QUEER HARLEM RENAISSANCE (Shoga Films)

Shoga Films, an Oakland based media content creation non-profit, has been pioneering the concept of the Queer Harlem Renaissance since the release of its first film, a music video of a 1928 lesbian classic, back in 2006. After ten years of making documentaries, Shoga pivoted to filming narrative shorts. Two of these, “Congo Cabaret” and “Smoke, Lilies and Jade,” were adapted from queer writings from the authors of the period. We are currently crowdfunding for a third short,”Bessie Shows Her Ass,” about the legendary blues diva, Bessie Smith. The Shoga Films benefit program will consist of screening the two shorts (gorgeously shot and acted) mentioned above preceded by “The Queer Harlem Renaissance: A Prospectus,” narrated by Daveed Diggs. For anybody interested in how African Amerians navigated the challenge of same-sex attraction during the Roaring Twenties, this is a dream line-up.