Wham! Bam! Here comes Pam! // 50th Anniversary Screening of Foxy Brown (1974) featuring legendary film icon Pam Grier in conversation with Miss Shannan
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
6 pm Doors // 7 pm Screening + Exclusive Q&A with Pam Grier moderated by Miss Shannan
All Ages
$89 (+taxes/fees) Premium Seating
$69 (+taxes/fees) Preferred Reserved Seating
$49 (+taxes/fees) Advance General Admission // $54 (+taxes/fees) At The Door
Ticket purchases are final and non-refundable
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Legendary film icon Pam Grier comes to The Parkway, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Foxy Brown, starring Grier in the title role as a vigilante looking for revenge in a world of vice and crime. After a screening of the classic film, Grier will share a personal video about her life and career and talk about her work in a conversation hosted by Miss Shannan.
Often described as cinema’s first female action hero, Pam Grier is a trailblazing screen actress known for her groundbreaking film performances in the 1970s and beyond – a major figure in the Blaxploitation film genre as well as a captivating and pioneering actress who shattered barriers for women and African American performers in Hollywood.
Grier paved the way for generations of female actresses to challenge the male power structure in financially lucrative Blaxploitation movies. Along the way, she became the cultural manifestation of the ideas propagated by feminism activists and theorists Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Lee, and Gloria Steinem. She heralded the beginning of an era of empowerment in which the damsel in distress would no longer wait for Prince Charming to save them.
She first achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, Blaxploitation, and women in prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Her numerous accolades and awards include nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Satellite Award, and a Saturn Award.
Grier first came to prominence with her titular roles in the films Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974); other major films during this period included The Big Doll House (1971), Women in Cages (1971), The Big Bird Cage (1972), Black Mama White Mama (1973), Scream Blacula Scream (1973), The Arena (1974), Sheba, Baby (1975), Bucktown (1975), and Friday Foster (1975).
She portrayed the title character in Tarantino's Oscar-nominated crime film Jackie Brown (1997) (which also earned Grier an Oscar nomination), nearly three decades after her first starring role. Grier also appeared in Fort Apache the Bronx (1981), Escape from L.A. (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), Jawbreaker (1999), Holy Smoke!, (1999), Bones (2001), Just Wright (2010), Larry Crowne (2011), Poms (2019) and Cinnamon (2023).
On television, Grier portrayed Valerie Gordon on NBC’s Miami Vice, Eleanor Winthrop in the Showtime comedy-drama series Linc's (1998–2000), Kate "Kit" Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word (2004–2009), and Constance Terry in the ABC sitcom Bless This Mess (2019–2020).
For the culture-shaping effects of the many social and artistic contributions made throughout her career, Grier was recognized with a lifetime achievement award at the 2024 Toronto Black Film Festival. Later this year she will begin work on a biopic based on her bestselling 2010 memoir, “Foxy: My Life in Three Acts,” produced by Village Roadshow Pictures.
Miss Shannan is a popular comedian and radio and television host – and serves as the Diversity and Community Relations Director of the Twin Cities Film Festival. She regularly brings her wit, whimsy, and pop culture expertise to Twin Cities television as part of The Jason Show, and you can hear Miss Shannan weekly on MyTalk 107.1 and on her podcast Be Our Geek on the PodcastOne network.