Who is Storm Saulter?

A writer, cinematographer, visual artist and film director of the revered new film Better Mus' Come, Storm Saulter is also the co-founder of the inspiring New Caribbean Cinema (www.newcaribbeancineam.com), a collective of young, up and coming directors making projects using a communal filmmaking concept.

Born in Negril, Jamaica, Storm traveled to L.A. to study film at the Los Angeles Film School, graduating in 2001. Since then he has developed an impressive resume including clients such as Red Bull, Red Stripe, Atlantic Records, Martha Stewart, The Hilton, the prestigious Sandals Resort International and one of our nation's most recognized brands, Roots.

His skillful imagery has also appeared in iconic magazines, Rolling Stone & The Village Voice. Some of the visuals you may be familiar with include videos for Wayne Marshall and Mavado's "My Heart", Taurus Riley's "Shaka Zulu Pickney" and the Weeknd's "Wicked Games."

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The accomplished young director received the 2011 Jamaica Gleaner Honour Award for his work in developing his native country's film industry and has recently been recognized as one of Jamaica's most influential people.

In Toronto this week to premiere his debut film Better Mus' Come at TIFF Bell Lightbox as part of this year's CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival (click here for full details), Storm will also be showcasing exclusive artwork and inspiration from Better Mus' Come at Roots Bloor St. and at Manifesto Presents: A Talk With... Storm Saulter.

Thursday, February 2
A Talk With... Storm Saulter
Manifesto HQ
37 Bulwer Street
7-9pm
Cost: Pay What You Can
RSVP Necessary: rsvp@themanifesto.ca

Friday, February 3
Poster and Art from Better Mus' Come
Roots Flagship Store
100 Bloor St. West
5-8pm
Cost: FREE

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All hoods were put up for auction during The Movement All Styles Dance Tribute and Floor Awards. Big Love for Fly Lady Di and Jon Drops Reid for creating an incredible event to house the All Good Exhibit. Every hood was bought with big thanks going out to the whole Scion community for making that happen. The auction raised nearly $4500 for Manifesto.

Film "Hip Hop is Bigger Than The Occupation"

The Toronto Palestine Film Film Festival went down this month between September 30 and October 7th, and Manifesto was priviledged to co-present their final film screening of Hip Hop is Bigger than the Occupation.

The screening was the debut of the film in Toronto, and through the art form of hip hop, explained the situation of the various Palestinian territories and how they are affected by the Israeli occupation.

Shadia Mansour, M1 of dead prez, and Lowkey out of the UK, all heavyweight emcees on a global scale, travelled to the West Bank along side others including NYC based DJ Vega Benetton, Mazzi of Jersey City's S.O.U.L. Purpose Crew, Bronx community organizer and activist MC Marcel Cartier, and Chicago based University of Hip Hop. The trip was organized by political organization Existence Is Resistance (EIR), and connected this forward thinking collective of hip hop minds to some of most captivating and resilient individuals in the West Bank.

While focusing on music throughout, and the collectives performances, the clear takeaway from this film was the impact of the communities had on these artists, as opposed to the artists having a major impact on the community. The artist performances did have an amazing way of bringing the community together, as well as a way to captivate the younger kids in each territory.

After Party

The Toronto Palestine Film Festival concluded with a great event at The Pilot Tavern, featuring performances by Shadia Mansour, S.O.U.L. Purpose, Yaseen iVoice and Mazzi and on the 1s and 2s was DJ Leila P. The crowd was live and hype as the performers were. Shadia had us raising our peace signs in the air as she laid it down with her irresistibly powerful voice that seems like it was made for MC'ing.

See our previous post on this event.

Click Continued to see photos from the event.

See how some artists and musicians in hip hop have taken part in the recent Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City. There have been a few more celebrity appearances, some just checking out the scene and others in full support of the movement, but in this particular post we focus on hip hop artists and their perspectives.

Lupe Fiasco speaks as he hung out with the crowd at Occupy Wall St.

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Immortal Technique comments on Occupy Wall Street

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To hear more from Talib Kweli, and Russell Simmons (on behalf of Kanye West) or to share your thoughts in our comments section, please click Continued...

