial commentary on the historical and modern implications of minstrelsy. We will examine the film scene-by-scene with filmmaker and scholar Sharon Williams, along with audience observations.

In 2000, Bamboozled hit like a bolt of lightning. Spike Lee’s provocative portrait of a black TV creative producer who decides to commit career suicide by proposing the most offensive show he can imagine, The New Millenium Minstrel Show. His producer bites the hook and much to his dismay, the blackface TV program turns into a ethically-horrifying mega hit with the public. Intimately shot on digital video, Lee has crafted a film that feels as urgent as it’s commentary. Come explore the bold choices in cinematography, especially the color palette, editing, Terence Blanchard’s beautiful and heartbreaking score, and the strong philosophical / ethical perspective that implicates all in the degradation of the black image in entertainment.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Sharon Nyree Williams is a storyteller and arts administrator. She is the Executive Director for the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas. They present, produce and develop multidisciplinary work by Black artists and provide access for courageous conversations to diverse audiences. Sharon is the founder of The Mahogany Project a theatre arts collaborative that focuses on allowing Black artists an opportunity to share their voice. She also serves on the Seattle Arts Commission, Board of Trustee for Cornish College of the Arts, Langston Board of Directors, FEED Worldwide Advisory Board, Adult Advisory Committee for Creative Justice and proud member of the 2009 Seattle University Master of Fine Arts in Arts Leadership graduate. Sharon is also proud to be a graduate of the Historical Black College and University, Delaware State University with two degrees Bachelors of Arts in Television Production and a Masters of Business Administration.

As an artist Sharon has produced short films, Swipe, What About Us and From the Heart. She’s written and performed solo performance pieces Plight: I am my brother’s keeper and Circles of Life. Sharon has produced two poetry plus storytelling albums Humanity and for her sophomore album The Consciousness of Love she was a recipient of the 2014-2015 Jack Straw Cultural Center’s Artist Support Fellowship. She is currently working on her third album, Shook in which she plans to release in 2018.

ABOUT CINEMA DISSECTION
Cinema Dissection affords film lovers an exciting opportunity to dig deeper into the films that they love. Inspired by Roger Ebert’s annual Cinema Interruptus in Boulder, CO, attendees will participate with a facilitator in a six-hour scene-by-scene, and sometimes shot-by-shot, deconstruction of the featured film. While the facilitator will certainly share their thoughts, anyone in the audience may call out “Stop” and either ask a question of the group or make an observation around a certain shot or moment in the film.