The Hope and Freedom Film Festival enters its third year with an impressive turnout in its past, particularly considering its infancy. Having around 300 attendees its first year, that number more than doubled last year when it featured a rather distinctive lineup of films that went beyond the typical film circuit fare.
Established by students and alumni of Cal State Long Beach (CSULB), the goal was and still remains simple: to offer people an opportunity enjoy free movies for a day while fostering discussion, dialogue, and organization for making our world a better place to live. Last year, for example, festival goers were able to interact with Pete Pepper, whose Vietnam War-inspired documentary Killing Memories was hailed last year as a phenomenal documentary.
This year offers two particular highlights: the festival will open with the inaugural Southern California Student Congress, a group of select high school and college students who will debate a topic chosen by the community and public.
The second highlight of this year’s festivities are two particular films, Bringing King to China and Erasing Hate. King is an internationally-recognized documentary from 2011 that examines a young Chinese-American woman’s dream of bringing the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. to her father’s country. Hate offers a chilling yet inspirational portrait of a man who once had his body tattooed head-to-toe in white power and racist ideology — and his trip through removing the tattoos themselves from his body and removing his hate from his thinking.
The festival will take place Saturday, May 12, from 10:00am to 10:00pm at the Art Theatre. Members of the general public may email the festival at hopeandfreedomfi[email protected] for more specific inquiries. For general information about the lineup, trailers, and photos, please visit www.thehfff.org