Talib Kweli comments on the role of celebrities with the movement

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Russell Simmons and Kanye West

This video is a little chaotic and totally amateur but it got a very REAL look into what the vibe was like when Russell and Kanye were amongst the People on Wall St. Russell's formal comment doesn't start until 3:50 and he says a few more words at 6:38 to the person who took this video.

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A call for protest for Occupy Bay St.has been made for this Saturday, October 15th. Check the FB event here for Occupy Toronto.

What do you think of the vibe and reaction of protestors having these more high profile celebrities coming to see what's going on at Occupy Wall St.? What are your reactions to these artists' comments? Do you feel that Toronto should have an Occupy Toronto protest?

We want to hear your thoughts!

"Keep your coins, I want CHANGE." - piece by Banksy

A lovely friend and supporter of Manifesto, Jamaias DaCosta recently wrote a piece that struck a chord with the Manifesto crew. The current events in New York with Occupy Wall Street and now Occupy [insert city or street name], as it continues to expand, has been exploding on the news channels and social media outlets. Whether the mainstream media coverage is adequate or truthful in its representation of what's going on in these protests is one debate. Another perspective that Jamaias brings in her letter to Capitalism, is that this is in no way, a "new" battle against the powers that be. This land has "BEEN occupied" as Jamaias puts it and she welcomes "new comrades" with open arms in this resistance. Please read this well written piece directed at Capitalism, Colonialism and to us.

Open Letter To Capitalism and The New Comrades Awakening To The Cause

By Jamaias DaCosta

Capitalism. Oh Capitalism. What you and your evil twin sibling Colonialism have done to the planet and all of Her Indigenous Peoples. The ways in which you each have spread like a parasite, sucking away at the teats with no reciprocity, like a greedy child. Taking and taking. Exploiting all the resources you can.

Despite the resistance of the people you stole from Africa or the people who’s land you stole and built your empires upon, you set your sights upon power and by any means necessary have waged war on Us all. For years, in the face of your oppression, our many powerful voices screamed out, or spoke with calm resistance, for generations against the injustices, the crimes you have committed against humanity. For generations, you have tried to streamline us as “other” “minority” and “criminal”. For generations we have been taking our freedoms back, bit by bit, resisting your clutches, despite the slippery slopes you have carved into our cultures, our knowledge, our bloodlines and our land.

It is wonderful to see the rest of the world catch on to the indignity of your game. You play as would a cheat, rigging so that you win and the rest of us are made to feel at your mercy. Yet finally, finally the part of the population for whom your oppression is slightly more subtle are awakening to your trickery. New comrades, I welcome you to the battle. It is important for you all to know that despite the criticism of some of your approaches, your efforts are essential and will help to bring about change, just as it has come about during the Civil Rights Movement, during the Woman’s Rights movement, just as it has in South Africa during the end of Apartheid, and in many other times and places in history when revolution has occurred. Solidarity is key.

This is not about 99 percent. And to the new comrades who have been taking to the streets with a rally cry against Capitalism, I, and many other Indigenous Voices and comrades will remind you that these streets ARE occupied. They have BEEN occupied for time immemorial, this LAND was not discovered by the confused Colonizers. It is important for you to know that this land has been occupied and was then STOLEN along with all of its resources, and that there are many of us and our comrades who have been holding road blocks, protests, fundraisers, teaching classes, writing books, films, essays, doing research, singing songs, getting into fights with corporations, getting arrested, doing time, losing friends, family, getting sick, all in the name of Resistance.

This is not about percentages at all. This is about you Capitalism, the hold you have on the planet, on the Indigenous lands of this planet that until the dawn of your reign, rested in the hands of people who understood the responsibility of our roles, what it is that makes us INDIGENOUS.

Capitalism and Colonization has removed us, all of us, from our Natural selves. Displaced us from our connection to the land, a connection rich with knowledge, secrets and even magic. You, Capitalism, promote consumption through pop culture fluff propaganda disguised as film or blatantly obvious high fructose mind syrup television. Reality shows that gaze into the elusive “1%” Cribs and Real Housewives; films that represent white, privileged people living out the same mundane plotline, all the while residing in homes most of us will never see inside the gates and in clothes that some people put themselves thousands of dollars into debt just to look the part.

