February 11, 2022 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:               Karen Prasser
                              Chagrin Arts Executive Director
                               kprasser@chagrinarts.org
                                330.701.8513 

SOLON CENTER FOR THE ARTS PRESENTS CHAGRIN ARTS FILM FEST 

 On Friday, February 25, Solon Center for the Arts is pleased to present the premiere of the Chagrin Arts Film Fest: An Arts With A Purpose Film Experience. This event is in support of Black History Month and will feature three films beginning at 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm in the SCA Theater. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. RSVP Here.

 The opening two feature presentations are by acclaimed documentary filmmaker and Ohio native Derrick Jones (djones). He is a doctoral student in the School of Film, Media & Theatre at Georgia State University. He also holds an MFA in film from Ohio University with a focus on independent documentary. The first is called “631”. Members of the Jones family offer a history of their lives at 631 Ridge Avenue, a house purchased in the 1950’s with four generations eventually living under its roof.  Through personal accounts, photos and film/video footage, a tapestry 50 years in the making is woven to illustrate the impact a home can have on a family’s existence.      

 The second djones film is called “2020AD”. Influenced by the summer of 2020 – often labeled as the United States reckoning on race – 2020AD visualized the labor of engaging “the talk” while imagining an alternative, more generative confrontation drawing from the archive, the ancestors, and the anticipation of death in the midst of fighting for life. 

 The third feature film is “400: An Afrikan Epic”, a documentary based on Dr. Mark Lomax’s 12-album cycle on Black America’s 400-year history. The making of this outstanding film occupied about three and a half years of drummer and composer Lomax’s life. It traces Black America from the beginning of the slave trade in 1619 through today and into the future using a blend of classical, jazz, gospel and other music forms in solo, duo, trio, quartet and larger ensemble arrangements. The acclaimed filmmakers are Jason Wood and Charles Hairston. 

  As a bonus for all who register for the Film Fest online, you will receive a link to a Documentary Screening and Live Q&A of “The Shadow of Lucasville”, another djones award0winning documentary. Meet Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Lucasville riot leader, educator, writer and activist calling live from the Ohio State Penitentiary’s death row. 

Chagrin Arts’ mission is to present inspiring arts programming and stimulating conversations. Research shows that the arts have a deep, positive and healing impact contributing to the overall enhanced quality of life for individuals and their communities. Chagrin Arts’ “Arts With A Purpose” aims to bring arts programming to enrich lives and create conversations about social issues promoting the betterment of humanity as part of Chagrin Arts’ core values.

      “The new Chagrin Arts Film Fest (CAFF) is yet another way – along with Shakespeare at Community Park in the summer and various other programs throughout the year – that we can connect our two communities through the power of the arts,” said Karen Prasser, Executive Director of Chagrin Arts. “I’m so excited to be working again with the City, Tracy Sullivan at SCA and Rich Parker, the Recreation Director to provide quality arts programming to the residents of Solon and Chagrin Falls.”