ADAPTING STORIES INTO SCREENPLAYS: And a brief history of the first Steamfunk movie (video)!

[Balogun Ojetade]

ADAPTING STORIES INTO SCREENPLAYS

 

On August 4, 2012, I will be Co-Directing the State of Black Science Fiction Film Festival.

The State of Black Science Fiction Film Festival – in partnership with the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture – is a creative platform of education, entertainment and empowerment through discussions related to film and television, and the production of both.

Our focus is to celebrate independent Black cinema; to promote Atlanta, Georgia as the Mecca of Speculative Fiction in film and literature by writers, film directors and film producers of African descent; and to showcase films and provide networking opportunities that will develop the next generation of Black filmmakers in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror.

One of my passions is educating Black people – especially our youth – on why we should read and write speculative fiction. You can read more on this passion of mine at http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/why-black-child...,http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/when-i-was-a-ch... andhttp://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/what-we-can-lea....

Another passion of mine is, of course, writing – fiction, blogging and screenwriting. While I enjoy all three equally, I believe the most influential – with people of African descent in particular – is screenwriting and, even more influential…film.

While many Black people do not read speculative fiction, most enjoy speculative fiction movies. Most people of African descent I know have seen the Matrix andInception; love Blade I and II; and have enjoyed Conan the Barbarian, Blaculaand the Dark Knight.

Film is, indeed, a powerful medium.

Hell, in Burma the people were reported to have “gone crazy” over bootleg copies of the film, Rambo. In fact, a line from the film – “Live for nothing; Die for something” – was used as a rallying cry by dissidents.

And the FBI and CIA worked ceaselessly – and, ultimately, futilely – to halt the production of The Spook Who Sat by the Door – a movie based on Sam Greenlee’s novel of the same name – for fear the movie would incite a revolution and infiltration by revolutionaries into government law enforcement agencies.

TO READ THIS BLOG IN ITS ENTIRETY, PLEASE VISIT: http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/adapting-storie...