Ariel Fernández Díaz, Agent of Change :: 120 Seconds
Ariel Fernandez Diaz, aka Asho, believes it is important for artists and activists to create coalitions with the politicians who can legislate actual change in people's lives.
Ariel Fernandez Diaz, aka Asho, believes it is important for artists and activists to create coalitions with the politicians who can legislate actual change in people's lives.
Ariel Fernández Díaz, Agent of Change :: 120 Seconds from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
About Ariel Fernández Díaz: An internationally acclaimed journalist and cultural activist, Fernández Díaz is known as “The Cuban Hip-Hop Ambassador” for his pivotal role in shaping and documenting Cuba’s national Hip-Hop movement. Celebrated for his dynamic perspective and searing analysis of Cuban race relations, Fernández Díaz is a compelling, intellectual voice who enriches any event or forum he partakes in.
As new horizons on the U.S- Cuba relations front emerge under the Obama administration, new directions in the discourse around the future of the isolated island are becoming increasingly prominent in media and academic circuits. Fernández Díaz fills the void in these debates through his critical examination of race, Hip-Hop and popular culture, and contemporary politics in Cuba. Fernández Díaz's pragmatic view of Cuban socialism and its intersections with the aforementioned topics demystifies the reality of present-day life in Cuba. His constructive critique of his homeland offers a new lens through which to evaluate Cuban society.
Fernández Díaz has been featured as a lecturer/panelist at: New York University, Brown University, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Lehigh University, Medgar Evers College (CUNY), and other notable institutions.
Links: Ariel's Website
Sol Guy, TV Producer + Activist :: 120 Seconds
Vancouver based 4Real co-founder, Sol Guy emphasizes the importance of dreams, our power to manifest them and ultimately how beneficial it is for us all to make them come true.
Vancouver based 4Real co-founder, Sol Guy emphasizes the importance of dreams, our power to manifest them and ultimately how beneficial it is for us all to make them come true.
Sol Guy, TV Producer + Activist :: 120 Seconds from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
About Sol:
My name is Sol Guy. I'm an artist manager, TV and Film producer. Really I hate titles, what I do best is dream and find ways to make the best of those dreams come true. Sounds corny, but it’s the truth. Our power to manifest change is supreme and infinite.
I get involved in projects as long as I am passionate about them and can say yes to the following questions: Is this project good for people and would my father be proud of it?
Currently I work with K'naan, produce and host a series called 4REAL and I'm developing several film projects.
I have two heroes; they are both separate and they are one. One of them is in my DNA but no longer alive. The other is sixty-seven years old and very much alive. Both live with me every day.
My father's name was William Richard Guy. He was from Kansas City, Missouri and was an only child who never knew his father. I believe that because of that loss in particular, he became a fiercely loyal and outstanding father to my sisters and me. He was not without flaws, but the interesting thing about death is that the very best of you remains once you go. So it is with my memory of my father.
I grew up in a small town called Grand Forks in the interior of BC (light years from Kansas City, but that's another story). My father, my sister Shoshana, and I were the only Black people in the community. In fact, besides a couple of Indian and Chinese families, we were the only people of colour at all. This reality was not lost on my father, and he made sure that we understood from a young age that we were not the same, we were different yet special. He gave me Roots to read when I was 11 and made me write a book report for him. He also told me stories of a great man, another hero of mine to this day with whom we shared an affinity all the way to my Dad's deathbed. That man is The Champ, the greatest, Muhammad Ali! My father was inspired by Ali and made sure that I was aware of the courage, intelligence, talent and unbelievable audacity of The Champ.
Who goes ahead and tells the world they are the greatest? The greatest, that's who. Some scream it, others live it but the most authentic ones BE IT in thoughts and actions. My father challenged me to be the greatest at whatever I did. These two men taught me with their words, and their stature but mostly with their actions. The similarity between them was that they did not do what was popular. They did not go with the crowd. In fact, they went in the farthest lane possible; the lane that is unpopular at times; the lane that is uncertain and the lane in which the only solace is your instinct.
