“PACIFICA PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE”
AIRDATE:  FRIDAY, AUGUST 7^th, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

HOST:  Donna Walker
GUESTS:  LeVar Burton, Seymour Cassel, Chad Goodridge, D'Adre Aziza of "Passing Strange."

Today we highlight the Second Annual Downtown Film Festival, running August 12 – August 22 with 10 days of fabulous films and free events with the purpose of showcasing cinema in the historic core of the Film Capital of the World.  Guests include:  Actor Levar Burton (of “Roots”, “Star Trek”, and “Reading Rainbow” fame) and  Academy-Award nominated actor Seymour Cassel, who is being honored with the Festival’s Life Achievement Award.  Perhaps best known for his work with independent film legend John Cassavetes, Cassel also stars in the Festival’s Centerpiece film “Reach for Me,” directed by Levar Burton and co-starring Alfre Woodard and Adrienne Barbeau. In the second half, we speak with Chad Goodridge and De’Adre Aziza stars of the Festival’s opening night film “Passing Strange” Spike Lee’s film version of the Tony-Award winning musical by Stew (singer-songwriter with “The Negro Problem.”) We conclude with Moikgantsi Kgama of the Image Nation Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to progressive media by and about people of color.  Moikgantsi details the intriguing journey of the Festival’s closing night film “The Jackson 5 in Africa” which includes never-before-seen footage of the Jacksons 1974 tour of Senegal.

Copies of all shows can be ordered through the Pacifica Radio Archives at www.pacificaradioarchives.org.