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Article by C.J. Hirschfield.
Last updated at Tue, 16 Apr at 3:12pm.

Five years ago, Salim Shekh was 10 years old and facing almost insurmountable odds in Kolkata, one of India’s most notorious squatter colonies.

Article by Eric K Arnold.
Last updated at Thu, 28 Mar at 12:23pm.

There are far too few honest discussions about women in hip-hop. And even fewer are those which come from a multigenerational perspective. “My Art, My Culture,” the first installment in a new Betti Ono Gallery series called “Women, Media & Hip Hop,” was such a discussion.

Article by C.J. Hirschfield.
Last updated at Tue, 19 Mar at 2:13pm.

As a native Angeleno and a serious film buff, I’ve always dreamed of attending the Academy Awards ceremony. It hasn’t happened yet.

Article by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Wed, 6 Mar at 8:55am.

By CB Smith-Dahl


Writer/Director Jonathan Singer-Vine started writing movie scripts back in sixth grade, but he's only just now finished his first feature film, "Licks."

Blog entry by Jeannine Etter.
Last updated at Sun, 3 Feb at 9:44am.

In an effort to counter the negative stereotypes that African-American men experience and are subjected to on a daily basis - being criminal, irresponsible and deadbeat fathers, to name a few - filmmaker Jordan Thierry set out on a mission of research and documentation.

Article by Eric K Arnold.
Last updated at Wed, 30 Jan at 9:45am.

“Fruitvale,” the debut film by Oakland director Ryan Coogler, has emerged as the 2013 Sundance Film Festival’s most buzzworthy entry. The film, a fictional account of the events leading up to the shooting death of Oscar Grant at the hands of a BART police officer at the Fruitvale station on New Years Day 2009, stars Michael B.

Article by Eric K Arnold.
Last updated at Wed, 30 Jan at 9:43am.

Oakland’s art scene is bubbling right now. The city was just named among the Top 12 nationally by ArtPlaces, which specifically noted the Downtown/Uptown area as being particularly artcentric. That’s cool, but what makes Oakland art hot is Oakland artists. It couldn’t happen without them.

Article by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Tue, 29 Jan at 8:53am.

Everyone probably knows by now that Fruitvale, the first movie by born and bred Oaklander Ryan Coogler, won two major prizes for a new film at Sundance, beating out all the other films.