Finding My Wings Again

View this email in your browser Finding My Wings Again... Last year ended with me relocating back to Los Angeles and intensely focusing on my Film and Television career. It’s a curious feeling to return to a place where a version of yourself once inhabited. Im clear that I’ve changed a great deal in my time away from Los Angeles. It's been a wondrously jarring experience to reconnect with people and places, while filtering through all of the changes. Sometimes I can see and sense the old laying just under the new and different. All observed through a version of me that continues to be shaped by my relationship with South Africa.               I’ve just recently returned from attending Sundance and a trip to South Africa. It’s been over 10 year since I was last in Park City, Utah.This time around I was looking to reconnect with some folks as an actor and producer, as well as build new relationships to support a couple of projects that I’m producing with Cedric Reynolds under our 3600 Media banner. Right now we are working with writers: Rene Rawls “The Big League” (Feature Film); Nichole M. Palmer “Battling T’Khan” (Feature Film) and Perivi Katjavivi (Untitled Feature Film). I’ll keep ya’ll posted as things develop. South Africa was an intense ten days that found me consumed with administration, development and trainings for WE ARE HERE. In my last communication I told you that WE ARE HERE, had been selected in partnership with SisterLove Inc. as aDREAMS Innovation Challenge Winner! Well the hard work has begun! WE ARE HERE has expanded its curriculum and is a part of a suite of innovations that are collectively called iSTARSHIPP. While in South Africa we onboarded five new facilitators, three of which are WE ARE HERE Alumni. We explored a new five day curriculum to determine its cultural competency, assess how to weave in biomedical and HIV/AIDS information and determine the effectiveness of the various models. It’s exciting and humbling to see what started as a one man show grow into an initiative that will impact men, boys and their partners nationally and globally!   Up Next: I’ll once again be at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) presenting a workshop at the American Men’s Studies Association’s Twenty-Fifth Conference on Men and Masculinities, March 30 through April 2, 2017. The workshop: "Intersectional Invisibility-A Conversation on Identity/Gender" will be presented in collaboration with Dwayne R. Brown, MSW. I’ve been invited to perform WE ARE HERE at the NATIONAL BLACK BOX PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL from APRIL 6 - 9, 2017 in Memphis, Tennessee. If you happen to be in Stockholm, Sweden support my filmThe Unseen at theCinemAfrica Film Festival (February 22nd - 26th). This unassuming powerhouse of a film was written and directed by Perivi Katjavivi (Namibia). The film has been screening at festivals across the globe. Also, we now have a sales agent for the film: Flourishing Films! I’m so excited about the future of this film and our growing relationship with Flourishing Films. Things I’m Learning and Sharing: “Forgiveness is not a sacrifice, but a gateway to freedom and abundance” -A. Lyons “It s a joyous experience to be a wide open student” -A. Lyons   “Approaching life as if I know nothing has given me the gift of failing successfully” -A. Lyons   Catch you on the road and in the wind!   Antonio David Lyons Unfolding more like a conversation than a narrative, The Unseen follows the story of three wandering souls as they navigate the emotional and physical realities of post-colonial Namibia. First there is Marcus, an African American actor tasked with portraying one of Namibia s historical leaders. Seeking authenticity in his craft, he embarks on an earnest research mission to unveil the true history of his character. Then there is Anu, a talented local musician who is having trouble negotiating between his influences and identity. Lastly, there is Sara, a depressed young woman uncertain of whether or not her environment provides anything worth living for. The Unseen (Namibia)  Director: Perivi Katjavivi  Starring: Antonio David Lyons, Senga Brockerhoff, Mathew Ishitile  Festivals/Screenings Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles (World Premiere) | African Perspectives, Oshakati, Namibia (African Premiere) | Luxor African Film Festival, Egypt | Pan African Film Festival, Cannes, France | Durban International Film Festival, South Africa (Official Competition) | African Perspectives, Alte Feste Colonial Fort, Windhoek, Namibia | Busan International Film Festival, South Korea (October) | Cambridge African Film Festival (Opening film) (October) | Joburg Film Festival, South Africa (November) Copyright © | 2016 | Antonio David Lyons |, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*