The Trailer For The Upcoming Amy Winehouse

Many news specials came out after the death of Amy Winehouse in 2011. This summer, an official documentary, curated by Asif Kapadia, on the life of the soul singer will be released and is simply titled Amy. It will feature unreleased music and little-known interviews that may give us a closer reasoning or understanding behind her untimely death. The Grammy-Award winner was only 27 when she died from drug and stress-related issues in her England home.

I’m definitely looking forward to this. I was a huge fan of Winehouse and still am now. I was working at Topshop in Soho’s New York when I heard of her passing and it was the worst news I didn’t want to come true.

I was lucky enough to see Winehouse in concert back in May 2007, at the Avalon (now the House of Blues) in Boston. It was epic because even then as she was getting more popular and more acclaim, there was something so special being able to go to her concert. It was sold-out, sold-out, sold-out and she was originally going to be perform at the Paradise Rock Club, a smaller venue, but the demand was so huge, it got moved to the bigger Avalon, by Fenway Park. As a fan, I miss her and wish she could’ve pulled through.

And a fun sidenote: she took a lollipop out of her pocket and flirted with giving it to an audience member in the front. Somehow my friend and I were in the front and she handed it to me! True story. It’s also a true story that my mother later ate the lollipop.

Watch The Animated Short Film “Yellow Fever” 

The short and acclaimed animated film Yellow Fever is Kenyan filmmaker Ng’endo Mukii‘s creative take on the globalization of beauty standards of what is and isn’t deemed as “beautiful.” Included are Mukii’s own experiences with the pressures of assimilating her look and that of her hometown community. It’s great and has played at my esteemed film festivals. Please watch it below.

#FBF “Ojos Asi” by Shakira [VIDEO]

And for Flashback Friday, it’s “Ojos Asi” by Shakira, from her (amazing) 1998 album Donde Estan los Ladrones? 

And you must witness her performance of “Ojos Asi” at the 2000 Latin Grammys below. GAWD!