S1: It's time for KPBS Midday Edition on today's arts show. We hear about San Diego Black Pride , which kicks off tomorrow. I'm Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired and make you think. San Diego Black Pride celebrates black joy and black queerness in an upcoming festival.
S2: What a great gift to ourselves and to those who came before us to , like , be ten toes down compared to sobbing ourselves in our joy in any space we're in.
S1: Then summer means Shakespeare in San Diego. Our midday movies critics share their favorite Shakespearean film adaptations. That's ahead on Midday Edition. Tomorrow is the kickoff of the fifth annual San Diego Black Pride Festival. The three day event is a celebration of black queerness and joy in San Diego. San Diego Black Pride is dedicated to building safe and affirming spaces for black LGBTQ+ people across the San Diego region. And here to talk more about the festival is president of San Diego Black Pride. Jordan Daniels Jordan , welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. If you can read it , you can always do intros. That'd be amazing.
S1: Every time Jordan enters the room , we give it.
S2: So much better when you do it and I do it. So thank you , thank you.
S1: So walk us through some of the history behind San Diego Black Pride.
S2: We began originally as a project of another organization , like a fiscally sponsored project , and we began originally doing programming , just just focused on black queer men. And then we were became the San Diego Black LGBTQ coalition. And from that work , we decided to really branch out and really serve all genders and all backgrounds of the black , queer and trans experience in San Diego. I joined the board in 2019. Um , like right at the end of the year , beginning of the pandemic , I came on as our communications chairman , was still the coalition , and we were a fiscal sponsor project. Um , and quickly we had to pivot quite a bit because obviously in January 2020 , we had a lot of ideas of what we're gonna do for the year. That changed because the pandemic happened , and so we shifted to a lot of virtual stuff. Um , and my communications work really focused on what our messaging would be. Um , how do we do community town halls online to figure out what our community wants and needs from us , but also knowing that our needs are shifting so much when this pandemic than when it's in real life. And we became we became a nonprofit. If I went to C3 in 2021 , we shift sponsors to the center in San Diego , the LGBT center , and they part of the partnership was that they actually paid for our legal fees to become A51 C3 , which is really amazing. So I give them praise for that type of partnership. And then it would be rebranded as Indigo Black Pride in 2024 one , because the nomenclature of coalition was kind of misleading for people. People were like , who else are you working with ? And the coalition was just us as queer and trans people , but not like a coalition of organizations. So it made more sense to just shift our name to one name of coalition. Also , it's a mouthful to say San Diego Black LGBTQ Plus Coalition , and I am a stutterer , so having to do multiple letters at one time just makes me like , oh , what do I say ? So then you go , black pride rolls off the tongue much better. And we officially became that in 2024.
S1: So you do an annual festival. In addition , you also have several programs , including funds for black LGBTQ plus youth trans folk in San Diego. Tell me more about the work that you've led in this organization and why it's so important , especially now. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So I'll first say that at first I'll give a little background to what our programs are. So we have the annual festival. This year we branched out into doing more , um , small intimate program such as Educational opportunities , financial literacy , a workshop , and then also self-defense workshop. And then our funds really began , um , with our one of our previous presence , Pamela Hollowell , um , who helped us start the Damon J. Scherer Scholarship Fund , which gives black students scholarships as they leave , um , leave high school into university or even transfer from junior college to university , who are based in San Diego , and then also helped launch our Trans Emergency fund , which helps trans folks of any trans spoke with the trans men masculine , transform trans women , um , get access and then made quick access to um , like like hormone replacement therapy treatment. Um , like the like like money , like we're not providing the treatment. We are having them access via that. They need dollars for it , um , a phone bill or housing support. Um , and so Pamela really started started those those funds. We have paused them this year due to a lack of funding. Um , as you imagine , as I imagine , everyone knows , nonprofits are detrimentally hit by the shifts administration , whether the legal shifts that impact us or not , it impacts our funders and our funders are the ones that then control how much money they do or do not give us , or community funding. And so reports that present as we are underfunded but mighty organization. And we're looking at ways to really to reinstate those funds again. But we're looking at , you know , making sure we have money for scholarships and for the emergency fund. I also say , um , while we may not have the fund , we actually have in certain certain instances , and I've done this in our previous presidents who did this as well. To the trans folks who really need emergency support. Um , we do have like we do have like a little bit of discretionary money to support them , which we have done , particularly in the past few this past year , which is helping folks access like , um , access , like , um , paying a bill on time for them , whether it was a part of their rent or , um , or supporting them with a , um , like with a permit for a cell phone or like internet usage. Our other programs are that are educational. So financial literacy was important for us not to imply that black trans folks are potentially liberated. But to really ground ourselves in promoting self-sufficiency for our community and knowing that visual literacy is important to any person , to any demographic. Especially in a world where guerrilla terrorists are affecting us everywhere. It's a joke , but it's true. Like our economy is constantly shifting. So how can our community really be equipped with tools , knowing full well that we face discrimination in bank settings and mortgage settings and vice versa , and then self-defense. Not because we want to support , um , you know , fighting in any way , but knowing that trans women especially face more , um , chances of danger , physical , physical violence.
