Tickets: $25 (includes one free cocktail)
Important Information:
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
Genre: Film
Conversation, Entertainment
Queen of Glory
Writer, first-time feature director, and star Nana Mensah (Netflix’s The Chair and NBC’s New Amsterdam) provides a rare glimpse into New York’s Ghanaian-American community in this charming slice-of-life dramedy. A scientist set to leave the city with her married boyfriend must cope with the death of her mother, cultural expectations, and the journey of self discovery that are at once deeply rooted in her Ghanaian-American experience, yet universal in nature.
Having been hailed as “a witty, compassionate ode to immigrant daughters in the Bronx” (The Hollywood Reporter) when it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021, this winning indie film from an original voice on the cinematic scene comes to the Apollo’s intimate Soundstage. In addition to the film screening, this social gathering allows for audience response with cocktails, a live DJ, and a post-show conversation with ImageNation’s founder Moikgantsi Kgama and the filmmakers. This program will be taking place on the Apollo’s Soundstage.
Africa Now Festival
Music and entertainment from the continent continues to drive trends across all facets of culture around the globe. The Apollo’s Africa Now! Festival returns for its eighth year to celebrate the best cultural innovators from the African Diaspora.
About ImageNation
ImageNation Cinema Foundation is an innovative Harlem-based non-profit created to develop cinemas and audiences for independent films and music, that depict the global Black experience. ImageNation’s goal is to empower Black communities by presenting a variety of public programs that foster media equity, media literacy, solidarity, cross-cultural exchange and highlight the humanity of Pan-African people worldwide. ImageNation has presented internationally in South Africa, Scotland and Canada; and domestically at Harvard University, MASS MOCA, Lincoln Center and in Dallas, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Baltimore, MD, Chicago, Ill, Indianapolis, IN, and Washington DC. Programs have featured appearances by luminaries such as Spike Lee, Lee Daniels, Ava DuVernay, Stanley Nelson, Ruby Dee, Erykah Badu, Chuck D, Raoul Peck, India. Arie and many others. ImageNation is a founding partner in AFFRM, a national film distribution collective, founded by Ava DuVernay.
For the safety of our audiences and staff, all ticketholders and attendees of this event must provide proof of vaccination in order to enter the theater. In addition, all attendees are required to wear face coverings while inside the theater. Click here for more information about our COVID safety policies.
Panelists
Jamund Washington
Jamund Washington
Producer
Jamund Washington is a NYC-based film and television writer and producer. His producing work includes the 2016 Emmy Award-nominated television film, Silenced, the SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner, Gimme the Loot, and the Netflix original, Tramps, which he also co-wrote. Most recently, he produced Queen of Glory and Italian Studies, both of which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2021, the former winning Best Narrative Director and earning a 2022 Independent Spirit Award nomination. Washington is Head Writer and Executive Producer on the Showtime Series Ziwe, as well as HBO’s Peabody award-winning series Random Acts of Flyness.
Meeko Gattuso
Meeko Gattuso
Actor
Depicting Pitt in Queen of Glory, Meeko Gattuso is also known for Night Rapper (2021), The Monster (2016), King Jack (2015) and Gimme the Loot (2012). He also portrayed Mouse in Euphoria.
Moikgantsi Kgama (Moderator)
Moikgantsi Kgama (Moderator)
ImageNation, Founder & Executive Director
Moikgantsi Kgama an audience development specialist with a reputation for excellence in her field. Her credits include: I WILL FOLLOW, Academy Award-nominated TROUBLE THE WATER, KILLER SHEEP and LUMUMBA to name a few. She founded the ImageNation Cinema Foundation, a Harlem-based nonprofit media arts organization on 1997. ImageNation presents progressive media by and about people of color, with the goal of establishing a chain of art-house cinemas dedicated to these works. Through a variety of public exhibitions and programs, ImageNation fosters media equity, media literacy, solidarity, cross-cultural exchange and highlights the humanity of Pan-African people worldwide. Moikgantsi’s accolades include being named one of 25 Women Who Are Shaping the World by Essence Magazine, received the Trailblazer Award from Reel Sisters Film Festival and a proclamation from the City of New York for her work with ImageNation. Moikgantsi earned a BS in Newspaper Journalism from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Nana Mensah
Nana Mensah
Director / Writer / “Sarah Obeng”
Nana Mensah is a Ghanaian-American writer, director, producer, and actress. Upcoming, Mensah will star in Queen of Glory, which she also wrote, produced, and directed. Queen of Glory will premiere in the U.S. Narrative Competition lineup at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 15, 2021 as a part of their Juneteenth programming. This film also marks Mensah’s directorial feature debut. On August 20, 2021, Mensah will appear in a series regular role opposite Sandra Oh and Bob Balaban in Netflix’s upcoming six-episode half hour comedy series The Chair. This Fall, Mensah is attached to reprise her role in the Off-Broadway play Nollywood Dreams. Most recently, Mensah was a staff writer on Season 2 of Random Acts of Flyness at HBO and is currently staff writing on Amazon’s The Power. She also co-wrote and co-starred in Season 2 of Netflix’s Bonding. Previous film credits include: IFC’s Farewell Amor (which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival), Like Father, The King of Staten Island, and the upcoming A24 film After Yang. Previous TV credits include: Madame Secretary, Evil, Little America, New Amsterdam and 13 Reasons Why.