2023 FILM SELECTIONS
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR FILMMAKERS WHO WERE SELECTED IN THIS YEARS SAN FRANCISCO BLACK FILM FESTIVAL
FEATURE LENGTH FILMS
BLACK PANTHERS: LETITIA WRIGHT
JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 1:00PM
AMC KABUKI 8 THEATRE
1881 POST STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Five years after the end of the Civil War, a former soldier disguises herself as a man while traveling west to lay claim on a gold mine. After thieves ambush her stagecoach, she's forced to guard a legendary outlaw while the surviving passengers look for help. A battle of wills ensues, blurring the line between captor and captive, as both try to survive the harsh landscape.
A FILM BY:
JAYLEN WILLIAMS
Past, Present, Future Adversity “Arrival”, new director of San Jose State University track and field and cross country Charles Ryan arrives in San Jose State University, as the program's first African American director of track & field. After the program's recent reinstatement after a +40 year gap between the era of Speed City including athletes such as Ray Norton, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos. Coach has been tasked with rebuilding program with a new coaching staff, an entirely new athletic department, and no track and field facility.
FRIDAY, JUNE 15TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 4:30PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
A FILM BY:
WILLIAM FORBES DOUGLAS SKINNER
FRIDAY, JUNE 16TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 4:30
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
The untold story of the male exotic game in South Central Los Angeles and how it intersects with the origins of hip hop, gang culture, and Kung fu assassins.
Filmmakers William Forbes and Douglas Skinner first collaborated on the screenplay for JOHN HENRY starring Terry Crews, Ludacris, and Ken Foree which spent three weeks atop the Netflix top ten films in May 2020.
Together they created EBE Productions to tell the stories they've heard but never seen on screen, the first being NAME OF THE GAME, the story of male exotic dancing in South Central Los Angeles.
A FILM BY:
CYDNEY GRIFFIN
SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 4:00PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
A mother expecting medical results plans to tell her family over a nice dinner. But with her family's attention focused on their technological devices, getting them all together proves to be quite a significant challenge.
A FILM BY:
DAVID MESFIN
SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 5:30PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Wade in the Water: The Documentary (2023) is a historical chronicle of the 1,000 year old Pan-African surfing tradition that stretched the coastline of West Africa from Senegal to Angola and has since taken root in America. The film features several of SoCal’s leading surf historians as well as community leaders and environmental activists in the upcoming generation of pioneers.
A FILM BY:
STEPHEN ADETUMBI, JARRETT ROSEBOROUGH
SUNDAY, JUNE 118TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 2:10PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Things have drastically changed for the choir students at Pine Forge Academy, a historically Black boarding school nestled in the hills of Pennsylvania. The students return to a school in a time when anti-blackness is rising and a deadly virus is sweeping the world. Through raw dialogue, inspirational music, dance, poetry, and percussion these students endeavor to make sense of their identity, their faith and the fractured world around them.
A FILM BY SFBFF ALUMN:
BRIAN BOSTIC
SUNDAY, JUNE 118TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 3:30PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Tommy Peterson takes his girlfriend to meet his over protective Mother and crazy family. He's worried that his mom won’t like their age difference and he’s hoping his relationship makes it through the night.
A FILM BY SF LOCAL : KEVIN EPPS
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 @ AMC KABUKI 8 THEATRE | DOORS OPEN @ 12:30
Founded in 1852, two years after St. Andrews AME Church in Sacramento, in the home of Eliza and William Davis, Third Baptist Church has cemented its place in San Francisco and the world as a place of worship, youth outreach and mentorship, economic empowerment and advocacy for justice and equality among a fellowship of Christian believers with the doors of the church always open to everyone. Third Baptist Church, as a vanguard of Faith and social justice historical faith-based institution, from Icons including Presidents, Governors and celebrities.
SHORT FILMS
A FILM BY AWARD WINNING CREATOR:
RYAN COLE
Withering away in the Germantown nursing home, The Oldheads grow tired of the same routine. One day, OG’s grandson, Chauncey, visits and gifts his elders with a smartphone. This smartphone has the power to make their greatest dream come true; to become young again, thus… The Whippersnappers are born!
THURSDAY, JUNE 15TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @4:30 PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
A FILM BY:
ASHLEY VERSHER
SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 1:00PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Brief Exchanges follows Tanya, a young Black woman living in NYC. After a harsh encounter with a drunken stranger, Tanya lands on the same street corner as Troy, whose kindness stands in sharp contrast to the unfriendly city. Their chance encounter becomes a daylong affair of flirtatious banter punctuated by poignant moments, or "brief exchanges,” that reflect the various microaggressions she must navigate daily. Filtered through the lens of a charming meet-cute, this film represents a Black woman’s reality in living with these intersectional identities.
