H/T: Peg News
It’s time again for the Texas Black Film Festival with screenings being shown February 5th through 7th at The Studio Movie Grill at Royal Lane and Central Expressway in Dallas. In addition to the screenings, there are workshops and opportunities to network with other filmmakers while exposing visitors to the resources available to produce films in Dallas, Texas. The films that are judged best in their categories are also screened in Houston and Austin.
A host of new works, including films featuring the acting talents of Angela Bassett, Danny Glover (Gospel Hill) and Louis Gossett, Jr., as well as the directorial debut of fellow Dallasite, Mark Young (The Least Among You), will be among the films gracing the screen this year. However, a cursory glance of the films slated to be shown revealed that not one of them featured a prominent black gay or lesbian character. With a festival title as all-inclusive as Texas Black Film Festival, I found this to be an interesting omission. When contacting the organization, I received this response from the festival director, David Smalls:
I do not believe that any of the stories involve gay story lines. However, I want to thank you for your question and I would invite you to advise any filmmakers you know to submit the types of films that you would like to see. It is a bit late for this upcoming festival. But, I would appreciate it if you would let them know about the festival for next year.
Thank you so much.
This is where we can also share our story. Am I expecting the most experimental of our black queer cinema to work in an event like this? Probably not. However, some prominent and positive representation of our side of the B/black experience should be included. Even the recently released, Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom would have been a nice inclusion. For ticket info, film schedule, and film submission information, visit http://www.texasblackfilmfestival.com.
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