When my father decided he had to leave the U.S. of A. for the unknown of Canada's wilderness, it was because he did not agree with what he was told to be the norm and the right thing to do. He did know that the ghetto and that mentality would most likely kill him. So he left all that he knew behind to step into the unknown. Who does that? Who is that brave? The greatest, that's who. When Ali stepped out as Muhammad Ali the day after he won "The Title" and then went on to declare himself a part of the Nation of Islam and later refuse induction to the US military, he was acting upon his beliefs. Although he is known as a hero for it now, we forget that this was a very unpopular decision at the time. He was hated by both Blacks and Whites. He was denied the ability to earn a living and feed his family. However, these men believed in something else, something higher, themselves and their principles. They also knew that change is constant, undeniable and not easy. In fact, it is the most difficult of circumstances. However, if you embrace change, the world will reveal the most beautiful things the universe has to offer. These men taught me to embrace it.
When my father was on his way out of this life, we sat and talked. I was 25 and scared as hell, but I did what he always told me to do. I kept my head high and my back straight! During those last few days that I sat beside him, it was only right that we passed the time by me reading him chapters from a biography of Ali. Chapter by chapter we sat with the words, which in themselves were not important. The man we loved and the idea of him was paramount and present in that room. I left my father one day promising to come back in a couple of weeks. I took the book and promised to finish it when I returned. We never got a chance to finish it.
I still have that book. It travels with me wherever I go and so do the two of them, Eternal Champions in my heart and mind! When I come to the crossroads and have to make a decision, I ask myself what would they do and would my decision make them proud. Then the choice gets real easy!
For more on Sol Guy check out: 4real.com
Albert Xavier, Filmmaker :: 120 Seconds
With his next film screening at Cannes, Dominican filmmaker Albert Xavier shares the wisdom that if you want to change the world, you need to change yourself first.
With his next film screening at Cannes, Dominican filmmaker Albert Xavier shares the wisdom that if you want to change the world, you need to change yourself first.
Albert Xavier, Filmmaker :: 120 Seconds from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.
About Albert:
Albert Xavier is a prodigy of New York City with the additional benefit of being raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Fused with a sense of diversity and culture, Albert has used his talent in an eclectic mix of artistic expression. Albert Xavier earned his first credits as a television producer with "Fashion Emergency" for E! Entertainment Television and "GalaScene" for Univision Networks in the US and the Caribbean. Albert was also added to the directorial roster of Latin episodic series hit, Resurrection Blvd. (2000) for Showtime Networks.
He produced and directed "Red Passport," which screened at film festivals in more than 45 countries, including Italy, Cuba, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Poland, France, Dominican Republic, Japan, Argentina, Central America and the US. The Dominican feature won the Audience Award at the LaCinemaFe Film Festival at Lincoln Center in New York, and a Special Mention Best Director Award at the Cambridge International Film Festival. Albert has also been awarded the Best Short Film Award for "A Different Man" at The International Film Festival of Belize.
Adding to his success, he has produced and directed a series of short films in 35mm/S16mm film. His short films have been picked up for television broadcast on BET and Bravo networks. In the Latin music recording market, Xavier directed Latin music videos for various artists like: La India, Frankie Negron, King Chango, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Fulanito, Amarfis, Oro Solido and others. His work was honored with The Latin Billboard 2006 awards for “Best Tropical Airplay” for the music video "Lamento Boliviano” performed by merenguero recording artist Amarfis.
The future holds potential for upcoming projects such as the release of the long awaited 35mm short Dominatrix short film, “Closure” starring Michelle Mendez (All My Children, Wake of the Fallen Sun) and Tara Stiles (Enchanted) at film festivals in the fall of 2007. Xavier is in development with screenwriter Sheila Grullon on his second independent feature, “Maria”, a psycho-drama foreign film slated for production this November of 2007 in the Dominican Republic. (Via AlbertXavier.com)
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