S1:
S2: So a little background about me. I'm I'm a black Jewish kid from the Bay area , born and raised in East Bay. Shout out to East Bay if anyone's from there. Um , and I grew up in a really multiracial place where everyone around me , especially on my street growing up , was a different culture. So my lens and viewpoint of diversity is so different than when I moved to San Diego , when I moved to San Diego and originally moved to Oceanside in North County in 2018. Sorry , 20. Well , time is a construct. 2012. After high school , I went to school in CSU , Long Beach , Cocoa Beach , and then I moved back in 2018 after my dad passed away. My father passed away and my father was black. And so I feel like I had a bit of a disconnection for my blackness when he passed away at first. I'm one of seven siblings , so I have six siblings up in the bay on my dad's side. A very , very multicultural family as well too. And when we moved , when I moved back to Oceanside , I knew I wanted to find more black community. Long beach had a really amazing community , a really strong queer community. I feel like I found myself and really articulated and shepherd my lens of activism there , what it means to be a black queer person. And then when I moved here , I was working for Jewish organizations. So I found like the completion of all my identities together. But I was still looking for , um , there was not a lot of black spaces in North County. So how do I find that , um , in San Diego and where do I go ? And so I in early 2019 , there was , um , San Diego Pride held a mixer that was with all the , the , the , um , the like the Bipoc spaces. It was Latina coalition capita. Um , which is Asian Pacific Islander. Um , does the American Middle Eastern and then the Black Coalition. And so I met them and I was like , oh , I want to figure out I want to figure out how to join this , knowing that I'll have to drive my my happy self 50 miles , um , every time to go do a programming experience there. And so I found them in 2019 and I went to a few meetings. I was there on weekends , thankfully. And then after like six months of being in the meetings , I was like , I wanted to try and be on a board position , my background , communication. So I knew it was a really quick fit. The president at the time , dementia , who our scholarship was named after , actually. Um , he reached out to me and was like , I think it'd be great to join us. And that's how I got involved.
S1: So let's talk about the festival that's coming up this weekend. You've got some really fun events lined up.
S2: It's going to be a big year. We I'll first say our first two years , we're only one day. Events in the past three years have been Hoboken events. This is our fifth year , fifth year , um , as non-profit and fifth year as our festival. So we are our theme as Fierce and Fearless at five , which is also really timely because we know that we're in a time where people are fearing more to go outside and be their full selves. People are fearing showing up as their fullest queer and trans self , and also celebrating black joy , um , and black experiences. And we centralize your black experiences. So first of all , first I want to say for everyone who wants to come , you don't have to be black to come. Everyone's welcome. Um , we want all folks , black folks and allies to come. Black and brown folks. Um , we even want , we want like , like like our assistant hetero allies as well to to come as long as we all can. Central black experiences about joining that Friday we're doing a mini ball. So we become really known for doing balls.
