The Sun Rises in The East
Directed byTayo Giwa
Written byTayo Giwa & Cynthia Gordy Giwa
Produced byTayo Giwa & Cynthia Gordy Giwa
CinematographyChristina Wairegi
Edited byHerman Jean-Noel
Distributed byIndie Rights
Release date
May 12, 2023
Running time
58 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Sun Rises in The East is an independent documentary film created by Tayo Giwa and Cynthia Gordy Giwa. It is the first feature-length film to examine the history of The East, a Black cultural organization and meeting place formed in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.[1]

Synopsis

Through first-hand interviews with founding members and people who grew up in the organization as children, archival photographs, and videos, The Sun Rises in The East depicts the reverberating impact of the organization co-founded by educator and community leader Jitu Weusi.[2]

The film shows how The East organized itself around the principle of Black self-determination, developing an independent African-centered school, daycare, restaurant, newspaper, bookstore, clothing shop, and food co-op, among other businesses. The film also depicts how the collective attracted notable figures within the Black Arts Movement to perform at its renowned performance venue -- from poets like Gil Scott-Heron, Sonia Sanchez, and Haki R. Madhubuti, to musical legends such as Max Roach, Betty Carter, Sonny Rollins, Roy Ayers, Sun Ra, and Pharoah Sanders, among others.[3][4][5] Beyond highlighting The East at its pinnacle, the Giwas also examine the challenges that led to the organization's eventual breakdown, including gender politics, government surveillance, and financial challenges.[6]

The Giwas created the film to bring the story of the organization's influential yet little-known history to a broader audience.

Release

The Sun Rises in The East debuted at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 24, 2022. The Giwas were invited to screen the film at multiple festivals including the New York African Film Festival hosted at Lincoln Center,[7] Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival,[8] BronzeLens Film Festival,[9] and Sidewalk Film Festival.[10] The documentary earned an African Movie Academy Award nomination in 2022 for Best Diaspora Documentary,[11] and was featured by The New York Times.

The documentary was acquired for digital distribution globally by Indie Rights and released for streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Google Play, and YouTube in May 2023.[12][13][14]

References

  1. ↑ Fondren, Precious (2022-02-11). "The Center That Shaped Black Life in 1970s Brooklyn". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  2. ↑ "New Film Celebrates Legacy of 'The East,' Bed-Stuy's Historic Afrocentric Organization". BKReader. 2021-11-01. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  3. ↑ "Black Oriented". wax-poetics. 2022-07-27. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  4. ↑ Okoshi, Akané (2022-05-03). "Tayo Giwa's The Sun Rises in the East". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  5. ↑ Hubert, Craig (2022-06-13). "Hidden in Plain Sight: How Pan-African Group The East Shaped Brooklyn". Brownstoner. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  6. ↑ ""The Sun Rises in The East"". MSNBC.com. 2022-01-13. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  7. ↑ "The Sun Rises in The East". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  8. ↑ "The Sun Rises In The East | MVAAFF". www.mvaaff.com. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  9. ↑ "Welcome to the 14th Annual BronzeLens Film Festival". bronzelens.eventive.org. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  10. ↑ Engelbrecht, Casey (2022-07-05). "Announcing the First Nine Official Feature Selections of the 24th Annual Sidewalk Film Festival presented by Regions Bank". Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  11. ↑ "The 2022 Africa Movie Academy Awards nominations are here and they're bigger than ever". www.gq.co.za. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  12. ↑ Olshan, Rebecca (2023-07-25). "New Film Explores Legacy of The East, a Forgotten 1970s Cultural Organization in Brooklyn". Untapped New York. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  13. ↑ Encinias, Joshua (2023-08-05). "Exploring the lasting legacy of The East, Central Brooklyn's pan-African movement". Brooklyn Magazine. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  14. ↑ "The Legacy of a Bed-Stuy Black Utopia". Bloomberg.com. 2023-08-08. Retrieved 2023-08-15.


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