Past Event

May 19 | 7:00 pm

StonebreakersA Program of ROXFILM 2023

70 min / Directed by Valerio Ciriaci

Presented in collaboration with

Shared Stories is a collaboration of BAAFF, RoxFilm and CineFest Latino Boston.

“Stonebreakers” chronicles the conflicts around monuments that arose in the United States during the George Floyd protests and the 2020 presidential election. As statues of Columbus, Confederates and Founding Fathers fall from their pedestals, the nation’s triumphalist myths are called into question. By exploring the shifting landscapes of American monumentality, the film interrogates the link between history and political action in a nation that must confront its past now more urgently than ever.

Info

Venue

Emerson Paramount Center
Bright Family Screening Room
559 Washington St
Boston, MA 02111

Dates

May 19, 2023 | 7:00 pm

Post Film Q&A

Join us for a post-film conversation with

Tran Vu, Artist & Cultural Organizer

Karin Goodfellow, Director of Public Art

Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, Boston

Elizabeth Tiblanc, Deputy Director, Programs/Embrace Boston

Isaak J. Liptzin, Producer and Cinematographer, Stonebreakers

Curtis John, Producer, Stonebreakers

Lisa Simmons, Moderator; Artistic Director, Roxbury International Film Festival

Details

70 minutes

$15

View Health Information

Masks are Strongly Encouraged.

Content Warning: Some strong language.

Tickets

Artists

Presented by

Co presented by

Valerio Ciriaci, Director

Originally from Rome, Valerio moved to New York City in 2011 to attend the New York Film Academy. In 2013 he co-founded Awen Films, with which he has directed independent documentaries, news and editorial videos, and other audiovisual projects. “Stonebreakers” is his third feature film after “If Only I Were That Warrior” (‘Imperdibili’ prize at Festival dei Popoli and Globo d’Oro 2016) and “Mister Wonderland” (‘Il Cinemino’ prize at Festival dei Popoli).

Post Film Q&A

Isaak J. Liptzin, Producer/Cinematographer

In 2012, Izaak co-founded the documentary production company Awen Films with film director Valerio Ciriaci. Under the umbrella of Awen Films, Isaak has worked extensively as producer and cinematographer on topics in news, culture, sports, and fashion for clients including MSNBC, AJ+, Centro Primo Levi, New York University, and the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. He has collaborated closely with Valerio Ciriaci on all his documentary films, including “If Only I Were That Warrior” (2016 Italian Golden Globe for best documentary), “Mister Wonderland” (broadcast on Connecticut Public TV and PBS in 2020), and “Stonebreakers,” (Honorable Mention for best feature, Audience Award, and ‘Imperdibili’ award at Festival dei Popoli in 2022). As an independent producer, Isaak covered the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns for Italian national broadcaster Rai, and oversaw the creation of the Netflix Originals series “First Team: Juventus” for Endeavor Content.

Curtis John, Producer

Curtis Caesar John is a filmmaker, arts manager, and artist advocate. He believes in cinema as one of the most powerful means of sharing life’s stories and furthering our understanding of one another, even within our own cultures. Curtis is currently a producer on STONEBREAKERS, a new documentary on the fight over United States monuments, centering on a tumultuous 2020. As a filmmaker, his work has been shown internationally at film festivals as well as on various internet & streaming channels. He most recently served as a producer on the documentary “BlaxploItalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema” and is working on a film about Dorothy Dandridge. In the exhibition world, he is the founder of The Luminal Theater, a nomadic microcinema that showcases the work of independent filmmakers from the Black/African diaspora through community-based and art house film screenings, intentionally making these films and filmmakers fully accessible to Black communities.

Tran Vu, Artist/Cultural Organizer

Ngoc-Tran Vu (she/her) is a 1.5-generation Vietnamese-American multimedia artist and organizer whose socially engaged practice draws from her experience as a cultural strategist, educator, and lightworker. Tran threads her social practice through painting, photography, sculpture, and audio so that her art can resonate and engage audiences with intentionality. Her work evokes discourse of familial ties, memories and rituals amongst themes of social justice, healing and intersectionality. Tran works across borders and is based in Boston’s Dorchester community. www.tranvuarts.com | @TranVuArts

Karin Goodfellow, Director of Public Art
Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture, Boston

Karin Goodfellow (she, her, hers) is the Director of Public Art and the Artist-in-Residence Program in the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, as well as the director of the Boston Art Commission. She builds and directs new policies, processes, and practices related to art, public systems, and community. She works with artists and other community members on the creation of public memorials, murals, sculptures, and social practice projects that reflect the diversity and cultural values of the people, ideas, histories, and futures of Boston.

