Underground Railroad Film Series
CINEMA AND CONVERSATION
Honoring Hip Hop History Month, the Underground Railroad Film Series makes a stop at Hidmo Eritrean Cuisine, located at 20th and Jackson Sts. (map). Filmmaker Joe Doughrity will be on hand to screen the director's cut of his DGA award winning film Akira's Hip Hop Shop. Read on.
Along with Akira's we will screen the poignant short, Eli's Liquor Store. With each film, the director lovingly investigates issues that transcend and yet, are rooted in cultural identity and social influence within Black and Asian communities.
| | NOVEMBER HIP HOP HISTORY MONTH SAFE HOUSE SCREENING
AKIRA'S HIP HOP SHOP (Director's Cut)
Drama - USA 2008; Director- Joe Doughrity
Date: Thursday, November 20
Time: 7PM
Location: Hidmo Eritrean Cuisine
20000 S. Jackson St
MAP
Akira's Hip Hop Shop" is an interracial love story about a Japanese guy (James Kyson Lee from NBC's "Heroes") infatuated with rap music who falls for an African-American culinary student (Emayatzy Corinealdi). They wrestle with prejudice and stereotypes from family and friends in an effort to sustain their relationship. Writer and Director Joe Doughrity, recipient of the Directors Guild of America's "Best African-American Director Award" in November of 2007, will appear at a Q&A session following the screening
 Joseph Doughrity ("Joe D.") is a writer, producer, and director. The son of an educator, Joe grew up an avid reader and developed hobbies ranging from sports to comics, videogames, and a fascination with Japanese culture.
Joe's "Seven Days in Japan", a documentary he wrote, produced and directed, won Best Documentary at the 2005 San Diego Comic-con Film Festival beating out films which cost ten times its modest budget. "Seven Days in Japan" went on to screen at the Pacific Media Expo and premiered on cable's BET-Jazz channel in February of 2007.
As a screenwriter, Joe has written for studios and production companies such as HBO ("Wheels of Steel: The KRS One/Scott La Rock Story"), Mandalay Films ("Grandmaster Flash") and New Line Cinema. His recent scripts include "Motown Miracle: Soul on Ice", the true story of a Black hockey team from his native Detroit, "Cornerstore", a day in the life look at a liquor store, and "Akira's Hip hop Shop", an interracial romantic dramedy about an Asian man and a Black woman.
Joseph received his BFA from Columbia College-Hollywood where he majored in Cinema Studies. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America.
Read more about Joe
ELI'S LIQUOR STORE
2008 USA 16 MIN
Written and directed by Arnold Chun
and Alonzo Jones
Set in Los Angeles' Koreatown circa 1999. It's the story of Elijah Gooden, a 43-year-old African-American man from Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Georgia Tech University and worked in corporate America before moving his family to Los Angeles to start his own business. He and his family experience culture shock and adversity as they struggle to build their livelihood in an area dominated by Asian-American business owners.
| | | | | COMING
DECEMBER 18th
TROUBLE THE WATER
Directed and produced by Fahrenheit 9/11 producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal and executive produced by Danny Glover, Trouble the Water won the 2008 Sundance Grand Jury Prize.
The New York Times' Manohla Dargis called it "...one of the best American documentaries in recent memory."
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