From Zamunda to Wakanda:
Celebrating 30 Years of Culturally Diverse Design and
Imagination in Film
featuring an evening with costume designers
Deborah Nadoolman Landis
Coming to America (1988)
and
Ruth E. Carter
Black Panther (2018)
Imagination has been key to the Black Freedom Struggle and Black cultural expression. No two places best reflect this point more than the filmic chocolate cities of Zamunda (Coming To America, 1988) and Wakanda (Black Panther 2018). In celebration of Women’s History Month, we honor the 30th Anniversary of Coming to America bringing it into dialogue with the new global hit Black Panther. This event will bring together the marvelous Academy Award nominated costume designers for both films, Deborah Nadoolman Landis and Ruth E. Carter, in a dynamic revisit of each film and a discussion of their paths to and through the films. 30-years-ago the world was introduced to the African chocolate city, Zamunda, as the titular Prince Akeem (played by Eddie Murphy), went on a global search for the love of his life. A worldwide classic then and now, Coming to America, especially as realized through costume design has lived on, inspiring everything from weddings, to birthdays, to many subsequent films. 30-years-later the world has again witnessed the magic and power of African inspired costume design in Black Panther as the protagonist King T’Challa serves and protects his people and country from outsiders and internal strife.
Please join us March 26, 2018 at the James Bridges Theater at 7:00 p.m., as we gather to honor the genius of costume designers Deborah Nadoolman Landis and Ruth E. Carter, exploring the people, ideas and the research that guided their visions and helped make the African dreamscapes of Zamunda and Wakanda a rich and lasting portrait of Black possibilities, futures, lives and love.
RSVP NOW!
zamundatowakanda.eventbrite.com
Co-sponsored by:
UCLA Department of African American Studies
UCLA African Studies Center
UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television
The David C. Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design
