IT WAS ALL A DREAM

Feature Film | In 1993, as hip-hop emerged as a radical voice against a backdrop of systemic racism and mass incarceration, IT WAS ALL A DREAM serves as a visual memoir that immerses viewers in the genre’s golden era, teetering on the edge of global domination.

HOODOOS AND HEIRLOOMS

Shorts Program | Select filmmakers scheduled to attend. | What is passed down cannot be forgotten.

GRIOTS, GHOSTS, AND GUARDIANS

Shorts Program | Select filmmakers scheduled to attend. | What’s done in the dark comes to the light on the big screen with these short stories of Black horror and haunting.

DIRTY 30s

Shorts Program | Select filmmakers scheduled to attend. | This ain’t no rom-com; it’s complicated: 30, flirty, and navigating life one laugh (or cry) at a time.

THE WEEKEND

Feature Film | In search of family, orphaned Nikiya plunges into the shadows of her fiancé’s estranged kin.

FROM THE BLOCK

Shorts Program | Select filmmakers scheduled to attend. | The Windy City raised us, but the world is our oyster. Celebrate stories by local filmmakers with this dynamic slate of shorts.

NATIVE SONS

Shorts Program | Select filmmakers scheduled to attend. | The legacy of Black masculinity unfolds in this collection of portraits, celebrating beauty, struggle, and resilience.

AMAKKI

Feature Film | AMAKKI, meaning “your mother,” is an intimate journey through Sidama’s coffee-growing hills.

FOR COLORED GIRLS

Shorts Program | Select filmmakers scheduled to attend. | In a world where Black girls are enough, these shorts reflect the powerful bond between sisters.

JIMMY

Feature Film | Leaving the oppressive backdrop of the 1940s United States, James Baldwin departs New York for Paris, joining fellow Black expats searching for liberation.

COLOR BOOK

Feature Film | Following his wife’s passing, single father Lucky embarks on a journey with his son Mason, who has Down syndrome.

PRESENTATION: AN_EVENING_W/_OSADOLOR

Special Event | Visual maker, creative researcher, sound designer, and director Osadolor Osawemwenze presents their thesis on Blackqueer creatives using lo-fi and DIY audiovisual aesthetics within the Black diaspora.