To date, filmmakers and actors Neema Barnett, Vanessa Williams, Terri J. Vaughn, Sonya Maddox, Yolanda “Yo-Yo” Whitaker, and Tationna Bosier will have their say on the LaHitz Media Black Film Panel: “ Bronze Beauties: Commanding, Telling Their Stories and Taking New Ground!” Moderated by San Francisco Filmmaker and founder of LaHitz Film Series @ Cannes, Jacquie Taliaferro, the panel will provide profound insights to the film industry for new and seasoned filmmakers. The panel discussion will begin a 3 p.m. at the Magic Johnson Theater, February 16. It will conclude with the presentation of the Sojourner Truth Award that is presented twice a year at the Pan African Film Festival and the LaHitz Film Series@ Cannes. Past Sojourner Truth Award recipients include: Jean-Marie Gaston Kabore, the cofounder of FESPACO held in Burkina Faso; Danny Glover, Neema Barnett, Melvin Van Peebles, South African Film Commissioner, Eddie Mbato, filmmaker Rahmatou Keïta of Niger and U.S labor activist, Maria Elena Durazo, Marla Gibbs and Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek fame.

LaHitz Media Presents: Soul on the Seine, Your Hip Guide to Black Paris

Before heading to Cannes for LaHitz Film Series@Cannes, or on the way back, Paris is a must see and there’s no way to do it better than with Soul! Robin Nicole Bates, Founder and CEO of Café de la Soul the premier English language website on Black Paris, took the information and advice she had been providing online since 1998 and published “Soul on the Seine, Your Hip Guide to Black Paris,” a unique guide that highlights the best places to sleep, eat, see, shop, hang and get pampered in the City of Light. If you missed the tour honoring Josephine Baker’s 100th Birthday Celebration in France that Bates conducted with her colleagues Black Paris Divas, you can still enjoy the times to come by picking up her book “Soul on the Seine, Your Hip Guide to Black Paris” while at the Pan African Film Festival. LaHitz Media will host the author at a book signing at the Pan African Film Festival, February 16! Meet Robin and hear about some of the soul inspiring experiences that are waiting for you in Paree!

About La Hitz Media

Jacquie Taliaferro – Founder -Native San Franciscan, filmmaker, community activist, and independent film advocate is founder of the LaHitz Film Series Film held annually during the Cannes Film Festival in France (www.lahitz.com). The LaHitz Sojourner Truth Award presented in Cannes and at the Pan African Film Festival held annually in Los Angeles.

Taliaferro has developed numerous film panels in the academic arena and has lent his expertise to co-organize film festivals nationally and internationally. His work centers on bringing a voice to the masses. For more than a decade Taliaferro has advocated for an accessible media facility in the Mission and Bay View Hunter’s Point neighborhoods in San Francisco. “In addition to the entertainment value, the media should use its power and influence to educate and improve the state of humanity. That is my mission with La Hitz Media.” – Jacquie Taliaferro