LAUNCH PARTY HIGHLIGHTS

The Center’s official launch party was held on February 15th, 2019.  It began in Widener Auditorium at the Penn Museum with the screenings of student films from CEE Faculty Fellow Louis Massiah’s class, "Films of Utility." 

Massiah is the founder and director of Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia.  He is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose innovative approach to documentary filmmaking and community media have earned him numerous honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grant, 1996-2001, two Rockefeller/Tribeca fellowships, and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.  In addition to his many film honors, he was recently charged with creating the film archive for the new Musée des Civilisations Noirs in Dakar, Senegal.  

The launch party then moved to the Upper Egypt gallery for a reception and performances. These performances included a duet by Aimee Cox and Director Deborah Thomas; a performance of the newly released song “Hurricane,” by Vince Anthony (more on him below) and Bridget Ramsey; a bit of juggling by graduate student Juan Castrillon (Music), accompanied on drums by graduate student Jake Nussbaum (Anthropology); some spoken word and rap by former graduate student Osei Alleyne (Anthropology, now at University of the Arts); a rumba band, and a DJ.  You can view a “trailer” of the performances here.  

PROGRAM