Elizabeth Tiblanc, Deputy Director, Programs/Embrace Boston

Elizabeth is an Afro-Latina who comes to Embrace Boston with roots in arts and education. She holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and a MEd in Education Policy and Leadership from American University. While working as an artist educator, she collaborated with Boston school communities to develop programming that places arts and culture representative of students’ racial diversity at the center of education. She is dedicated to shifting cultural norms of oppression penetrating communities across generations. She finds joy in cooking and feeding as an act of love and serves her community locally as well as in her parents’ home island of Puerto Rico.

Lisa Simmons, Moderator

Lisa Simmons is the Artistic Director of the Roxbury International Film Festival
(RoxFilm) whose mission is to screen films that celebrate people of color around the world and use film as a catalyst for conversation and action while supporting
filmmakers who are creating media aligned with the mission. The Festival, now in its 25th year, has screened over 1300 films and produces two screening series: Shared Stories Film Series, using film to show that we are more alike than we are different, with Cinefest Latino Boston and the Boston Asian American Film Festival and the Healing Arts Film & Conversation Series, with the Wellness Collaborative, Inc., using films focused on the health and well being of Black and Brown communities to raise awareness and spark dialogue. Ms. Simmons has also produced theater and film in the Boston area and has published and presented about the WPA’s Negro Theater Project that existed between 1935-1939 in Boston, MA. Ms. Simmons is the Program Manager for the Communities Initiative at the Mass Cultural Council overseeing the administration and grant funding for the Local Cultural Council Program, Cultural Districts and the Festivals Program. She is the recipient of several awards including: GK Top 100 Influential People of Color, Image Award from Women in Film New England, Diversity award from Our Place Theater Project, Leadership award from the Urban League Guild of Eastern Massachusetts, The President’s Award for Leadership from Dimock Community Health Center and the Community Award from Boston Arts Academy. She was an advisory member of The Deena Larson Exhibition presented at the ICA and is an advisory board member of The Loop Lab and former board member of Mass Humanities.

Gallery

About

Shared Stories is a monthly film series that seeks to build community, shared conversation, and experiences through cinema. This series aspires to create a shared space to find commonality across experiences, and encourage the exchange of stories and ideas. Presented by ArtsEmerson in collaboration with the Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF), CineFest Latino Boston, and the Roxbury International Film Festival (RoxFilm).

The Roxbury International Film Festival (ROXFILM) is the largest festival in New England celebrating people of color around the world. Over nine days, the festival presents narrative and documentary features, shorts, animation, experimental, and youth films. The festival holds workshops, panel discussions, discussions with filmmakers, and networking opportunities. ROXFILM is a competitive festival.

Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF) empowers Asian Americans through film by showcasing Asian American experiences and serving as a resource to filmmakers and the Greater Boston Community. BAAFF is a co-production of the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) and ArtsEmerson.

CineFest Latino Boston is committed to using the power of film to break stereotypes, bring cultures and communities together and reveal the complex issues affecting the Latinx community in the United States, as well as communities in Latin America and Spain.

May 19 | 7:00 pm

StonebreakersA Program of ROXFILM 2023

Presented in collaboration with

Info

Venue

Dates

May 19, 2023 | 7:00 pm

Post Film Q&A

Details

70 minutes

$15

View Health Information

Tickets

Artists

Presented by

Co presented by

Valerio Ciriaci, Director

Post Film Q&A

Isaak J. Liptzin, Producer/Cinematographer

Curtis John, Producer

Tran Vu, Artist/Cultural Organizer

Karin Goodfellow, Director of Public Art
Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture, Boston

Elizabeth Tiblanc, Deputy Director, Programs/Embrace Boston

Lisa Simmons, Moderator

Gallery

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May 19 | 7:00 pm

StonebreakersA Program of ROXFILM 2023

Presented in collaboration with

Info

Venue

Dates

May 19, 2023 | 7:00 pm

Post Film Q&A

Details

70 minutes

$15

View Health Information

Tickets

Artists

Presented by <img decoding="async" style="width: 20%" src="https://artsemerson.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/logo.svg" alt="ArtsEmerson Logo" /><img decoding="async" style="width: 17%" src="https://artsemerson.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ROX-film-logo.jpeg" alt="Roxbury Film Festival Logo" />

Co presented by

Valerio Ciriaci, Director

Post Film Q&A

Isaak J. Liptzin, Producer/Cinematographer

Curtis John, Producer

Tran Vu, Artist/Cultural Organizer

Karin Goodfellow, Director of Public ArtMayor's Office of Arts & Culture, Boston

Elizabeth Tiblanc, Deputy Director, Programs/Embrace Boston

Lisa Simmons, Moderator

Gallery

About

Presented by

Karin Goodfellow, Director of Public Art
Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture, Boston