One of the most highly anticipated films and one of the biggest hits at the recent LA Film Festival was THE HOUSE ON COCO ROAD an intimate portrait of Fannie Haughton, an activist and teacher who moves her children from Oakland, California to participate in the Grenada Revolution – only to find her family in harms way of a U.S. military invasion. This film is her son, Damani Baker's search for historical and emotional truth that will confirm his mother's place in American history. With an original music score by Meshell Ndegeocello, Baker crafts a complex exploration of freedom and the women who dream of a more sustainable and livable world.

Hassan Hajjaj, considered "the Andy Warhol of Morocco," paints a more complex vision of contemporary Islamic gender roles. Following up on his stereotype-shattering photography series 'Kesh Angels," the artist documents "A Day In The Life Of Karima: A Henna Girl." The Marrakesh-set documentary follows Hajjaj's favorite 'Kesh Angel' character: Karima who is a mother, wife, henna artist, local icon and graduate of what he calls "Jamaa Fena: the university of street life."

Kyp Malone (TV On The Radio) joins Okolona (Adriana Atema) and Erin Durant on their USA tour featuring their ¾ size upright piano playing solo sets creating intimate sweet erie country folks songs that are momentous and one-and-only.

A French-Ivorian, who grew up in upper class French society unpacks socio-economic privilege and racial discrimination in France today. Too Black To Be French? centers the question of how nationalism violently and discriminately aims to trump race, culture, and history to maintain a mirage of sovereignty. The event invites participants to dialogue with 3ft x 6ft water color portraits and carry this discussion into the questions and testimonies presented in the film.

One of the Arab world's most transformative leaders, a young Egyptian army officer, leads a coup against his king, winning the support of millions of his countrymen. Over the next 18 years he becomes the most powerful leader of the Arab world, transforming it forever. Now that world confronts his legacy. Work began on the project before the January 2011 uprisings in Egypt and continued filming through General Sisi’s first year in power.

Oakland artists take on a massive mural downtown, only to find themselves at the center of gentrification and a cultural resiliency debate. The evening includes a dance performance by Dance-A-Vision, and a preview of Spencer Wilkinson’s documentary “Alice Street,” an in-depth look at culture keepers from two disparate communities connected through a mural which becomes a symbol of resilience in the fight against displacement, as the corner of Alice and 14th Sts. becomes ground zero for gentrification.

Yrsa Daley-Ward is a model, actor and writer of mixed West Indian and West African heritage. Born to a Jamaican mother and a Nigerian father, Yrsa was raised by her devout Seventh Day Adventist grandparents in the small town of Chorley in the North of England. Yrsa interweaves her experience to fuse poetry with theatre, music and storytelling. She travels a lot, grasping for that illusive thing known as Good Mental Health, and has published two collections: On Snakes and Other Stories, and Bone.

What does it mean to be self? What does it mean to be other? We invite you to engage in an alternate reality experience. Rather than focus on the notion of finding your separate place within the group, we move beyond the polarity mindset of this or that to explore the paradox of the relative and the absolute. Meaning, we are separate individuals and we are the entire universe at the same time. This performance requires active deep listening and the ability to temporarily suspend any judgment. Please join us.

Alongside Fatoumata Diawara – the young shooting star of the global pop scene – we travel through breath-taking landscapes and discover Mali’s agitated heart from Bamako in the Southwest to the “Festival au Désert“ in northern Timbuktu. Fatoumata Diawara symbolizes a young generation of African women: energetic, strong-minded, confident and politically engaged. Her idea is to arrange a “Mali All Stars Orchestra” which would play a concert at Festival au Désert“ in Timbuktu.

As a revolution sweeps through the area, Ragdha and Amer, who met in a Syrian prison cell, find their love challenged by circumstance. Filmed over 5 years, "A Syrian Love Story" is an intimate and unusually poignant love story from the epicentre of the war, about two people who love each other and their country more than anything else. Armer and Raghda's history is an important and deeply personal reminder that behind every news item there are people just like ourselves.

"The Lover, The Love & The Beloved" is a love poem. It is a love poem about someone, it is a love poem about love itself as the why/how the universe was created and the why/how it is sustained. It is an epic poem that I have been writing for 6 years now. The most challenging verses I've ever encountered to write. I want to share the process because in the affair of love, the most crucial element, besides love itself, is courage.

Ayibobo! is a Haitian colloquialism spoken in joy to exclaim glory or hallelujah! After three evenings of arthouse music, film & performance the MATATU Festival of Stories leads its closing day festivities with an afternoon of great music, new connections, and thoughtful conversation led by some of the world’s leading Afrofurists, Creators and Spiritual Practitioners. Conversations include "New Creatives & The Power of Imagination" and "Emotional Intelligence: How Energy is the New Currency."

Courtney Henry & Jeffrey Van Sciver perform a pas de duex from Alonzo King's work "Biophony" which premiered at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in April 2015. This work was a collaboration with natural soundscape artist Bernie Krause and composer Richard Blackford, who worked with King to compose a ballet score from several rare habitats around the globe, both marine and terrestrial.

During the Ferguson protests in 2014, King Britt produced an impromptu performance for Black Lives Matter in St. Louis and in 2015 revisited the presentation in Rotterdam. Utilizing found sounds, dispatch recordings from police communication, and original sound design, King Britt presents To Unprotect & Subserve in Oakland, California.