Summer Film Festival Season is Red Hot!

The summer film festival season is off to a red hot start and we’re delighted to see several BPM-funded films and filmmakers finding their way onto these slates.

Tribeca Festival | June 3-14

The 25th annual Tribeca Festival is underway now and runs through Sunday. Its slate includes Sam Pollard’s latest film, The Lorraine, which enjoyed its world premiere there last weekend.  The film’s protagonist is the storied Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., site of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. The festival’s final showing of the film is this Saturday, June 13, 11 a.m., at the Village East by Angelika. Go here for RUSH tickets.

DC/DOX Film Festival | June 11-14

The 15th annual DC/DOX Film Festival starts this Thursday and runs through the weekend. It includes the D.C. premiere of Michèle Stephenson’s new feature, True North, which reveals a buried piece of Canada’s history. During the 1960’s, a group of Black Canadian students defied their nation’s myth of racial harmony and dared to build a new future. Tickets for the June 13 screening (2:45 p.m.) at D.C.’s Regal Gallery Place theater can be purchased online. 

LightReel Film Festival 

Last weekend, Rita Coburn’s new film, W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel with a Cause closed the LightReel Film Festival in Washington, D.C. The film will stream on public television’s American Masters for a few more days. So if you haven’t seen it yet, don’t tarry. The streaming window closes next Tuesday, (6/16).

NYC’s IFC Center | June 17-23

IFC Center is hosting this short run of Stephenson’s True North. That initial screening is accompanied by a Q&A with the filmmaker. Go here for tickets.

Special Juneteenth Event at Atlanta’s Tara Theater | June 19

One of the films featured in this season’s AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange series is screening at Atlanta’s Tara Theater on Juneteenth. This World is Not My Own, by Petter Ringborn and Ruchi Mital, tells the story of artist Nellie Mae Rowe and her art collector/agent/friend Judith Alexander. A conversation with the filmmakers will follow the June 19th screening. The film will mark its streaming premiere on the BPM YouTube Channel starting July 2. Get tickets to the Tara Theater showing here.

Maine International Film Festival | July 10-19

This year’s 29th convening of the Maine International Film Festival includes Luchina Fisher’s Emmy-winning film The Dads, a heartfelt documentary chronicling the lives of fathers who have trans or non-binary children. The film is screening Sun., July 12, and Wed., July 15. at the Maine Film Center. Individual tickets go on sale June 12.

BlackStar Film Festival | August 6-9

BlackStar Film Festival is still a couple of months away, but the slate was announced last week and BPM is pleased to see it includes the premiere of Zenón — which competed in PitchBLACK a few years ago. Juan C. Dávila Santiago‘s film tells the story of Carlos “Taso” Zenón, a Puerto Rican fisherman and activist who led a decades-long resistance against the U.S. Navy’s military occupation of Vieques. Festival passes and tickets are on sale now. 

BlackStar is also featuring: a premiere of Finding Your Laughter, by Arlieta Hall and Brittany Alsot; Stephenson’s True North; and Wood Street, by Caron Creighton. 

These are just a sample of the festivals and special screenings being held over the summer months where BPM-funded projects and/or filmmakers will be featured. We hope you’ll add them to your summer activities list. If you go, make sure to show some love to our filmmakers.

Enjoy!