S1:
S2: So if you don't know what a ball is and you haven't watched the show post or the film Pierce is burning or the show legendary that is on HBO. I will need you to do some digging on Google and find out , but basically a bar. How do I say this in like a brief way ? It's a it's a celebration , one of like resistance and survival balls in the 20s , 40s , 50s and 60s , especially 60s 70s were a place where many black and brown folks , particularly black and brown trans folks who may not have experienced like , life above ground. Right. Because they're also , like , all underground in like , a figurative way. I'm going to come together and celebrate themselves in a safe space because , as we know , public participation as a queer trans person back in those back in those years was very little and very challenging to do without being criminalized or harassed by police. So the ball , the ballroom specifically for , you know , you know , like this population of people to dance , to have fun , to enjoy themselves , but to also like participate in categories , have different categories. You walk categories you can walk on body , you can walk face. You can walk realness. You know , if you're doing real ness , it's like if you're a trans woman , can you will you pass in the world in this way ? If you're walking in executive realness , can you pass in your best CEO attire ? Um , and so we're known for our balls that we have done. Every year we co-host some collaboration with our houses. This year , our ball is being hosted by the incredible ambassador James , who is one of the best drag queens. Um , one of the most amazing drag queens , um , in Hillcrest is actually so many amazing , amazing queens and houses. We always , also always love Strawberry Shortcake as well. Two those are two folks who do work work in our community and hosting this ball. It's the legacy ball. And it's going to be at Gossip Grill , which is one of our strongest partners. And that will be from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. really. Like like you. That's you're coming to that if you want to know what it means to serve face , to serve by you , to walk on this walk a category if you want to. It means to vote down the house boots. If you want to like , go and see a bottle , um , go into people like cheer on and go like work. Yes , that's that's what you'll come for. For that is going to be our back room. We rewind. It will be like a hip hop throwback night at Urban Mo's. It's a great place. Like it's like a lot of people go there for on Sunday , Sundays. So they have great drinks specials , they have great food , they have amazing entertainment. But I think people haven't gone there much to dance. And we want to activate the space to be like the dancing spot , at least for a night of black queer joy. So we're working like twerk offs. We're thinking like being sweaty and just like feeling amazing. The energy be dripping with like , black joy and celebration. So that's going to be a remote from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.. So Sunday , a little controversy at present. So Sunday is our sunset cookout , which is our signature event , and we're really excited for it. We discovered that the venue we were working with didn't have the things that needed to host the event. We originally thought there was one issue that we were able to correct ourselves , then went to the city to like address the issue. It turns out that the issue was actually larger than that , and the venue wasn't forthcoming with us of what that was. And so now we are shifting our venue , which is actually working in our favor. So now we're we just confirmed that we'll be at Rich's on Sunday , which in some cases is actually like kind of a slay because riches is a pinnacle of like the gay nightlife , the queer nightlife here , here in San Diego , they have so many events that happen. I also say Sunday is our biggest event because we have an array of headliners , performers , music artists , poets and DJs , as well as all of our vendors come. So we're having a huge like vendor village that will be there. All that's going to be amazing and fun. You can find information for that on our Instagram , which is Street Pride. You can find us there.
S1: Let's talk more about black Joy , which you said is really front and center for this festival this weekend.
S2: I think one joy needs to be accessed. We're in a time where we're experiencing fear and danger and at heightened levels. I'm not saying we need to access joy as a lens of spiritual bypassing , because I don't believe we don't believe in that , but joy in the sense of like , we're here regardless. Whether you try to vote us out , limit our rights , or limit our access , to participate in the world or in society. We're here. We're going to show up and show out. And so it's important to access that joy because that is the core of who we are. I mean , black folks sense , you know , maybe just think about , like this , the beginning of American history , which a country that we've helped built despite being enslaved to do so and hurt and beat and killed to do so. We've still found spaces to find our joy and to share our joy. So , like , what a great testament of our resilience as a community of people. What a great gift to ourselves and to those who came before us to , like , be ten toes down compared to sobbing ourselves in our joy and any space we're in. And also the joy to do it in Hillcrest. Right ? Hillcrest is is is is the neighborhood , the queer space ? It's also been a space that historically been really white and , you know , and non-black in some , some cases like like really not black affirming in some cases like black harming. And so we get to really shift the paradigm in , in this area to say this is a black space , we deserve to be here , celebrate ourselves and be as joyous and amazed and loud and fun as possible.
