M.anifest and his grandfather J.H. Kwabena Nketia. Photo from We Rock Long Distance.
First Thursday Films @ the Capri presents We Rock Long Distance, a locally-produced film featuring three Minnesota hip-hop artists with roots far beyond the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The movie screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 3 at the Capri Theater, 2027 West Broadway. Tickets are $5; purchase in advance at mspfilm.org or at the door.
We Rock Long Distance, directed by Justin Schell, weaves together the sounds and stories of M.anifest, Maria Isa and Tou SaiKo Lee as they journey home to Ghana, Puerto Rico and Thailand to create unique and unexpected connections across generations and geography.
You’ll see M.anifest travel to Ghana where he connects with hip-life artists from across the country, performs in front of his family for the first time and explores connections with his world-renowned grandfather, the composer, poet and scholar J. H. Kwabena Nketia.
Maria Isa traces her musical and familial genealogy from San Juan and Loiza to the campos of Vega Baja, exploring the links between hip-hop, reggaeton, and the folkloric arts of bomba and plena which she grew up performing in Puerto Rico.
In Thailand, We Rock Long Distance follows Tou SaiKo Lee’s ongoing work using hip-hop and poetry to create new and stronger bonds between Hmong Americans and Hmong in Southeast Asia, as well as between youth and elders – some of whom have never heard of hip-hop.
This is a story of music, home, tradition and family that resonates long after the recording sessions have ended and the planes have left.
Make First Thursday Films a must-see, must-do on the first Thursday of every month and invite your friends and neighbors to join you. It’s great fun watching movies at the Capri (many of you may have fond memories of its earlier movie-house days), and there’s always a good conversation after the films led by Craig Rice, First Thursday Films programmer for the Film Society.
Find a full schedule and info at thecapritheater.org and mspfilm.org, or contact Craig Rice at 612-685-9114 or craig@mspfilm.org, or Capri Director James Scott at 612-643-2024 or jscott@pcyc-mpls.org.