Apollo Film Presents ImageNation’s Cocktails and Sol Cinema: It’s Different In Chicago
MEDIA ADVISORYApollo Film Presents
ImageNation’s Cocktails and Sol Cinema:
It’s Different In Chicago
Film screening to be followed by a conversation
with curator Moikgantsi Kgama of Image
Nationand filmmaker David Weathersby
WHAT: On Thursday, May 26 at 7:00pm ET, the Apollo Theater and ImageNation presents a film screening of It’s Different In Chicago as part of ImageNation’s Cocktails and Sol Cinema on the Apollo’s Soundstage.
The film highlights the city, known by many as the birthplace of house music as well as an incubator for hip-hop hitmakers. It’s Different In Chicago tells the story of how these music genres and the cultures around their communities have complemented and competed with each other, leading to deep revelations about the different segments within the Black community of Chicago.
This homegrown ode to the Chicago music scene will be preceded by a cocktail reception featuring DJ Stormin Norman, and followed by a discussion between curator Moikgantsi Kgama of ImageNation and filmmaker David Weathersby.
WHERE: Apollo’s Soundstage (253 W 125th St, New York, NY 10027)
WHEN: May 26. Reception: 6:00pm ET. Film Screening: 7:00pm ET.
TICKETS: $25 (includes one free cocktail and light bites). For more information visit www.ApolloTheater.org.
Please contact the Apollo Box office at access@apollotheater.org or (212) 531-5305 if any other special assistance is required for your visit.
ABOUT THE APOLLO THEATER
The legendary Apollo Theater—the soul of American culture—plays a vital role in cultivating emerging artists and launching legends. Since its founding, the Apollo has served as a center of innovation and a creative catalyst for Harlem, the city of New York, and the world. With music at its core, the Apollo’s programming extends to dance, theater, spoken word, and more. This includes the world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me and the New York premiere of the opera We Shall Not Be Moved; special programs such as the blockbuster concert Bruno Mars Live at the Apollo; 100: The Apollo Celebrates Ella; and the annual Africa Now! Festival. The non-profit Apollo Theater is aperforming arts presenter, commissioner, and collaborator that also produces festivals, large- scale dance and musical works organized around a set of core initiatives that celebrate and extend the Apollo’s legacy through a contemporary lens, including the Women of the World (WOW) Festival as well as other multidisciplinary collaborations with partner organizations. Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo has served as a testing ground for new artists working across a variety of art forms and has ushered in the emergence of many new musical genres—including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Among the countless legendary performers who launched their careers at the Apollo are Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, H.E.R., D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Machine Gun Kelly, and Miri Ben Ari; and the Apollo’s forward-looking artistic vision continues to build on this legacy. For more information about the Apollo, visit www.ApolloTheater.org.
ABOUT IMAGENATION
ImageNation Cinema Foundation is an innovative Harlem-based non-profit created to develop cinemas and audiences for independent films and music, that depict the global Black experience. ImageNation’s goal is to empower Black communities by presenting a variety of public programs that foster media equity, media literacy, solidarity, cross-cultural exchange and highlight the humanity of Pan-African people worldwide. ImageNation has presented internationally in South Africa, Scotland and Canada; and domestically at Harvard University, MASS MOCA, Lincoln Center and in Dallas, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Baltimore, MD, Chicago, Ill, Indianapolis, IN, and Washington DC. Programs have featured appearances by luminaries such as Spike Lee, Lee Daniels, Ava DuVernay, Stanley Nelson, Ruby Dee, Erykah Badu, Chuck D, Raoul Peck, India.
Arie and many others. ImageNation is a founding partner in AFFRM, a national film distribution collective, founded by Ava DuVernay.
###
For more information, please contact:
Sydney Edwards
Public Relations Manager press@apollotheater.org
###
About The Apollo
The Apollo is an American cultural treasure. It is a vibrant non-profit organization rooted in the Harlem community that engages people from around New York, the nation, and the world. Since 1934, The Apollo has celebrated, created, and presented work that centers Black artists and voices from across the African Diaspora. It has also been a catalyst for social and civic advocacy. Today, The Apollo is the largest performing arts institution committed to Black culture and creativity.
The Apollo is a commissioner and presenter; catalyst for new artists, audiences, and creative workforce; and partner in the projection of the African American narrative and its role in the development of American and global culture.
The Apollo envisions a new American canon centered on contributions to the performing arts by artists of the African diaspora, in America and beyond.