S1: Well , the San Diego Black Pride Festival is happening this weekend , August 8th , ninth , and 10th. You can find more details at KPBS. I've been speaking with San Diego Black Pride president Jordan Daniels. And Jordan , thank you so much for joining us.
S2: Andrea , thank you so much to for having me. Thank you all for having us and uplifting us and giving us a platform to share about our work is a huge gift. I love KPBS. I really love what you all do. Listen to all of your podcasts. It means a lot to be here today. And thank you for your time.
S1: Up next , culture , romance and star crossed lovers clash in Gold Coast Dilemma , the latest novel from author Nana malone.
S3: For them , in that kismet moment , they see , like , you know , a little star crossed thing like , oh , I see you when you see me , and this could be great. And then , you know , as the author , I make bad things happen to them.
S1: Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to Midday Edition. I'm Andrew Bowen , sitting in for Jade Hindman.
S4: Brush up your Shakespeare. Start quoting him now. Brush up your Shakespeare and the women you will. Wow. Just to claim a few lines from Othello and I'll think you're a heck of a fella. If your blonde won't respond when you flatterer , tell her what pony told Cleopatra. And if still to be shocked , she pretends well. Just remind her that all's well that ends well. Brush up your Shakespeare and all our Town.
S1: That was a bit of brush up your Shakespeare from the musical Kiss Me , Kate. Well , summer means Shakespeare in San Diego. The Old Globe just opened a production of The Comedy of Errors , inspired by a 90s soundtrack , and a new company called The Queen's Men is doing an all female version of Julius Caesar. So that prompted our midday movie's critics to create a list of some unconventional Shakespeare film adaptations. I'd once again like to welcome KPBS , Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando and movie Wallace podcaster Yazdi. Welcome to both of you.
S5: Thank you so much.
S6: Thank you.
S1: So we've had literally centuries to come up with all sorts of adaptations , reimagination of Shakespeare's plays.
S5: You can't be making it just because you want to do a Shakespeare adaptation , or you think it's going to be financially beneficial. You have to know why you're doing it. What are the themes that attract you ? Is this is Shakespeare something you've loved all your life ? Do you want to make it accessible to a new audience ? Do you feel there's a new reason to tackle hamlet this year ? So I think that's the key to make it work. And then from there , anything is possible. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S6: And then I find out much later that that was a Shakespeare adaptation. So I love it when a movie is so seamlessly integrated to a different time , and it still manages to kind of exemplify some of the themes from the original play , be it social commentary about class or gender or what have you.
S1: I think most people know back in Shakespeare's times , all of these plays were performed exclusively by men. But as I mentioned in the intro , There is a new company doing all female version of Julius Caesar. Beth , tell us more about the Queens men.
S5: Sure , this is a brand new company performing at Trinity Theatre , and there are a pair of 19 year old women who are putting on a show. They have adapted Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to feature an all female cast because they wanted to set it in contemporary times and in the world of women's soccer. So I'm going to have more about this next week. But it's kind of exciting and I got to see a little bit of it and it was quite intriguing.
S1: And Yazdi. August 15th is Indian Independence Day , so a good time to be thinking about Indian cinema. Give us a bit of background behind Indian Independence Day first. Yes.
S6: Yes. So the Indian Independence Day , which happens on August 15th every year , it commemorates India's freedom from British rule in 1947. And it's important not to confuse it with another Indian holiday , which is the Indian Republic Day , which is also celebrated on January 26th every year. But that marks the adoption of the Indian Constitution for the first time , which happened in 1950.
S1: So you have two Indian Shakespeare films to share with us today. The first is an adaptation of The Comedy of Errors. Tell us about this. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. So this is a movie from 1982 , and it's a movie called Anger or Grapes , and it is a pretty free adaptation of The Comedy of Errors , which of course is about two pairs of twins who get separated at birth and they come together in all kinds of chaos ensues. What I really like about this movie is that it takes its time to build the plot , and then in the last half , just descends into pure mayhem. And unlike kind of rather broad slapstick humor , this movie kind of focuses on very dry dialogue , which is smart and clever. And , you know , it's not a very shouty movie. It's a very quiet movie , but the dialogue is so good and the actors are so stellar at what they're doing that you just burst into laughs all the time. And here's a clip from one of the musical numbers in the film.
