Blacksoil Film Festival, 2003 edition

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS - During the weekend of November 28-30, 2003, three venues located in the center of Rotterdam – Theater LantarenVenster, Hiphophouse and Off-Corso - hosted the first edition of the Black Soil Film Festival. It was a great success, creating the first annual platform for hiphop-related film in Europe. Black Soil and their partners have plans to screen films in other European countries during 2004 and beyond.

We had the chance to review the festival and enjoy what it had to offer during this cold November weekend including: kung-fu meets hip hop meets turntablism live show Hop Fu (check our interview with the guys behind Hop Fu in our interview section, as well as a detailed review of the showing in our Events section), an appearance by Jazzy Jeff, a workshop by the Hop Fu guys on how to work with movies and music, as well as plenty of dope movies that look at hip hop culture in many different ways including the legendary Battlesounds documentary by John Carluccio.

Black Soil’s scope is across the board and places Hip Hop culture into a broader perspective. Next to the presentation of movies inspired by DJs, graffiti, MCs and break dancers, movies derived from Hip Hop were shown, as well as movies which have served as a source of inspiration to Hip Hop artists and movie directors. Black Soil showed films that rarely or never have reached the theater screens in Holland before.

The main film program showed the global impact of Hip Hop by screening features, shorts and documentaries from the US, Germany, France, Colombia & Holland. With films such as "Breathcontrol", "Art of Rhyme/Freestyle", "Stylewars", "Walkmen" and "Battlesounds", the festival gave visitors an insightfull view on Hip Hop and "the elements" that are the base for this genre. It also gave an overview of the past, present and future of what has become the late 20th century's most powerful culture.

Black Soil provided a widespread and informative platform upon which discussions could be led about Hip Hop culture in general and about Hip Hop film in particular. On Saturday November 29, a panel disscussion on Dutch videoclips took place moderated by hiphop-author Saul van Stapele (van Brooklyn naar Breukelen: 20 years of Dutch hiphop). A review of this disussion is included below.

Preceding the festival Black Soil organised screenings of "Walkmen" by Mike Redman, for high schools and colleges during September and October in collaboration with Redrum FLIX. These screening series included discussions on how to become a filmmaker, education possibilities (such as attending film academy and getting on-the-job training) and understanding what the influence of Hip Hop in deciding your future could be.

In collaboration with the "Hip Hop Huis Foundation" Black Soil organized a workshop for young/emerging DJs on "how to make a musical score" by the Hop-Fu crew: DJ IXL, DJ Excess and producers John Carluccio (director "Battlesounds") and Barry Cole (music-supervisor a.o. Brown Sugar / Bomb the System) from New York. A review of this can be found below as well.

During the festival, Black Soil in collaboration with "Chocolate" organized after-parties in Off-Corso and LantarenVenster with exclusive live acts and (inter)national DJs.

Tuesday 25th

This evening was a preview event for the festival and featured a workshop entitled "How to score a film with turntables" by DJs IXL & Excess, John Carluccio & Barry Cole from NYC. The event took place at Hiphop Huis, a facility in Coolhaven, Rotterdam. The workshop started with a 10 minute sample of the Hop-fu film and then worked through the score, illustrating the samples and cues in sequence. Participants were then invited to try their skills, and follow IXL and Excess' techniques incorporating tone, mood and atmosphere as well as cues. An excellent workshop, well attended, getting the Black Soil event off to an excellent start.

Friday 28th

The showing of Battle Sounds was preceeded by the film 'Resistencia: Hiphop in Columbia', a fascinating portrait of life on the streets of Columbia's inner-cities. While the social and political crisis rages on, the regions MCs and breakers' try to establish their own voice. Many DJ's from the region cannot afford even basic equipment and have no way of buying the latest hiphop records. Rap, beatbox and breakdance are the most popular elements, as all you need is space and the evergy to participate. A moving documentary that showed the duality of Hip Hop's global expansion. It also brilliantly showed the effect of local influence on the global expansion of the culture and how this global image is assimilated by local circumstances and turned into a localised culture.

Following this director John Carluccio introduced 'Battle Sounds', the film he spent over 5 years researching, shooting and editing down to the 1 hour version we were shown, and which is entitled 'The 1997 Whitney Biennial Cut'. The film paints a definitive picture of the history and development of the hiphop DJ and the evolution of the turntablist through the battle scene and hip hop production scene. From the founding fathers Kool DJ Herc and Africa Bambatta to innovators such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash and Cash Money to modern-day master's such as The Scratch Piklz and The Executioners. The film is based around conversations with DJ's and defining moments of the artform such as Qbert's development of revolutionary scratching techniques, Rob Swift's 'Nobody Beats the Biz' routine and the crowning of Roc Raida as 1995 DMC world champ in London.

There are plans to release a DVD with all the extra footage, some 5 hours in total plus extra features. For more info on that check battlesounds.com and check our interview with John Carluccio in the interviews archive.

The short film 'Woah' centered around a man being chased down and beaten in a case of mistaken identity on the streets of NY. The film was part of the official Sundance selection and its director Maurice Dwyer is planning another short and developing a feature screenplay.

Mike Redman from Rotterdam's Redrum Squad introduced 'Walkmen' as the final film of the evening. The film tells the story of the hiphop scene in Rotterdam, talking to all the key figures in the graf, breakdance, rap and DJ scene. Artists such as 101 B-boys, E-Life, The Postmen, Def Rhymz, Bad Boys are interviewed while classic hiphop footage from the 80's traces the roots of the scene. Props to Mike Redman and the Redrum Squad for putting this film together. A very interesting look into the local Rotterdam hip hop scene.