Photo by: Jamaias DaCosta

You, dear reader, are Indigenous. You may not be occupying your Indigenous Land, but you are from the earth. We are ALL from the earth. Saying that we are all connected, that we are interconnected, that we are One does not make me a hippy. It is not flakey. It is not new age bullshit or even a stereotype that mainstream media perpetuates. It is truth. Quantum physics has proven what Indigenous knowledge has known for time immemorial, that we are all connected, and we all have a responsibility to one another – to maintain and protect our natural resources. Our waters. Our beautiful and glorious, natural food supply. Just look at the Three Sisters. The complexity of that symbiotic relationship understood and protected until Colonization sought to destroy all the Indigenous culture and knowledge of not only Turtle Island, but the planet.

Our cultures and traditions keep us alive, make us dynamic and not surface, superficial zombies. When we remove our selves from our Indigenous traditions and replace them with technological pass times and even comforts, we become complacent. Why is it that if we want to eat healthy we have to pay more for organic because corporations like Monsanto have all but destroyed the natural and sustainable balance of agriculture? What kind of quality of life do we have when we are at the mercy of a health care system that shuns all natural medicine and shoves us into the hands of the pharmaceutical industry? Why do our leaders not invest in sustainable energy practices? Why do they insist on building empires that leave the landscape looking like the set of Mordor (as Greenpeace describes the Alberta Tar Sands)? Why do we turn our heads away from child and slave labour and resource pillaging and then consume the products that multi national corporations such as Nike and Coca Cola sell? Why do we allow weapons manufacturers to be bedmates with political leaders therefore informing and dictating grandiose policies of war? These are just some of the issues we must address in our stand against the fool hearty Capitalists and Colonizers.

To the new comrades who want to join the ongoing resistance against Capitalism (and, in turn, Colonialism) I say welcome. Be mindful of those of us who have been resisting for years, through blood, through loss of land, through cultural genocide, through all of the ways in which we have been oppressed by this inhumane system of operations. We have been occupying this road for a long time. Welcome to the fight. Let us resist together and rebuild based on the collective Indigenous knowledge of this planet. One People. One Planet. One Love.

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Catch the radio show that Jamaias hosts, "The Vibe Collective" every Saturday 3pm to 5pm on CIUT 89.5FM, based out of U of T, with Jams, Mali DocuVixen, Adnan and DJ Corey Dawkins.
Follow them on Twitter: @VibeCollective

Manifesto Barbados wishes to apologize to all of our Manifesto Family for the short notice of postponement and wishes to assure all interested parties that we will continue to build Manifesto in Barbados and hold our festival in the 2012.

With peace and love! Stay tuned for updates on Manifesto Barbados!
http://www.manifestobarbados.com/

Manifesto Jamaica's Festival of ART'ical Empowerment will still be taking place in Kingston Jamaica on November 18th-20th, details to be announced soon!

Live blogging brought to you by Greg Drakes, and Amy Hosotsuji.
Follow us on twitter @geedrakes @hoso2G

AND BE SURE TO FOLLOW US AT : @THEMANIFESTO_FESTHASHTAG:#MANIFESTO5YR
Welcome to the tenth official day of the Manifesto Festival's LIVE BLOG.
TODAY WE HAVE THE EVENT THAT EVERYBODY HAS BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!!!!!
MANIFESTO : LIVE @ THE SQUARE

Manifesto's "Live At The Square" includes main-stage performances, a bboy/bgirl open dance floor, graffiti wall and open canvas artwork, the Freshest Goods Market, workshops, and more. Sunday's all day outdoor block party transforms Yonge-Dundas Square into Toronto's multidisciplinary urban arts playground backed by a free concert showcasing some of Canada's musical legends and emerging talent, alongside a handful of international guests.