S7: Danny da. Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da.
S1: And there are actually quite a few Indian adaptations of the Bard. Beth. Tell us your favorite. Sure.
S5: Sure. And since we're in a studio and not in a theater , I can freely say that Macbeth is my favorite Shakespeare play. There is a curse assigned to that name.
S1: But that's right. We got to call it the Scottish play.
S8: The Scottish play if you're in a theatre.
S5: Or else you have to like spin three times and find a virgin or something to do something anyway. Macbeth is this intense , lean , bloody play. I love it and there are so many adaptations of it. In fact , all of my picks today are going to be variations on Macbeth. But there is an Indian version called Maqbool , which is set in Mumbai. It's kind of a Mumbai noir film. It's set in the world of crime. It's a little slow to start. As one might expect , there are a lot of musical numbers in this , and here is one that kind of kicks it off. Maybe.
S7: Maybe.
S5: But once it dives into the meat of Macbeth , it picks up and it delivers a truly effective murder to set the whole plot in motion. And the film is great because it makes a cultural translation of the play. So we don't have this kind of British royal political maneuvering. Instead , there's a lot of family and melodrama. And Macbeth is kind of driven more by sexual desire or lust , as opposed to ambition for power. But once it gets going , the murder itself is really well done , and the sense of how these murders haunt him and this visual theme of blood is played out so well in the film. And of course you have Irrfan Khan with those big sad eyes. And he's great as Maggie Poole , who is manipulated by a sort of Lady Macbeth character. And again , it's more of a sexual temptation that he's taunted by , as opposed to a strict play for power. But I really enjoyed this version of Macbeth.
S6: And both the filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj , who made Maqbool , also did two other Indian adaptations of Shakespeare's plays Omkara , which is an adaptation of Othello , and Hyder , which is an adaptation of hamlet , and they are all worth seeking out.
S5: I want to do a series of Indian Shakespeare.
S1: Like , yeah , it's a whole genre of itself , apparently. Yes. Well , Beth , I know you love your dark , bloody tragedies , Yazdi. You've got a cheerier Shakespeare option to share with us. And it's another comedy.
S6: It is. It's the movie. Ten things I Hate About You , which came out in 1999. It's streaming on Hulu. Shockingly , it was the first feature from filmmaker Gil Junger , and it starred a string of baby faced actors , including Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles. I mean , you have to see them. They look like kids. I rewatched this movie just this week , and a 25 years later , it still holds up remarkably well. The filmmaker takes a lot of liberty with the original Shakespeare script , but puts it within the context of a high school , and there's just enough touches that you can recognize. It's a Shakespeare adaptation. The school is called Padua. The the last name of the male lead is Verona , and it's Stratford for for the two other girls. And it's a delightful little movie which holds up remarkably well. And if folks haven't seen it , they really ought to check it out. And here is the clip from the movie , which comes rather late , and it kind of explains the title for the movie.
S9: I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare. I hate your big dumb combat boots. And the way you read my mind. I hate you so much it makes me sick. It even makes me rhyme. I hate it , I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh. Even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you're not around. And the fact that you didn't call. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close. Not even a little bit. Not even at all.
S1: What a touching moment. Well , Beth , you actually have a funny adaptation of Macbeth that you want to highlight.
S5: So this is a marvelous film called Scotland PA , and it transfers the Scottish play to Scotland , Pennsylvania in the 1970s. And the power play is set in the world of fast food , and there's a white trash slacker who is egged on by his ambitious wife to overthrow the fast food king , Duncan. So with Macbeth , there are the golden arches of Macbeth in this fast food empire that they create. It's a really inventive , creative fun , but it's also spot on in terms of the themes , this idea of ambition and a marital relationship and the intimacy of that. And there's some funny bits where , you know , The Tomorrow and Tomorrow's speech is a self-help tape that plays out in a car.