Off-Corso was the venue for the after-party, with Black Soil flying over Jazzy Jeff and Hop-fu for the the 'Chocolate' event. They joined Mr Wix, Waxfiend and MC Drew for a huge party. Hiphop and dancehall warmed up the bar area until the main room opened up for the presentation of the Hop-fu showcase. DJ Excess and IXL score the classic kungfu flick 'Prodigal Son' live from their turntables, adding cuts and scratches, redubbing dialogs live and re-scoring the music using hiphop, breakbeat and drum n bass. The project, conceived by John Carluccio and Barry Cole, has been touring the US and Europe this year. Check our separate review of the event (in the reviews section) as well as our interview with the Hop Fu guys (in the interviews archive).

Jazzy Jeff rocked a 3 hour set of classic hiphop, soul and original breaks, showing the crowd how its done Philly style. Be sure to check our interviews with Jeff which you can find in the archive as well.

Saturday 29th

Panel Discussion entitled 'Evolution of the hiphop video clip'. Following a screening of 10 hiphop videos from 1982-2003, including the Sugarhill Gang, LL Cool J and 50 Cent, the invited panel discussed various aspects of the hiphop video. The panel included video director Peggy Steenvoorden, Tim Beumers from Dutch rap group VSOP, Barry Cole music supervisor for films such as the Grammy-winning Brown Suger, Senna Gourdou and Andre Freyssen from MTV the Netherlands.

The discussion was hosted by Saul Van Stapele, the author of Van Brooklyn Nar Breukelen and crips.nl.

Dutch hiphop videos were compared to recent US examples, in terms of style, content and budget. It was clear that Dutch music videos typically try to emulate US styles in order to get play listed on channels such as MTV. However, creative directors such as Spike Jonze (with clips for the Pharcyde and The Beastie Boys) have opened up the medium to concepts more developed than the 'flash cars and naked women' stereotype. This was a very interesting topic that should be explored further in future events.

The film 'Sounds of Spirit' opened up Saturday's film programme. This documentary from director Joslyn Rose Lyons focuses on the creative and spiritual aspects of hiphop culture. Interviews with artists such as Andre 3000, Talib Kweli, Saul Williams, KRS1, Jurassic 5, QBert and Rasco reveal the motivations, inspirations and thought process that goes into their music. The film paints a very personal picture of the artists involved and should be commended for doing so.

'Style Wars'; the classic 1983 film about graffiti culture in New York was the final film of the Saturday night programme. Directors Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant managed to reveal the true origins of the scene, speaking to the artists themselves and their families, alongside officials from the New York Transport Authority and the Police. We see the authorities attempt to shut down the writers with their slogans (''Make your mark in society, not on society'') and security measures (double razor blade fence around the train yards with guard dogs). There are also interviews with writers such as Dondi, Seen, Skeme, Tracy 168, Doze and many more. The film has such a strong nostalgic vibe you can almost smell the paint fumes and subway tunnels. Style Wars is truly one of the definitive films about hiphop culture, revealing the characters and places behind the graffiti movement.

A 2 disc DVD has just been released which includes 'Style Wars Revisited', with interviews with several of the artists 20 years later plus interviews with the directors. Well worth your time and money.

Sunday 30th

The second of the panel discussions was focused on 'Hiphop in a global perspective'. The panel included representatives from Baobab Connections, Gary Mendes from rap group Dutch Conspiracy, Julie Dullier from Les Arts Urbains, Manu from Senegal rap group WA BMG 44 and Martha Diaz, the founder and director of Hiphop Odyssey film festival in New York. Many of the panel members had participated in or initiated projects of cultural exchange within hiphop culture, so they spoke from direct experience. A video was shown documenting the exchange between Les Arts Urbains and the group WA BMG 44 from Senegal. The discussion covered the impact of mass-media, the internet, funding opportunities and the impact of the globalisation of hiphop culture worldwide.

'Breath Control: The History of the Human Beatbox' was the first film to be screened on Sunday evening and proved to be one of the highlights of the event. Tracing the artform back to the pioneers Buff from The Fat Boys and Doug E Fresh the film paints a revealing picture of the scene. Artists such as Rahzel and Scratch (The Roots), Emanon, Baba and many more were also featured. The interviews were shown alongside interludes showing the inner workings of the human body while someone is beatboxing, displaying how the throat, tongue and lips all act upon the emitted sound.

The short film 'Afro Deutsch' told the story of a black child born into a white community in Austria and the oppression he faces.

Unfortunately, due to a technical problem 'Freestyle the art of Rhyme' could not be screened, but we were treated instead to the fantastic documentary ''Big Fun in the Big Town'', produced by VPRO from the Netherlands. The film contains footage from NY in the early 1980's just as artists such as Run DMC, Roxanne Shante, LL Cool J and Biz Markie are starting to change the world of hiphop. We see Russell Simmons in his office, talking of his desire to cultivate the image of his artists on his label Def Jam.

Our Blacksoil feature is completed with a review of the Off Corse event on the 28th and an in depth interview with DJs IXL & Excess, John Carluccio and Barry Cole of Hop Fu. Be sure to check these in our archives.