Wave Staff and Wire Reports
LOS ANGELES — A local intersection was dedicated Aug. 30 as Ben Caldwell Square in honor of the independent filmmaker and educator who has spent over four decades as a fixture of Leimert Park’s arts and culture scene.
Caldwell was joined in speaking at the morning ceremony at the corner of 43rd Place and Leimert Boulevard by Councilwoman Heather Hutt, who introduced the motion designating the square in Caldwell’s honor, and other community leaders.
Caldwell’s interest in film began in his youth in New Mexico when he helped his grandfather project films at a small theater. While serving in the U.S Army during the Vietnam War, Caldwell documented the lives of his fellow soldiers.
Following his service, Caldwell received a master’s degree in film from UCLA in 1976, where he was a founding member of the L.A. Rebellion, a groundbreaking movement of African-American filmmakers who sought to change the image of Black people from the stereotypes prevalent in the film industry.
He created culturally focused and experimental films such as “Madea,” “I & I: An African Allegory,” and “Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification,” which explored the depth of Black culture in Los Angeles.
In the 1980s, he taught film and video at Howard University in Washington, D.C., before returning to Los Angeles and settling in Leimert Park.
Caldwell has described his artistic philosophy as creating “cultural” rather than “political” films with the belief his art should bring people closer together.
Caldwell founded the KAOS Network, a community arts center, in 1984 in Leimert Park where he has mentored Black artists, creatives and technologists.
KAOS Network remains one of the few organizations of its kind in South Los Angeles that offers courses in website development, video production, animation, video teleconferencing, CD-ROM production and internet exploration.“Today, we named the corner of 43rd Place and Leimert Boulevard after a visionary icon of film and friend of the community, Ben Caldwell,” Hutt said in a social media post following the ceremony. “Ben’s contributions are most deeply felt as founder of @kaosnetworkz, giving young people from South L.A. the opportunity to learn and grow in media arts.”