Featuring:
OGUERRE! (Cuba)
Tre Leji
Just B-Graphic
Shi Wisdom
FIRST LOOK CYPHER (feat. Fresco P, Phoenix Pagliacci, Church Chizzle, Element, JellyTooFly)
The Get By
Narcicyst
SonReal
KJ
Dance Performance: All-Styles Council
Stalley  (Ohio | Maybach Music)
The Lytics
Times Neue Roman
A-Game
Notes To Self
Zaki Ibrahim
JD Era
Andreena Mill
Beatbox Canada feat. KRNFX
Michie Mee
DJ Wristpect
Freedom Writers
Dance Performance: B-Boy Council
Blu & Exile (Los Angeles)
Phonte & 9th Wonder (North Carolina)
Rakim & Kid Capri (NYC)

As many know, Manifesto Festival is not just about the music. We are about all elements.  Blessings and guidance to all graphers, writers, uniting and building, for the mega city.

13 of Toronto leading artists compete for $2000 courtesy of Scion Canada; the artist who receives the most votes from you wins.
All Hoods were Auctioned of in support of Manifesto's Friends of Community & Culture fundraising campaign where nearly $3500 was raised.

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Live blogging brought to you by Amy Hosotsuji  @hoso2G.

We here at The Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. W. (Queen and Dovercourt) Tonight we bring you live blogging from ORIGINS: The Firekeepers, an Indigenous Hip Hop showcase featuring artists from around Ontario brought to you by World Famous Music and the Ontario Arts Council (OAC)

Hosting tonight is: Wan Luv, Manifesto Music Director and Victoria representing the Ontario Indigenous community.

10:15pm
First up Red Slam Collective throwin' it down with a couple tracks! Peep below for a photo.

Photo by: Philip Litevsky

10:35pm
J-R.E.Z. offerin' tracks on topics including Diabetes and love! Also showing love to Manifesto volunteers! #Manipestosauce

Photo by: Jon Blak

11:05pm
A brief interlude with DJ Ariel on the 1s and 2s as guests dance to hip hop with hoola hoops!
We got audience members from St. Catherines, Etobicoke, Jamaica, Brooklyn ... allover Ontario and the world! Bombom!

11:15pm
Hailing from St. Catharines, Ontario 2oolman (producer, running beats for the set tonight) & Sese bringing a LIIIIVE performance, bass heavy! Ceaza Leon also on stage adding some hype energy! They're rockin' MNFSTO snapbacks too!

Now giving 2oolman a little solo time to show us his beats! "Where my b-boys and b-girls at?! Eh, hip hop's for everybody you know what I'm sayin?" - Sese

Photo by: Jon Blak

Yeeeeayuh there's our answer - we got b-girls and b-boys including Manifesto volunteers breaking on the floor right now!

Photo by: Jon Blak

11:46pm
Q-Rock of Ready to Rock Crew speaking on Ernie Paniccioli before he starts his set. Please come out to the 100% Fundraiser for Ernie this weekend to support him in his battle against cancer at Revival, this Sunday the 25th. Back to the origins of hip hop, Q-Rock rhymes with a purpose.
12:09pm
He can't leave the stage without getting some dancing in! He jumps off stage to do just that as his grand finale! "I'm out." Peace!

Photo by: Jon Blak

12:30am
Kinnie Starr requests to turn it as dark as possible in here, "so everybody can shake their butts as much as they want". Nice to have a female voice up in here over some groovy beats. Adding some French in there too! It's crazy how many sounds are coming out of the speakers right now, all she needs is her voice and a laptop, layering her vocals.... hypnotizing almost and quite provocative!

Photo by: Jon Blak

Just saw this tweet: @nufunk just got here... the vibe is incredible - feel like I stepped into some thing special...

1:00am
PLEX is now on stage doin' his thing. Not only does he rhyme - yes, he sings too! Wooo! Ending the night off with an extra song for loyal fans.
Photo by: Jon Blak

As part of the Global Art Initiative Inside Out, Manifesto Festival - in conjunction with the festival's All Art Everything art show at the Art Gallery of Ontario - brings together 24 photographers to shoot community members and put their images up in their communities, making the city itself the gallery.

The theme of the Toronto activation was 'intergenerational' - looking at the beautiful diversity found across Toronto and the children, mothers, fathers and grandparents that make it such an amazing place to live.

"Public art is a vital form of communication and a critical part of the city's vibrancy. With pending cuts to public funding for the arts in Toronto we needed to send a loud message to the decision makers that art makes people feel good and brings global attention to our city," says Che Kothari, Manifesto Executive Director. "This is the largest group action of the Inside Out Project in the world to date. Bringing together student, emerging and professional photographers as well as eager volunteers and photo subjects, we galvanized over 500 community members to be a part of a universal recognition and appreciation of public art and ourselves as people worthy of claiming public space."

