The third annual Toronto Black Film Festival, presented by Global News, closes its 2015 edition on February 15th, with a special double-event Blaxploitation Party! First up, a mix of film clips and trailers assembled by DJ XL5, then it’s straight to the dance floor for the hottest sounds in town! DJ XL5’S Blaxploitation Flix Mix Party premiered in summer 2014 in front of a sold-out audience at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, presented in collaboration with the Montreal International Black Film Festival. To celebrate Black History Month, the Toronto Black Film Festival is now bringing DJ XL5’S tribute to Black American cinema of the ’70s to Toronto, and will officially present its encore screening in Montreal on February 26th.
Blaxploitation is a film genre that exploded in the United States in the 1970s. The productions featured memorable funk/soul soundtracks, as well as primarily black casts. Whether you’re looking for attitude, men getting tired of the Man, strong and charismatic women, exploding cars and furious fistfights, far-out fashion of the era, or blasts of black nationalism, you’ll find plenty of all those elements in DJ XL5’S Blaxploitation Flix Mix Party! It’s an over-the-top, packed-to-bursting bounty of cinematic fun, and the ideal introduction to a film genre that deserves the recognition.
Laborious preparation demanded the viewing of almost 200 feature films, of which 60 met the standards for the XL5 supercut. This film collage surveys the seismic impact of the genre on popular culture, still felt today in the contemporary cinema of the hip-hop scene. Presenting its material in chronological order, DJ XL5’S Blaxploitation Flix Mix Party showcases the genre from its earliest moments to its final stages. It celebrates the mythic characters and the craftspeople who brought them to life on often tiny budgets. The mix of film clips and trailers dives into the heart of a vibrant culture, to the strains of truly memorable and amazing soundtracks. Whether the directors were black or white, Blaxploitation films of the 1970s spotlighted potent, iconic heroes, and their sensibilities were present across genres — the Western, the police drama, the gangster film, horror, prison flicks, biker movies, the biopic, sports dramas, martial arts, musical documentary, and comedy. Pimps, dealers, gangsters, and prostitutes prowl though the frames of these movies, which also provided a solid soapbox for political voices and social concerns, and salute the proud and the free. Tough protagonists standing up to “the Man” and against blind authority, corruption, drug trafficking, societal decay, organized crime, and racism. Many of the films capture the struggles of a community in a time of emancipation.
About DJ XL5:
DJ XL5 is a Montreal-based multimedia artist and collagist whose works have traveled across Canada, the States, and Europe, to film festivals, repertory cinemas, and other special events. Since 2003, DJ XL5 created 14 thematic events, 12 short-film programs, 8 commissioned works, 3 multimedia performances, 3 video battles versus the Total Crap duo, directed 5 short features, and wrote 3 screenplays.
After the screening of DJ XL5’S Blaxploitation Flix Mix Party, several renowned Toronto DJs will take the stage to make you dance and party right through to 2 a.m. with the iconic grooves of the ’70s! The event is co-hosted by Al Saint-Louis & MC Ebone, and features The Elite Sound (DJ Donavon, Mike from M.A.C Entertainment, JC From Sunshine & MC Groove). The Toronto Black Film Festival’s Closing Night: Blaxploitation Party is presented in collaboration with the Fantasia International Film Festival, G987FM, ICI Radio Canada, Montreal International Black Film Festival, and Unleashed Legacies.
Logistics:
February 15th, 2015, 9:00 p.m. at Revival, 783 College Street, Toronto
$30 online and $40 at the Door
Trailer & Link: torontoblackfilm.com
Rock Hard \m/
