RAW STOCKtm Celebrating Cinema, Oakland, CA, is a film/video festival focusing primarily on filmmakers of color in the Oakland/Bay Area. It is an education/ community-based festival affording the opportunity to establish the bonds of inter-community dialogue between multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-socio-econmic groups in an informal atmosphere. RAW STOCKtm exists because it acknowledges:

    1. the opportunity to present independent works by filmmakers of color to the very communities the works were created for;
    2. the need for these artists and their respective communities to come together exploring their differences and similarities through an education based forum of screenings and discussions;
    3. 3) the necessity for a permanent film/video event focusing long needed attention on the multitude of artists of color within the Oakland/Bay Area.

In so doing, RAW STOCKtm is an annual event putting a positive light on the collective artistic richness that is Oakland while acting as a bridge into on-going dialogue between all inclusive Oakland/Bay Area communities.

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