See the images in different parts of the city including: Regent Park, Eglinton West, Kensington Market, Queen West, Shaw Street, Parkdale, Liberty Village, Eastern Avenue, Jane and Finch, Rexdale and more. Documentation photos below. Many more documentation photos coming soon, stay tuned.

Inside Out is a project anyone can get involved with, goto insideoutproject.net for more information.

We will also be screening the TED Prize talk from world renowned Street Artist JR - whose wish was to turn the world inside out through art - at our movie night. Check the details HERE

Toronto Inside Out Organizers:
Che Kothari, Ashley McKenzie-Barnes, Shaka Licorish, Seema Jethalal

Photographers:

Ahmed Sagarwala, Aden Abebe, Ajani Charles, Alejandra Higuera, Alexis Finch, Alyssa Katherine Faoro, Angie Choi, Anna Keenan, Anora Graham, Buruk Early, Che Kothari, Gaby Cueto, Gillian Mapp, Jalani Morgan, Jon Blak, Julian Campbell, May Truong, Nabil Shash, Natalie Caine, Nathaniel Anderson, Noah Ocran-Caesar, Nzeghua Anderson, Steve Carty, Yannick Anton

Thank you to the support:

JR for the inspiration.
Sol Guy for being the connect.
Marc, Gin and the whole Inside Out Team.
TED.com for recognizing.
Artscape for providing spaces to paste the images.

About Inside Out:

INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images will be made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators for them to exhibit in their own communities. People can participate as an individual or in a group; posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window to a wall of portraits on an abandoned building or a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and viewable virtually.

About Manifesto:

Founded in 2007, Manifesto is a non-profit organization that works to unite, energize and celebrate Toronto's diverse arts communities and find innovative ways of working together towards common goals through year round programming and activities. Growing to be the largest and most unique festival of its kind in just five short years, the critically acclaimed Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture is the annual culmination of Manifesto's work, bringing together hundreds of artists & performers, and thousands of spectators over eleven days to showcase our city’s talented arts community and strengthen its foundations by building a collective sense of pride and possibility. The festival also takes place in Jamaica and Barbados.

The 5th Annual Manifesto Festival, taking place September 15th-25th in Toronto Canada, is supported by Canadian Heritage, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Culture, Laidlaw Foundation, Celebrate Ontario, FACTOR, Red Bull, Slaight Music, TD Canada Trust, Scion, New Era as well as a large network of grassroots arts organizations, arts institutions, media outlets and other community partners.

CLICK CONTINUE TO SEE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS.

Celebrating our significant 5-year anniversary for this upcoming edition, the Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture returns this year with an 11-day long festival featuring an unprecedented series of events including the ArtReach Pitch Contest, FRESH (New Artist Showcase), the 106 & York Urban Arts Festival, Wombmanifesto, Origins (an Indigenous Hip Hop Showcase), Manifesto Movie Night, the Red Bull Music Academy Culture Clash, The Movement (Street Dance  Celebration), a Conference on Community & Career and many more.

In Manifesto tradition, the festival will culminate on Sep 25 with a massive FREE outdoor concert at Yonge-Dundas Square headlined by Rakim & Kid Capri, 9th Wonder & Phonte, Blu & Exile, Andreena Mill, Zaki Ibrahim, Michie Mee and more. The festival will also include the participation of legendary hip hop forefather Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation, Mr. Wiggles, the Inside Out Project, and Indigo.

Manifesto will once again transform the city for 11 days into a hotbed of youth culture igniting 13 venues with over 100 artists offering something for everyone. With constant new additions to the festival, Manifesto returns bigger and more exciting than ever!

For more information on events during the festival - www.themanifesto.ca/festival

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Shout outs to Art, Honour and Respect films (AHR) by Mark Valino.

MANIFESTO FESTIVAL OF COMMUNITY AND CULTURE
CELEBRATING OUR 5-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
11 days. 14 events. 100+ artists. 1 CIty. 1 Love.
September 15th-25th, 2011
Toronto. Canada