The 19th annual Black Harvest Film Festival begins this weekend at the Gene Siskel Film Center and runs through the end of August. Committed to “celebrating the stories, images, and history of the black experience and the African diaspora,” the fest focuses on the work of independent filmmakers, many based in Chicago. The festival kicks off Friday evening with “A Black Harvest Feast,” a gala screening of four family-friendly shorts: Martine Jean’s The Silent Treatment, Steven Caple Jr.’s A Different Tree, Kibwe Tavares’s Jonah, and Ralph K. Scott’s Barbasol. Festival passes, good for admission to six screenings, are $50; a complete schedule can be found at siskelfilmcenter.org/blackharvest2013. —Ben Sachs
In Our Heads About Our Hair Hemamset Angaza directed this documentary (2012) about the cultural stigmas surrounding black women’s hairstyles. The premise is exactly that of Jeff Stilson’s 2009 doc Good Hair (absent Chris Rock), as Angaza interviews women of myriad ages, lifestyles, backgrounds, and nationalities about the ways in which their hair has negatively or positively affected their lives. The film clearly means well, and it presents some worthwhile information, but each testimonial repeats the same basic sentiment, rendering much of the material redundant. To make matters worse, the production is amateurish—Angaza often struggles with such simple technical aspects as syncing sound with image and placing the microphone in the correct spot when recording interviews. —Drew Hunt 76 min. Sun 8/4, 5:15 PM; Wed 8/7, 8:30 PM.
In Search of a Black Knight Tamarat Makonnen directed this documentary about the lack of eligible black men on the dating scene. The movie combines man-on-the-street interviews, commentary from relationship experts, and short comedic sketches. Makonnen will take part in an audience discussion after both screenings; comedian Brian Babylon will join him on Saturday only. Fri 8/9, 6:30 PM, and Sat 8/10, 8:15 PM.
