24th Oakland International Film Festival -Day 1 - Sep-9- Grand Lake 6:45 PM

BILL PATTERSON STORY (RT- 16:00 MIN - Q & A (5 min) COMPARSA- RT - 79 MIN - Q & A (5 min)- WAITING FOR APHRODITE RT - 6:36 MIN -Q & A (5 m)
About this Event

BILL PATTERSON STORY (RT- 16:00 MIN. / Q & A (5 min)
Director: Anthony Severo
Runtime: 00:15:57

This is the untold story of Bill Patterson, who dedicated seven decades to public service in Oakland and along the way mentored some of the greatest people who ever lived—Curt Flood, Bill Russell, Joe Morgan—champions who changed the world, even as forces worked to destroy the Black community he served.

COMPARSA- RT - 79 MIN / Q & A - (5 min)-
Director: Vickie Curtis, Doug Anderson

Comparsa fully immerses audiences in the intense world of Ciudad Peronia, Guatemala, where sisters Lesli and Lupe use art and performance to rally local youth and heal deep wounds. After 41 girls are killed in a State-run “Safe Home” and the government refuses to act, the sisters respond with a community comparsa—an exuberant street performance featuring towering puppets, fire-breathing stilt walkers, and thundering drums. With brave vulnerability, they expose a power structure that permits and commits violence against women, and they open up about surviving violence in their own home. Their youth movement takes to the streets, confronting corruption and reclaiming public space for women and girls. Rooting their efforts in joy and community care, they find healing for themselves along the way. Comparsa is built on a 15-year relationship between the subjects and the film team to offer a stirring portrait of sisterhood, peacebuilding, and the transformational power of art.
WAITING FOR APHRODITE ( RT - 6:36 MIN / Q & A (5 mim)

Director: Richard Stephen Bell

It’s after midnight, and Atticus Bates is not happy. In this tidy tale of a broken curfew, we find that family bonds are not always what they appear to be.