The National Black Theatre Festival (now renamed the International Black Theatre Festival) has been a destination for the Black Theater community since it began as a dream of Larry Leon Hamlin, artistic director of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company. Hamlin’s dream was to bring Black theater companies together throughout the United States so that they could communicate and assist each other. He wanted the companies to support one another, instead of struggling individually. This thought birthed the idea of the National Black Theatre Festival and of hosting it in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and which he presented to Maya Angelou, who wholeheartedly supported him.
At the International Black Theatre Festival, a documentary film “Holy Ground: The Legacy of the National Black Theatre Festival” had a fantastic world premiere. It tells the viewer everything about Hamlin’s dream and how he tirelessly worked and was supported by many celebrities in the Black theater, film and TV community to make this happen.
The film includes original video footage of Hamlin speaking at the festival over the years, as well as Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin, his wife, who headed the festival once he passed away. There are also interviews with Jackie Alexander, who took over North Carolina Black Repertory Company and IBTF.
There is a line in the film which is quite accurate: “This is the most important event in Black Theater on the planet!” The documentary includes scenes from vintage productions and interviews with some of the most prestigious people in the business. You not only learn about how the festival came to be, but you get to know how Larry Leon Hamlin started the North Carolina Black Repertory Company.
There are in-depth interviews with Hamlin, Hamlin’s mother, his wife Sylvia, Artie Reese, Jackie Alexander, Lawrence Evans, Brian McLaughlin, Marjorie Johnson, Mabel P. Robinson, Perri Gaffney, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Clifton Davis, Oprah Winfrey, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Louis Gossett Jr., and Ted Lange and others. Some of the New York-based interviews were of people who talked about what the festival meant to them, including interviews with the late, great Woodie King Jr., Andre De Shields, Rome Neal, and myself as a New York-based theater critic who has cherished every time I attended the festival. In one instance in the documentary, Oprah says, “Black Theater has held me up, lifted me up and took me where I needed to be.” This documentary film will certainly lift your spirit as it gives you hope that this legacy will get to live on.
In video footage from the first Festival in 1989, African drummers lead the way, and the celebrities dance behind them on their way to the dais. There are interviews with the late Ron Simons and with theater up-and-comers like Angelica Cheri, who was awarded the August Wilson Playwright Award at this year’s festival. There were interviews with Art Evans, Nate Jacobs, the late Hal Williams, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kamillah Forbes, Stephen Byrd, Michael Dinwiddie, Barbara Montgomery, Tonya Pinkins and Lisa Arrindell. Throughout the documentary, so many people had inspiring, amazing things to say. There were moments of joy and triumph, and there were touching moments that will have you in tears. The festival is something that is embraced by the people of the Winston-Salem community, and this is demonstrated by the number of local residents who volunteer their time to assist the festival in whatever way they can.
Ka’ramuu Kush, filmmaker, theater maker, writer, director, editor and filmmaker of the documentary film “Holy Ground…” sat down with AmNews to discuss it.
AmNews: How long did it take you to do the documentary film for the festival?
KK: Six to eight years; we’ve been doing the film off and on for that time.
AmNews: Why was it important to do a historical film to show the history of what was the National Black Theatre Festival, which recently became the International Black Theatre Festival?
KK: It’s about capturing and documenting the history. As evidenced by what we have here. There are people who began this journey that are no longer with us. Larry is no longer here. Sylvia is no longer here. My mentor Woodie King is no longer here. Hal Williams is no longer here. So many of our Legends. So the film is really about just being able to capture our history and preserve it so that generations behind us will have something as a testament, some type of a reference point to identify from whence they came and what shoulders they stand on.
AmNews: You conducted interviews with hundreds of people, speaking about the interview process; what did you want the interviewees to bring to the interview?
KK: I think the filmmaking process is about trying to disarm people so that they don’t feel confronted by the camera. My goal was to make people feel at home, like they are talking about family, talking about home. So, whatever comes out is genuine, authentic, and also fun. Everyone I interviewed talked about their experiences at the festival.
AmNews: What does it mean to you to be the creative person behind a documentary that is going to live on forever?
KK: Oh my God, it means the world. I’m a festival baby. I’ve been coming here since I was 19 years old, so that’s over 20 years. It means everything. I made a promise to Sylvia that I would do everything in my power to make this happen and to have completed the process. It’s everything.
AmNews: Is there anything you want to say about this work?
KK: I hope people can see it, enjoy it, appreciate the work, and be inspired to continue. There are so many more stories to tell about the festival, so many more theater companies, so many theater makers.
AmNews: What happens to the documentary after it is shown at the festival?
KK: It will probably be licensed and screened; we have to see.
