Join us for our monthly series, The African Diaspora Film Club. Modeled after our African Book Club, we will meet once a month to discuss a film that we have all viewed in advance of the discussion. The conversation will be moderated by Cornelius Moore, co-director of California Newsreel and film series curator at MoAD.

We will be choosing a selection of films previously screened at MoAD. You may have already seen it, or this may be your first introduction. In either case, join us on the second Sunday of the month for a lively discussion of the film.

You will receive instructions to join via zoom after you sign up here.

This month, in anticipation of our 4-week lecture series "The Rhythmic Roots of Afro-Latin Music" with grammy-nominated musician and educator John Santos, we will be discussing BOMBA ~ Dancing the Drum, a 60-minute documentary about the legendary Cepeda family, known as the "patriarch family of Bomba, Puerto Rico's classic African-rooted music and dance.  

For more than a century the Cepeda family has been in the forefront of the struggle to keep the Bomba alive in Puerto Rico.  Don Rafael Cepeda, the patriarch of the family, learned the Bomba tradition from his grandfather and passed the tradition onto each of his 13 children who, in turn, are passing it on to their children and grandchildren.

‍BOMBA is a film saturated with the color, music and dance of Puerto Rico but ultimately is a portrait of a remarkable family which has chosen to embrace the future with the strength of the past.

Directed and photographed by award-winning filmmaker, Ashley James, produced by Roberta Singer,  former director of Music Programs at CityLore, Inc and edited by Maureen Gosling.

‍Filmmaker Ashley James, Producer Roberta Singer, and musicians Julia Cepeda and John Santos will join us for the discussion.

‍Remember to watch the film in advance of the program. You can access BOMBA - Dancing the Drum in advance on Vimeo here.

‍Once you confirm attendance with MoAD, look for an email with a link to join on zoom. If you don't see an email from MoAD in your inbox, check your spam and junk mail box.

‍Generous support for this program is provided by Art Bridges