Stories in Action

Interested in the history of Los Angeles? William Beverly, of Eighth and Wall, an organization dedicated to preserving the history of the African American community of Los Angeles, e-mailed us that “The Eastsiders,” the Council-supported documentary film he helped produce celebrating the Eastside of Los Angeles from 1920 to 1965, will be screened at the upcoming Pan African Film and Arts Festival on Sunday, February 8 and Monday, February 9. The largest black film festival in the United States, the PAFF features films from around the world and runs from Thursday, February 5 through Monday, February 16 at the Culver Plaza Theatre in Culver City.

The exhibit “Polk Street: Lives in Transition” examines the history of Polk Street in San Francisco through the lens of current neighborhood change, focusing on the 1980s to the present. It asks: what does it mean for San Francisco’s identity as a “safe haven,” and for its queer sociability and politics, that Polk Street’s economy and culture is changing so dramatically? The exhibit opens this Thursday, January 15, at the GLBT Historical Society, 657 Mission Street. Talk by historian Susan Stryker at 5:30, with reception to follow. Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society, 657 Mission St. More.

More good news about “Going on 13,” the California Documentary Project film about four San Francisco Bay Area girls and their journey to womanhood. The film, which has been screened at a number of film festivals, has been awarded a Cine Golden Eagle Award in the People & Places category. Congratulations to the filmmaking duo of Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Dawn Valadez, who spent four years on the project. The film’s next screening — its Central Valley premiere — will be at the San Joaquin Children’s Film Festival on January 18 (6 pm at the Stockton Empire Theater). A DVD of the film is available at the “Going on 13” website.

This just in: “Inventing Los Angeles: The Chandlers and their Times,” Peter Joneses’ film about the history of the Los Angeles Times and the emergence of modern day Los Angeles, will premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on January 24. The film, funded by the Council under the California Documentary Project, is organized into four parts, with a segment on each of the Otis and Chandler family publishers. If you can’t make the screening, the film will be coming to PBS in late summer.