Black Film Link-Up at Videodrome

Black Eye Film Club hosts their first Black Film Link-Up event at Videodrome Atlanta. Philadelphia-based Mike Dennis, founder of Reelblack and Reelblack Renaissance, attends the event to take questions and talk movies with fans and other filmmakers. Riverbend on Blu-ray and other merchandise is available during the gathering.

Riverbend at Plaza Theatre

That evening, Black Eye Film Club heads to the Plaza Theatre for a special screening of the restored edition of the 1989 film Riverbend, presented in celebration of the film’s Blu-ray release from Reelblack Renaissance. Special guests at the screening include Riverbend co-star Margaret Avery, who also played Shug in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple. A post-screening Q&A is moderated by Alma’s Rainbow director Ayoka Chenzira.

Riverbend centers on a group of Black soldiers that flee a rigged court-martial and seek refuge in a small Georgia town where a racist sheriff terrorizes the local Black residents. With one ally, Major Samuel Quinton (played by martial artist and actor Steve James) forms a secret army to fight for freedom on one fateful night.

Directed by Sam Firstenberg from a script by Samuel Vance, Riverbend stars Steve James, Margaret Avery, Tony Frank, Julius Tennon, Alex Morris, Vennessa Tate, T.J. Kennedy, Linwood Walker, Norman Colvin, Keith Kirk, John Norman, Robert Knott, Tyrees Allen and Bill McGhee.