Sunday, September 20, 2026 - 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Honor the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane's birth with an evening of film and conversation celebrating one of the most influential artists in the history of jazz. Featuring a contemporary short film alongside a landmark independent feature, the program explores Coltrane's artistic legacy and the enduring power of Black music as a force for creativity and cultural change.

Directors Larry Clark and Shahkeem E. Williams will be in conversation with, writer and producer, Dr. Anyabwile Love, moderated by Stephanye Watts of Be Reel Black Cinema Club after the film.

Speakn' Trane (2024): As he prepares to unveil his groundbreaking A Love Supreme album, saxophonist John Coltrane sits for a revealing interview that delves into the innovative rhythms, raw emotions, and profound inspirations behind his transformative musical odyssey, challenging conventions and setting a new creative standard for the genre.
Speakn' Trane Runtime: 19 minutes

Passing Through (1977): After saxophonist Eddie Warmack is released from prison, he seeks the guidance of his grandfather and musical mentor “Poppa” Harris. Both contend with the subjugation of African American music and musicians within a white-controlled industry. With montages of concert footage, archival material, and pure abstraction, Passing Through fuses cinematic form with the kinetic, improvisational, and radical possibilities of jazz, showcased in performances by Eric Dolphy, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Sun Ra.
Passing Through Runtime: 111 minutes

Larry Clark is a filmmaker, painter, and former professor at San Francisco State University. Born in Ohio, Clark relocated to California, where he earned his MFA from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in 1977. Through his filmmaking and painting, Clark has centered Black music as an aesthetic form capable of radical transformation and as a mode of political critique. Celebrated as “the only jazz film in the history of cinema,” his acclaimed feature film Passing Through (1977) has been screened internationally. His other film releases include As Above, So Below (1973) and Cutting Horse (2002).

Dr. Anyabwile Love is a Philadelphia native, received his Ph.D. in African American Studies from Temple University. His most recent completed projects include the short narratives, The Spaces In Between (writer and director) and Speakn’ Trane (writer and producer) His current projects include The Invited (producer, writer and director), an adapted narrative short of Henry Dumas’ “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” as well as Dear Listener, currently a part of Long Wharf Theatre’s “Work In Development” cohort. He has received several funding awards for his current and past writing and film projects. Anyabwile is the founder and creator of The John Coltrane Symposium and former owner of Bailey Street Books. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of Siyabonana: The Journal of Africana Studies and as Associate Editor for the literary journal A Gathering Together. He is a tenured Assistant Professor of Black Studies and History at Community College of Philadelphia.

Stephanye R. Watts is the founder of the BeReelBlack Cinema Club, a group dedicated to amplifying independent, rare + previously inaccessible films by supporting Black filmmakers, one monthly meet-up at a time. BeReelBlack Cinema Club is a longtime Philadelphia Film Society FS collaborator, co-hosting a quarterly series titled Oldies Goodies, programming films spotlighting Black stories from classics to rarely-shown prints.

Shahkeem Williams is an artist and experimental documentary filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. His work combines archival interviews, academic research, autobiographical expression, and performance–poetically exploring themes of trauma and healing, labor, and abolitionist activism across generations. His work has screened nationally and internationally in festivals and broadcast television, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Museum of the City of New York, New York University, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Rockaway Film Festival, Baxter Street Camera Club, Center for Afro-Futurism, BRIC Brooklyn, ARS NOVA, Millennium Film Workshop, and Alfreda Cinema.