COCKTAILS & SŌL CINEMA
Established by ImageNation, Cocktails & Sōl Cinema is a national quarterly social launched at Harlem's world-famous Apollo Theater, and the Madam Walker Legacy Center in Indianapolis. Stay tuned for future cities, and join us quarterly at these two historic venues!
This a quarterly social features screenings of independent Black world cinema. Each event is preceded by a reception with complimentary hors d’oeuvres, wine/beer/cocktails, a live DJ, and a talkback after the film.
Saturday, April 15, 2023
ImageNation's Cocktails & Sōl Cinema
Apollo Theater, Sound Stage (Live Event)
TONTON MANU
4pm - Cocktail Reception
5pm - Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion
Tickets: $26.50 (Includes one free cocktail)
The Apollo continues its collaboration with ImageNation by co-presenting the Cocktails & Sol Cinema Series, a social gathering that includes a film screening, cocktail reception, and a post-show conversation with the filmmakers. This special Africa Now! edition of Cocktails & Sol Cinema features Thierry Dechilly and Patrick Puzenat’s 2021 documentary, Tonton Manu, which follows the daily life of composer, musician, journalist, and ambassador of the Francophone world, Manu Dibango.
PAST PROGRAMS
Thursday, Feb 23, 2023
ImageNation's Cocktails & Sōl Cinema
Apollo Theater, Sound Stage (Live Event)
IT'S DIFFERENT IN CHICAGO
Running Time: 91 min., United States
7pm - Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion
Tickets: $26.50 (Includes one free cocktail)
The Apollo continues its collaboration with ImageNation by co-presenting the Cocktails & Sol Cinema series, a social gathering that includes a film screening, cocktail reception, and a post-show conversation with the filmmakers.
The next ImageNation’s Cocktails & Sol Cinema will be on Thursday, Feb. 23rd at 6pm at the Apollo Theater. The event will feature a screening of the film “Asinamali” by South African director Mbongeni Ngema (writer of the multi-award-winning musical Sarafina!), a cocktail reception with music by South Africans own, DJ Eddie Ed and an audience Q & A with the films producers.
Thursday, May 26, 2022
ImageNation's Cocktails & Sōl Cinema
Apollo Theater, Sound Stage (Live Event)
IT'S DIFFERENT IN CHICAGO
Running Time: 91 min., United States
7pm - Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion
Tickets: $25 (Includes one free cocktail)
Chicago is known by many as the birthplace of house music as well as an incubator for hip-hop hitmakers, yet the city remains divided over how it views its musical legacy. It’s Different In Chicago tells the story of how these music genres and the cultures around their communities have complemented and competed with each other, leading to deep revelations about the different segments within the Black community of Chicago.
This homegrown ode to the Chicago music scene will be preceded by a cocktail reception featuring DJ Stormin Norman, and followed by a discussion between curator Moikgantsi Kgama of ImageNation and filmmaker David Weathersby. This program will be taking place on the Apollo’s Soundstage.
Panelists:
David Weathersby, Director, and DJ Stormin Norman
Moderator:
Moikgantsi Kgama, ImageNation
Thursday, March 10, 2022
ImageNation's Cocktails & Sōl Cinema
Apollo Theater, Sound Stage (Live Event)
QUEEN OF GLORY
Running Time: 90 min., United States
7pm - Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion
Writer, first-time feature director, and star Nana Mensah (Netflix’s The Chair and NBC’s New Amsterdam) provides a rare glimpse into New York’s Ghanaian-American community in this charming slice-of-life dramedy. A scientist set to leave the city with her married boyfriend must cope with the death of her mother, cultural expectations, and the journey of self discovery that are at once deeply rooted in her Ghanaian-American experience, yet universal in nature.
Having been hailed as “a witty, compassionate ode to immigrant daughters in the Bronx” (The Hollywood Reporter) when it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021, this winning indie film from an original voice on the cinematic scene comes to the Apollo’s intimate Soundstage. In addition to the film screening, this social gathering allows for audience response with cocktails, a live DJ, and a post-show conversation with ImageNation’s founder Moikgantsi Kgama and the filmmakers.
