The amazing Grace Jones
The documentary “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” opened in New York theaters last week — offering an intimate look at the Jamaica-born superstar who morphed from a supermodel into a singer/actress over than four decades.
The Sophie Fiennes-directed film looks beyond the performer’s imaginative costumes, sensuality and genderbending mystique. The documentary — that premiered last fall in Europe — has made its way theaters in the New York area as part of the American debut. For a limited time, the film can be seen at BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn and in Manhattan at Metrograph on the Lower East Side and the Film Society Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Cen- ter.
Visit www.gracejonesmovie.com for tickets and information.
Mother’s Day calypso and soca
In the tradition of the pioneering holiday tributes by promoter Isaac McLeod, the 38th annual Mother’s Day Show — starring Super Blue, Helon Francis, Farmer Nappy, Natasha Wilson, Dr. Whitty and others — comes to Restoration Plaza, Under the Tent, 1368 Fulton St. on May 13, at 5 p.m.
For tickets and information, contact Monica Gill by email gllmonica@yahoo.com, call (917) 428-9942 or call McLeod at (917) 447-2323.
A chat with Harry Belafonte
“A Conversation with Harry Belafonte,” covering the amazing life of this Caribbean-rooted performer and activist, will be held Saturday, part of the monthlong 2018 Red Bull Music Festival New York.
The event — taking place in the main theater of Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 6 p.m. — is copresented with Jill Newman Productions and all ticket sales revenue will be donated to Belafonte’s Sankofa, social justice organization.
Writer/activist Kimberly Drew will hold the discussion with Belafonte, who originally gained fame as a recording artist. As a performer, his 1956 “Calypso” album, took the world by surprise, becoming the first million-selling album by a single artist in music history.
In the 1950s and 1960, Belafonte supported the growing civil rights movement and the work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Belafonte's post-civil rights era accomplishments include organizing the Grammy Awardwinning “We Are the World” project supporting humanitarian aid from the U.S. to Africa; pushing for changes in American foreign policy; and creating his social justice-focused Sankofa organization.
For tickets to the Belafonte talk or other festival happenings, visit nyc.redbullmusicfestival.com.
A Haiti culture “Selebrasyon!”
The Haiti Cultural Exchange's vibrant and infectious “Selebrasyon!” festival of Haitian culture returns to New York this year with a lineup of 25 dynamic music, dance, cinema, dance, literature and visual arts events throughout May and June.
The Haitian roots group Boukman Eksperyans and musician Paul Beaubrun open the “Selebrasyon!” festival on May 17 at Shapeshifter Lab, 18 Whitwell Place (between Carroll and First Sts.) in Brooklyn, at 8 p.m. An opening night pre-concert VIP reception, from 6 p.m. will benefit the Exchange's “Ti Atis” (Little Artists) after-school program at P.S. 189 in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
For the full schedule of events, visit www.haiticulturalx.org/selebrasyon. Get information on Selebrasyon! sponsorship opportunities, call (347) 565-4429 or email info@haiticulturalx.org.