MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA and BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA PRESENT

AFRICAN DIASPORA FILM CLUB AT MOAD | PIER KIDS

Join us for our monthly series, The African Diaspora Film Club. Modeled after our African Book Club, we will meet once a month to discuss a film that we have all viewed in advance of the program. The conversation will be moderated by Cornelius Moore, co-director of California Newsreel and film series curator at MoAD.

We will be choosing a selection of films, some previously screened at MoAD. You may have already seen it, or this may be your first introduction. In either case, join us for a lively discussion of the film.

This month we will be discussing PIER KIDS (2019, Elegance Bratton, 83 mins). You will receive instructions to join via zoom after you sign up here. Look for an email from MoAD after you sign up, if you don’t receive it in your inbox, look in your spam or junk mail.

We will not be screening the film. You can watch PIER KIDS in advance of the program here.

Director Elegance Bratton and Producer Chester Algernal Gordon will join us for the discussion.

PIER KIDS, directed by Elegance Bratton and produced by Chester Algernal Gordon, transports audiences to New York City’s historic Christopher Street Pier where homeless queer Black youth navigate the streets to find safety and stability. The film shines a light on an underground community of Pier Kids, showcasing the intricate ways queer people of color utilize public space to build chosen family. This hopeful portrait exposes a side of New York City many often choose to ignore.

‍Truer Than Fiction Award, Independent Spirit Awards.

‍Watch the PIER KIDS trailer here

Elegance Bratton – Director

Elegance began making films as a US Marine after a decade spent homeless.

Today, he holds a BS from Columbia University (2014) and MFA from NYUTisch Graduate Film (2019).

Walk For Me, his debut narrative short is about Hannah, a young trans girl whose secret life is discovered by her mother at a gay ball.

The film played in over 100 festivals worldwide including winning Best Student Short at the New Hampshire (2016), Best LGBT Short at Anne Arbor Film Festival (2017), Best LGBT Short at Columbus Film Festival (2017) and Best Short at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (2017) amongst many other awards.

His documentary feature Pier Kids, follows three queer and trans homeless youth on NYC’s iconic Christopher Street Pier to show the intricate ways queer people of color utilize public space to build chosen family.

With Pier Kids, Elegance is the winner of Best Poster for Indie Memphis, Best Documentary Feature for AGLIFF (2020), EmergingTalent for Outfest 2019 Documentary Feature.

The film is also nominated for theTruerThan Fiction Independent Spirit Award 2021.

He is the executive producer/creator of Viceland’s GLAAD-nominated and Cannes MIPCOM winning series, MY HOUSE. The Inspection, his forthcoming feature narrative script is supported by Tribeca All Access and Film Independent Fast Track and Producing Labs (2019). The film is being produced by A24 and Gamechanger.

He is one of Indiewire’s 25 LBGT faces to watch (2019) and the winner of the Mayor Biggers Artist Fund grant (2018). Buck, his most recent short had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2020.

Chester Algernal Gordon – Producer

Chester Algernal Gordon has produced a fleet of acclaimed short films and Spirit award nominated feature documentary, ’Pier Kids’. Gordon was a winner of theTribeca Film Institute’s 2019,TFI All Access Grant andTFI Pond5 Grant. Gordon is a Film Independent 2019 Producing Lab & FastTrack Lab fellow. Gordon’s films have been an official selection at over 200 festivals combined including Sundance, BFI,True/False, DOC NYC, New Orleans, Cleveland, Palm Springs, Blackstar and the American Black Film Festival.

They’re also a producer for the MIPCOM 2018 winner – GLAAD nominated documentary TV series, ‘My House’, on Viceland. Gordon’s latest short “-Ship: A Visual Poem” won, best U.S. Narrative short at the 2020 Sundance film festival.

They’re currently producing ‘The Inspection’ with Effie Brown and GameChanger films and ‘Hellfighter: The James Reese Europe Story’ with 555 Productions. Both films are directed by Elegance Bratton.

‍This event is a collaboration with POV, PBS’ award-winning nonfiction film series:  https://www.pbs.org/pov/.

‍The African Diaspora Film Club is presented in partnership with Black Public Media

‍Black Public Media (BPM), formerly known as National Black Programming Consortium develops, produces, funds, and distributes media content about the African American and global Black experience. Our mission is to commit to a fully realized expression of democracy and we accomplish this by supporting diverse voices through training, education, and investment in visionary content makers.

For 40 years, BPM has addressed the needs of unserved and underserved audiences. BPM continues to address historical, contemporary, and systemic challenges that traditionally impede the development and distribution of black stories.

Funding has been provided by California Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.