ONCE WORD spread that legendary actress Pam Grier—the star of films such as Foxy Brown and Jackie Brown—was coming to the Portland Black Film Festival for a Q&A and a screening of her 1973 blaxploitation landmark Coffy, tickets for that showing sold like hot buttered biscuits. What a wonderful “Happy Black History Month” gift to us from David F. Walker, the festival’s curator.
“The first show was already sold out. We had to add a second show,” Walker says. “I’ve met so many people over the years whose work has inspired and entertained me, but [Pam]’s one of the few that I’ve never met. And just the opportunity to have a conversation with her, and the challenge of not becoming a total geek [or] total fanboy while we’re on stage together is... that in and of itself is, ‘Hey, that’s a challenge worth taking! Let’s see if I can do that!’”
Even if you’re not one of the lucky individuals who will get to bask in Grier’s glorious presence, there are still A LOT of great films you should see this month. “The one I think I want everyone in the world to see is I Am Not Your Negro, which is Raoul Peck’s film about James Baldwin,” Walker says, citing Baldwin as one of his favorite writers.