Black X Film Festival

UPDATE: The team would like to present the best festival possible and in light of several issues, we are postponing Black X Film Festival 2021 until October 15-17.

The Black X Film Festival is a three-day online film festival showcasing the radical multifaceted expressions of the Black experience by Black creators. 

The festival celebrates the Black narratives that – even when underfunded, pushed aside, or pigeonholed – are visions of Black experience that deserve an artistic space to be professionally recognized and receive the support of those who center Black power, the Black radical imagination, and Black resilience.

We’ve launched this free festival for our love of film, our communities, and our stories – to share and celebrate the Black experience onscreen and on set.

With your support, we will 1) celebrate the participating artists through not only recognition but compensation, and 2) raise funds to support an array of organizations that are working on the ground for Black lives.


***UPDATE - A DONATION OF $20+ WILL BE ENTERED TO WIN A SONOS SOUNDBAR ***

Valued at $400 USD, this speaker was tuned by Oscar-winning sound engineers to ensure high definition sound. Learn More 


HONORING BLACK CREATORS

Black filmmakers continue to be disproportionately underrepresented in media:



Source: New York Film Academy 




Source: UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report 

This festival honors the creative works of Black filmmakers, centering their experiences at the forefront of cinema.

The three-day festival will take place online from (September 25-27, 2020) and include an opening ceremony, film screenings, and special events with established Black filmmakers who will share their reflections on being a creative in the industry.

"2 Dollars" by Robin Cloud

YOUR SUPPORT



Your funds will directly support Black filmmakers and musicians through the following:

-Provide compensation to ALL Black filmmakers and musicians selected for the festival.

-Support nonprofit organizations who are providing services to Black folx:
For the Gworls : Emergency relief funds for Black Trans folkx
Providence CityArts : Provides free after-school arts education and care
Loveland Therapy Fund : Financial assistance to Black women and girls nationally seeking therapy

Our 8-person collective is strictly volunteer-based and will not receive any funds for the film festival. All funds received will go towards directly compensating each filmmaker for their work, a cash prize for the awarded film, donations to non-profits, and cover production operating costs (which are less than 20% of our budget).


"Queerdo" by Bianka Bell

With $10k we can:

-Pay $200 to each participating filmmaker
-Host a celebratory opening ceremony
-Host a special event with a celebrated Black comedian
-Donate $4k of the funds to our chosen charities

"I Live Here" by Shane Watson

With $20k we can:

-Pay $300 to each participating filmmaker
-Host a celebratory opening ceremony
-Host a special event with a celebrated Black comedian
-Host a keynote speech by a renowned Black filmmaker
-Offer a $500 cash prize to our “Best of” filmmaker
-Donate $10k of the funds to our chosen charities

 
Any additional funds raised above $20k will be directly donated to our chosen charities.

***The first 100 donors who give at least $50 to our campaign by August 14 will receive a limited edition BAGGU bag - made exclusively for the Black X Film Festival*** BAGGU is a Bay Area woman & independently owned company that uses 100% recycled materials for production.


WHO WE ARE

We are an international collective of predominantly queer Black artists and allies who came together from our various communities and are collaborating as arts administrators, feature filmmakers, CCA alum, and Academy Award nominees. Through this festival, we showcase the radical multifaceted expressions of the Black experience by centering Black resilience and a commitment to anti-racism.

We intentionally named the film festival, Black X, to play into the multiplicity of meanings of ‘X’; where X may be seen as an abbreviation of eXperience, a celebration of Black eXistence, and an homage to Malcolm X. ‘X’ is a crossroads offering the opportunity to choose to employ Black success as a revolution of social order, over the violent complacency that has shaped and characterized contemporary society.

Collectively, we have long observed the devastating effects of white supremacy permeating ALL spaces and are actively working to upend systemic racism within our communities. Through foregrounding emerging and mid-career artists, we will provide the artistic space for professional recognition and payment for the creative labor of Black artists. The generated financial support through fundraising, affords the fair compensation of Black artists, and the donation of funds to organizations that are working on the ground for Black lives.


DONATIONS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE

All donations made to the festival are tax deductible. We are fiscally sponsored by Reflective Image, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, led by Academy- and Emmy-winning directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.