NEON PARTNERS WITH GHETTO FILM to PRESENT BEBE

Award-winning film studio NEON partners with Ghetto Film School to present a one day 16mm workshop at community cinema-arts organization Mono No Aware in Brooklyn, NY inspired by BEBA director Rebeca Huntt and her journey into filmmaking. Huntt’s first short film was created at Mono No Aware right before she started the revelatory eight year journey of BEBA. For most emerging filmmakers access to analog equipment is limited and further prevents creators from diverse backgrounds from telling their story. BEBA tells the story of a young Afro-Latina’s journey to self discovery and resilience to acceptance, and fellow women of color were specifically recruited to participate in the workshop. The selected six women of color filmmakers joined Director Rebeca Huntt and DP Sophia Stieglitz for a one day academic workshop on 16mm. The course started with a lesson on 16mm led by Stieglitz followed by an intimate discussion around personal filmmaking with Rebeca Huntt. Each participant was given a full roll of 16mm to make their personal film and a bolex camera to capture Brooklyn. The course ended with shared testimonies from the emerging filmmakers.

Photo Courtesy of NEON (Rebeca Huntt and Ghetto Film School Participants)

Photo Courtesy of NEON (Sophia Stieglitz and Ghetto Film School Participants)
“A profound and humbling experience meeting these incredibly gifted and strong femes who I know will take over the industry one day. It was incredible to witness them telling their stories, especially on 16mm. Doing this has been a highlight of my career” Huntt said. At Ghetto Film School, the fundamentals of dramatic and visual storytelling sit at the intersection between self-exploration and experimentation; we call it, “recreating life on the screen” or “capturing small moments of momentous transformation.” This is the foundation on which we build to explore the narrative voice, style, and aesthetics to which each individual filmmaker has a unique sensibility. “This workshop was an incredible experience to get practical knowledge around 16MM filmmaking/using the Bolex with MonoNoAware, as well as learning about the theoretical concepts of first-person narrative and self-exploration through a tactile medium with “BEBA” filmmaker, Rebecca Huntt.

Selected shorts will be showcased later in the fall for a private screening. In addition to the 16mm workshop, NEON has partnered with organizations including Brown Girls Doc Mafia and Future of Film Is Female for special screenings to proactively engage diverse audiences, especially women of color. The film is also a recipient of the Chicken and Egg Hatched Grant. BEBA opens June 24th in NY at IFC Center and LA at AMC Sunset followed by a nationwide release on July 1. Visit www.beba.film for more information.

Written and Directed by Rebeca Huntt
Produced by Rebeca Huntt and Sofia Geld

First-time feature filmmaker Rebeca “Beba” Huntt undertakes an unflinching exploration of her own identity in the remarkable coming-of-age documentary/cinematic memoir Beba. Reflecting on her childhood and adolescence in New York City as the daughter of a Dominican father and Venezuelan mother, Huntt investigates the historical, societal, and generational trauma she’s inherited and ponders how those ancient wounds have shaped her, while simultaneously considering the universal truths that connect us all as humans. Throughout Beba, Huntt searches for a way to forge her own creative path amid a landscape of intense racial and political unrest. Poetic, powerful and profound, Beba is a courageous, deeply human self-portrait of an Afro-Latina artist hungry for knowledge and yearning for connection.

79 Minutes | Rated R

Official Trailer: 
https://youtu.be/4zTn2arob_4