Curated by Maya S. Cade
Filmmaker: Ben Caldwell

This session centers L.A. Rebellion alum and legendary filmmaker Ben Caldwell and discusses his career beyond the narrow prism through which we have publicly understood his work. As a towering figure affectionately called “the mayor of Leimert Park,” Caldwell uses his KAOS Theory practice and South Los Angeles community space of the same name to facilitate the use of cinema as a tool of social change. 

The workshop begins with a screening of Caldwell’s “I & I: AN AFRICAN ALLEGORY,” work from his time as a student at UCLA and continues with a snippet from “iFresh,” an unreleased work on the hip-hop movement in Los Angeles that Caldwell directed and co-wrote with Charles Burnett. Together, Caldwell, Burnett, and Maya S. Cade are finishing the film’s two missing scenes. Caldwell and Cade will use “iFresh” to discuss the development of cinema across time, filmmaking’s emotional, social, and spiritual demands, the exploration of a Black artist’s archive, and how intergenerational exchange keeps it alive. 

This workshop maneuvers through Caldwell’s stewardship, the power of filmmaking as community care, and how intergenerational exchange is the center of Caldwell’s practice and artistry. 

Presenter Bio

Maya S. Cade is the creator and curator of the award-winning Black Film Archive and the Incoming President of Milestone Films, the distribution home of Charles Burnett, Kathleen Collins, Bridgett M. Davis, and countless others across the filmmaking spectrum. Under her leadership, Milestone Films is the largest Black-owned and managed film distributor in the country. The celebrated curator and writer lives in Los Angeles.

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