WHY MORE BLACK AMERICANS
SHOULD TRY CAPOEIRA
A FILM BY: CHINWE ONIAH
SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH | DOORS OPEN @ 1:00PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Chinwe Oniah, a student of capoeira, was initially drawn to the Afro-Brazilian art form for its martial arts and self-defense elements. But the art form that also combines dance, music, spirituality, history and philosophy quickly developed into something greater for her – a return to form, a return to self, and the discovery that capoeira is Black people’s cultural legacy, still thriving centuries after its beginnings.
A FILM BY:
DONALD CONLEY
SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 1:00PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Matriarch is an experimental short documentary celebrating the legacy of elderly motherhood from the perspective of the filmmaker's grandmothers, two Southern Black women hoping to maintain their independence during what could potentially be the final year of their lives.
A FILM BY: NEEN
SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH | DOORS OPEN @ 1:00PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
A gender reveal party goes comically south when the mom-to-be hides in a closet with her queer bestie and spills the tea…he may be the daddy.
Janeen “Neen” Talbott is a screenwriter and director with an unyielding love for speculative fiction. Her character-driven films are rooted in her love for Black heroes real and imagined, the nuanced worlds in which they live, and a desire to see them adequately represented, cherished, and lauded in film and television.
A FILM BY:
BENJAMIN MULHOLLAND
SATURDAY, JUNE 17TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 1:00PM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
When Ollie Henderson’s mother is attacked by a monster hiding in the depths of Lake Merritt, he sets out on a mission to find her - discovering instead a hidden network of monster hunters tasked with protecting Oakland from its own dark underbelly.
A FILM BY:
NAA ADEI MANTE
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
After a lazy teen neglects to mow his strict grandmother's lawn, he must fight to earn back her respect.
A FILM BY:
DAVID FORTUNE
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Shoebox follows Trey Malloy, a 12-year-old boy who works part-time at his neighborhood barbershop. As Trey sweeps hair and runs delivery errands, he is encouraged by local patrons to use his first paycheck on an array of ideas from the latest Jordans to cryptocurrency investments. As Trey tries to decide how he’s going to spend his money, the film dives into his emotional grief as he copes with the loss of his mother, Latoya Malloy. Rather than purchasing new shoes, stocks, or a suggested bike, Trey decides to buy a flower garden in honor to late mother. Shoebox explores themes of mentorship, responsibilities, and honor through the life of Trey and the teaching he gathers while working at his neighborhood barbershop. As a result, the film examines how communal structures like barbershops can help nurture black boys to be responsible men.
A FILM BY:
LAURIE J. GARDINER
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
"Remedial" is a coming-of-age narrative drama that centers around a young British boy who relocates to Houston, TX with his mother after a devastating and unexpected loss. After enrolling in a new school, his new homeroom teacher is forced to make a difficult decision when his behavior becomes increasingly disconcerting. Inspired by real events, this film observes one of the loneliest disorders that children recovering from life altering traumas face.
A FILM BY:
VICTOR CHARLES DEAN
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
Hand Me Down Christmas is a heartfelt story of a boy's annual trip to his grandmother's job that they turn into their own holiday.
A FILM BY:
SEBASTIAN ANDREI
POVEL TORUDD
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
A documentary about a young collective of filmmakers in a remote part of Nigeria whose self-taught approach to filmmaking has captured the attention of the internet and Hollywood.
Sebastian Andrei:
Sebastian Andrei is a professional DoP with many years of experience in film and production for television and online. He has also filmed and directed a handful of short documentaries as passion projects. The Critics is Sebastian's first project as a director of a movie that's been filmed in an almost 100% remote way.
POVEL TORUDD
Povel has worked on the commercial side of brand filmmaking and communications for many years and has only recently had a crack at producing documentaries. The Critics short is his debut as a director. Povel's most recent short documentary project before that was the multi-award winning 'From Kurils With Love' where he produced and executive produced and also took on the role of the expedition leader.
A FILM BY: MARCELLA TAYLOR
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
After witnessing several instances of racial bias, a young Black boy's worldview is forever changed.
A FILM BY: MARCUS ROBINSON
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
The Students at Pace university fight to put together a mural for a student that was also a victim of police violence
A FILM BY AWARD WINNING FILM MAKER:
BRANDON HAYNES
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH, 2023 | DOORS OPEN @ 11:50AM
AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTS AND CULTURAL COMPLEX
762 FULTON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
The story of Donna Hylton and her social justice non profit "A Little Piece of Light" which uses her experience in the prison system to support reform and reentry of other black women and LGBTQ+
A FILM BY: ALONZO WALLER
SUNDAY, JUNE 18TH @ AMC KABUKI 8 THEATRE | DOORS OPEN @12:30
A Stranger’s Story is based on one of the many intriguing, sometimes heartwarming and sometimes not, but always emotionally rich memories of John J.J. Batiste Sr. He was born in New Iberia Louisiana in 1913 to father Eraste and mother Elizabeth. This story takes place circa 1942 when John was traveling to Vancouver Washington to start a job in the shipyards in support of the war efforts. It reveals John’s faith, his efforts to share it to support a stranger and that stranger’s demonstration of what is meant by free will.