S10: Tomorrow is tomorrow. Tomorrow is not today. Today is who I am.
S5: But you have Christopher Walken.
S11: Who ? Tom Macduff. I'm here to drop off my cards , which are on the coffee table next to my wife's Baba Ganesh.
S5: And the witches are now hippy dippy flower children.
S10: It was. Foul.
S11: Foul.
S12: The foul was foul.
S8: And the fair was fair.
S9: Fouls fair.
S12: The fair is foul.
S10: My ass hurts.
S12: I don't think that would work. She's having a spell.
S10: Oh , God. So dramatic.
S1: And that was from Scotland , PA a yazdi. I hear you have a zombie Shakespeare film to recommend. Tell us about this , please.
S6: So God help us all. I am recommending a movie about zombies , but I really have a soft spot for Warm Bodies , which is an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. It came out in 2013 and it's streaming on Amazon Prime. This is one of the movies where I watched it. I didn't even realize it was based on Romeo and Juliet , but it imagines Romeo as a zombie who is falling in love with a living girl.
S13: What am I doing with my life ? I'm so pale. I should get out more. I should eat better. My posture is terrible. I should stand up straighter. People would respect me more if I stood up straighter. What's wrong with me ? I just want to connect. Why can't I connect with people ? Oh , right. It's because I'm dead.
S6: And Nicholas Hoult. Yes. That Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer are so well cast as the leads in this movie. There is even a serenading scene on the balcony from Romeo and Juliet.
S8:
S14:
S8: Ah ! You can't just do that. It's dangerous. Riggio. Shut up ! I'm trying to sleep. Uh , sorry. Jesus are. Are you crazy ? The people here , they're not like me. If they see you , you will get killed.
S1: Well , Beth , close us out here. You have one last Macbeth film that you want to share. Yes.
S5: Yes. And so this is another foreign adaptation. This is Kurosawa's epic Throne of Blood. And here's a little bit of the music to kind of set the tone for the film. Oh.
S4: Oh. 000. 000.
S5: As with Maqbool , this is a cultural translation rather than just a literal one. And a key thing has to do with the end. And spoiler alert , if you're not aware of how Macbeth ends , it ends badly for our title character. But in England , beheading was a sign of disgrace. And so that's how they choose to end Macbeth's life. And in Kurosawa's film , that doesn't translate exactly the same. So there is a scene at the end where he dies in battle with arrows , and that is considered more of a disgrace than a beheading would have been. So what's particularly effective in this film , I think , is Kurosawa's take on the supernatural. So Macbeth is famous for its witches , and Macbeth is haunted by these ghosts , and Kurosawa handles that really well. And I think what this shows is how kind of malleable Shakespeare is , and how universal his themes are , the things he talks about in terms of power and love and ambition and greed and all these things are so fundamental to human nature that they can play out anywhere. And I just love how people can tackle this in so many different ways. And each one of those succeeds in different ways and kind of highlights different aspects of the play. And as someone who loves Shakespeare , I just adore seeing this kind of diversity.
S1: Well , I want to thank our Midday movies critics for their unconventional Shakespeare recommendations. I've been speaking with KPBS , Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando , and the movie Wallace Yazdi. Thank you so much for joining us.
S5: Thank you.
S6: Thank you Andrew.
S1: And let's go out with a little bit more of brush up your Shakespeare from the musical Kiss Me. Kate.
S10: Kate.
S4: Brown of.
S15: Your Shakespeare. Stop quoting him now of your Shakespeare and the women you will. Wow.
S16: If your girl goal is a Washington Heights dream.
S15: Treat the kid to a midsummer Night's Dream. If she then wants an all by herself night.
S16: Let her rest that 11th or 12th night. If because of your heat , she gets huffy.
S15: Simply play on and lay on McDuffie on your back now and they'll all come out for suit and they'll all come out.
S16: Thanks , Thao.
S15: And they'll all come out. How we travel and they're all down town.
S1: And that's our show for today. I'm your host , Andrew Bowen in for Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening to Midday Edition. Have a great day.
