A SOLDIER’S STORY (1984) – nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor) – is a psychological tale of internalized hatred and racism in America and the Jim Crow South in 1944. A black Army investigator (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) travels to a segregated Army base run by white officers in rural Louisiana to investigate the suspicious murder of a black sergeant by what appears to be the Ku Klux Klan. Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning “A Soldier’s Play” (which also won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play) by Charles Fuller and directed by Norman Jewison (three time Academy Award nominee (In the Heat of the Night, Fiddler On The Roof, Moonstruck) with music composed by Herbie Hancock, it offered a break out role for a young Denzel Washington, film performance of a lifetime for Adolph Caesar (who won the 1982 Drama League Award for Best Performance in the original production), and a catalyst in the early career of the inimitable Robert Townsend who plays Corporal Ellis.
ROBERT TOWNSEND is an actor, director, comedian, and writer who first hit the big screen as a hoopster in Cooley High. He studied improv at Second City, did stand-up comedy and took on supporting film roles, performed on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and at a pimp convention, until he maxed out his credit cards, wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the comedy classic Hollywood Shuffle. Among other highlights from his 50 years in the business, he directed Eddie Murphy Raw, wrote / produced / directed and starred as one of film's first black superheroes in The Meteor Man, wrote / directed / starred in The Five Heartbeats, created and starred in the long running TV series Parent Hood, is currently the character Emmanuel (aka Sydney’s father) on Emmy-winning The Bear, and currently performing his one man show Living The Shuffle at the Marsh Theater in Berkeley.
ROBERT MAILER ANDERSON is a native San Franciscan and 9th generation Californian, writer, producer, filmmaker, and activist, Anderson's most recent work is the graphic novel "My Fairy Godfather” - dedicated to The Castro Theater. He is also known as "DJ GrampaPhone” - spinning 78 records on his 110 year old gramophone.
“Happy Hour” Gramophone Concert with "DJ GrampaPhone”
Songs from 1944 including, Coleman Hawkins “Drifting On A Reed,” Lester Young, “Sometimes I’m Happy,” Dinah Washington, “Evil Gal Blues” and blues guitar from Mississippi via Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin’ Wolf, and Johnny Lee Hooker….
Free slug of Fogcutter’s Rye while supplies last
6:00 PM - Happy Hour Gramophone Concert with DJ GrampaPhone
7:00 PM - A Soldier’s Story with intro from Robert Townsend
8:45 PM - Q&A with actor / director Robert Townsend and host RMA