Panelists:
Nana Mensah, Director/Writer/Actor with others TBA
Moderator:
Moikgantsi Kgama, ImageNation
Thursday, November 4, 2021
ImageNation's Cocktails & Cinema
Apollo Theater, Digital Stage
DEVIL'S PIE: D'ANGELO
Running Time: 90 min., United States
7pm - Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion
Devil's Pie: D'Angelo was named one of “2019’s biggest music documentaries” by USA today. Rarely screened in the USA, this official Tribeca Film Festival selection features: D'Angelo, Questlove, Dave Chappelle and Jesse Johnson to name a few. It is the story of the soul singer, D'Angelo, and his return to the public eye after 14 years of absence.
D'Angelo had it all: two platinum selling albums, a sold out world tour and a body chiseled to perfection. However, one day at the height of his career in 2000 D'Angelo vanished. For 12 years he descended into darkness. Out of nowhere, in December 2014, his third album Black Messiah was suddenly released: soundtrack of the lost years.
Step into the world of this musical icon and former Amateur Night at the Apollo winner in this digital stage presentation of the acclaimed documentary Devil’s Pie: D’Angelo. Following the screening, join us for a conversation with ImageNation’s founder Moikgantsi Kgama and the film’s director Carine Bijlsma.
Panelist:
Carine Bijlsma, Director
Moderator:
Moikgantsi Kgama, ImageNation
Thursday, October 28, 2021
ImageNation's Cocktails & Cinema
Madame Walker Legacy Center, Grand Ballroom
NATIONTIME
Running Time: 90 min., United States
5:30 pm - Reception & DJ Set with DJ Mr. Kinetic
6:30 pm - Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion
The Madam Walker Legacy Center has partnered with ImageNation to present Cocktails & Cinema, a quarterly social featuring premiere and advance screenings of Black world cinema. Each event is preceded by a reception with complimentary light hors d’oeuvres, wine/beer, a live DJ, and a talkback after the film.
We proudly kickoff the first installment of this new series with NATIONTIME, preceded by a DJ set by Mr. Kinetic. Documenting the 1972 National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana, this 4K restoration of NATIONTIME features: Jesse Jackson, Amiri Baraka, Coretta Scott King, Dick Gregory, Isaac Hayes, Betty Shabazz, Harry Belafonte, Sydney Poitier & many others.
Panelists:
David Greaves, Cameraman
Louise Greaves, wife of William Greaves, Filmmaker and Restoration Producer
Moderator:
Moikgantsi Kgama, ImageNation
Thursday, February 20, 2020
ImageNation's Cocktails & Cinema
Apollo Theater Soundstage
BAKOSÓ: Afrobeats of Cuba
Running Time: 50 min., United States
6pm - Reception & DJ Set with Bembona
7pm - Film Screening followed by Panel Discussion
The Apollo Theater has partnered with ImageNation to present Cocktails & Cinema, a quarterly social featuring premiere and advance screenings of Black world cinema. Each event is preceded by a reception with complimentary light hors d’oeuvres, wine/beer, a live DJ, and a talkback after the film.
We proudly continue the second installment of this new series with Bakosó: AfroBeats of Cuba, preceded by a DJ set by Bembona. Bakoso follows DJ Jigüe to his hometown of Santiago de Cuba to find musical inspiration. He finds Afrobeats has helped create a new genre called Bakosó, which is beautiful proof that the exchange between Cuba and Africa did not end with the Transatlantic slave trade. Directed by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, with stunning visuals and a score created by the founders of the Afrobeats genre, the film shows the technology, culture and landscape that shape this African-Caribbean fusion.
Panelists:
Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, Director
Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, Producer
Mai-Elka Prado Gil, founder of the Afro-Latino Festival of New York
Moderator:
Moikgantsi Kgama, ImageNation
Thursday, November 21, 2019
ImageNation's Cocktails & Cinema:
Apollo Theater Soundstage
CLEMENCY
Running Time: 119min., United States
6pm Reception & DJ Set with DJ Reborn
7pm Film Screening
Apollo Theater Soundstage
The Apollo Theater has partnered with ImageNation, an innovative Harlem-based company created to develop audiences for independent film and music that depict the global Black experience. Cocktails & Cinema is a quarterly social featuring premiere and advance screenings of Black world cinema. Each event is preceded by a reception with light hors d’oeuvres, wine/beer, featuring a live set with DJ Reborn and following the screening a film talk back.
The Apollo proudly launches this new series with an advance screening of Clemency. Starring Alfre Woodard, Aldis Hodge, and Wendell Pierce, Clemency is the winner of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival's grand jury prize. Director Chinonye Chukwu, is the first Black woman to ever win the festival's top prize.
Already deemed an Oscar worthy performance, Woodard depicts prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.