The upcoming DC Black Film Festival lets Black people see themselves on the big screen in compelling stories that highlight just how diverse the community and its experiences are — and this year’s iteration touches on several parts of District culture.
“That’s the biggest and most important thing because… when you see yourself on screen, like if you see it, you believe you can achieve it,” says Kevin Sampson, the festival’s founder and director. “And so really, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The festival, now in its seventh year, runs Aug. 18-30, with in-person screenings at Miracle Theatre on Aug. 18-19. It’s a hybrid event, however, so those who want to tune in virtually can see the films from the comfort of their couch through the end of the festival. In addition to the screenings, question-and-answer sessions with the directors follow every film block, and Sampson is planning free workshops with experts on how to be a film critic, how to build a web series, and another that address the Hollywood strikes.
Sampson is a film critic who teaches film at Northern Virginia Community College, though he’s based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He launched the film festival in 2017 as a place for people of African descent to showcase their work after writing an open letter to Black screenwriters and learning many Black artists either don’t have the capital or resources to make films, or to show their films to the world.
“I knew a film festival could, at the very least, exhibit films, but on a larger level connect filmmakers together and give resources to assist them in their craft,” Sampson says.
He was clearly on to something. The festival had 300 submissions this year, and 65 flicks made the cut. The lineup includes 32 narratives, 24 documentaries and six student films. The only criteria for submitting a film to the festival is that one or more of its creative decisionmakers need to be Black.
“That allows us to see a diversity of storytelling, and that’s what really excites me,” said Sampson. “So, it’s really showcasing stories that are by or about people of African descent.”
One film he considers a can’t-miss? Lab Rat, from filmmaker Dev Harris, which doesn’t reveal who the rat is until the end — because the audience controls what happens in the movie in real time by scanning a QR code.
“It’s basically kind of a choose your own path film, but it’s also a cool social experiment,” Sampson said. “I don’t want to spoil where it takes the audience.”
The festival has always reserved a film block called “The District” for local movies. Amplifying local talent was a no-brainer since the D.C. region is full of talented artists, says Sampson. The goal is to to recognize local filmmakers’ work and put it on display for the rest of the world to see alongside films from around the country and the world.
This year, that means five movies come from filmmakers with ties to D.C. and the surrounding area — but there’s another that might be of interest to local audiences: Finding Us. Sampson recommends it because it’s produced by Karran Harper Royal, a descendant of one of the 272 enslaved individuals that Georgetown University’s Catholic Jesuit priests sold to keep the school open in 1828.
The priests, with permission from the Vatican, sold the individuals to Louisiana plantations. The movie follows four descendants from that slave trade as they try to locate other family members.
“It’s a beautiful little portrait to showcase that our history is really muddled,” Sampson said.
The five locally-made or locally connected films will all screen on Aug. 19, the final night of the DC Black Film Festival. They are:
A Chocolate Lens (2023): Directed by Gabriel Veras, the documentary follows D.C. photographer Stephen Cummings as he documents a disappearing and gentrifying Black Washington. His images, described as a love letter to Black people, showcase their honor and dignity.
Higher Power (2023): This documentary explores D.C.’s fight for cannabis legalization through the eyes of Black D.C. entrepreneurs attempting to join the legal cannabis industry. (While using cannabis recreationally is legal in the District, selling it is not.) Written and directed by D.C. resident Dewey A. Ortiz Jr., Higher Power connects this dichotomy to D.C.’s larger push for statehood.
Mailman (2023): Set east-of-the-park in Northwest DC, this short, dramatic film depicts a day in the gentrifying neighborhood when a perceived racial slight and misidentification of aggression ends with a fatal shooting. The movie is written by George Pelecanos, the Silver Spring, Maryland writer and producer behind The Wire,” and directed by his son, Nicholas Pelecanos.
Outside Line (2023): Directed by D.C. resident Jack Gordon, an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, this movie follows the rise of racecar driver and fellow Washingtonian Rajah Caruth, 21, one of just a few Black NASCAR drivers. “His story reveals the lengths that one must go to and the skill they must possess to break into a space where few people look like them,” Gordon says in his director’s statement. “Rajah isn’t just a great driver destined for success in the sport, he’s an understated but infectious personality that you just can’t help but root for.”
Slice of Pie (2023): This comedy short film follows the protagonist as he heads out West to land a popular actress for his upcoming movie, and then things go off the rails. “The inspiration behind this film was to highlight untold stories of artists, especially filmmakers, on the nuances that we don’t see in the filmmaking process,” D.C. writer/director Blake Bynum said on YouTube.
The DC Black Film Festival runs from Aug. 18-30. Tickets range between $10 for an individual film or $150 for an all-access pass. The festival will be held in-person at Miracle Theatre, 535 8th St. SE, on Aug. 18-19, and goes virtual through Aug. 30.
