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MARCH 5, 2026 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Last week, I was honored to sit on the 2026 international INPUT selection committee. We met in Warsaw, Poland. In this role, I had a chance to see a...
FEBRUARY 24, 2026 BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA WEEKLY DISPATCH By Leslie Fields-Cruz Change is inevitable. Substantive change is very hard. But some strategies make it easier than others. As our industry adjusts to new realities, I implore us to ensure the...
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026
Black Public Media has opened its submissions portal to its 2026 Open Call. Independent filmmakers are invited to submit feature-length nonfiction projects in a range of formats, styles, subject matter and genres for the opportunity next spring to participate in the 10th PitchBLACK Forum & Awards — the nation’s largest pitch competition for independent filmmakers who create Black content. Those selected to participate will receive $20,000 to support their project. The winning project will receive an additional $150,000 production award.
JUNE 3, 2026
Black Public Media’s Peabody Award-winning series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange continues its 18th season July 2 with This World Is Not My Own, an award-winning, artfully layered documentary about the acclaimed self-taught artist Nellie Mae Rowe. The film premieres ahead of July 4 — Rowe’s birthdate in 1900 — and as the nation prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United
States.
MAY 21, 2026
Black Public Media’s Peabody Award-winning series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange returns for its 18th season on June 15 with Listen to Me, an intimate and urgent documentary following three Black women as they navigate the risks, realities and inequities of pregnancy, birth and care in America. The film, which brings striking racial disparities in maternal health into sharp focus, will be available on the PBS App and PBS.org. Check local listings for broadcast times.
MAY 1, 2026
Emmy Award-winning director and New Fairfield resident Luchina Fisher’s Hiding in Plain Sight, a rousing exploration of the Black queer artists who have helped to shape every genre of popular music and culture, won the top prize of $150,000 at the ninth PitchBLACK Awards on Thursday. The Black Public Media event, which also included the presentation of the 2026 BPM Trailblazer Award to filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith, culminated its PitchBLACK competition — the nation’s largest pitch competition for independent filmmakers and creative technologists who create Black content. Sponsored by Netflix and Andscape. PitchBLACK took place at The Apollo Stages at the Victoria in Harlem.
MAY 1, 2026
Emmy Award-winning director and New Fairfield resident Luchina Fisher’s Hiding in Plain Sight, a rousing exploration of the Black queer artists who have helped to shape every genre of popular music and culture, won the top prize of $150,000 at the ninth PitchBLACK Awards on Thursday. The Black Public Media event, which also included the presentation of the 2026 BPM Trailblazer Award to filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith, culminated its PitchBLACK competition — the nation’s largest pitch competition for independent filmmakers and creative technologists who create Black content. Sponsored by Netflix and Andscape. PitchBLACK took place at The Apollo Stages at the Victoria in Harlem.
APRIL 22, 2026
Black Public Media will host a free public screening of We Want the Funk!, the acclaimed 2025 documentary directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London, on Monday, April 27, 6:30 p.m. at City College’s Shepard Hall. The event, part of BPM’s 2026 BPM Trailblazer Retrospective, will honor award-winning filmmakers Nelson and Marcia Smith ahead of their recognition at the PitchBLACK Awards on Thursday, April 30.
APRIL 8, 2026
Black Public Media (BPM) will bring its PitchBLACK Forum & Awards back to Harlem on Wednesday, April 29, and Thursday, April 30, at The Apollo Stages at the Victoria for the second year in a row. Sponsored by Netflix and Andscape, PitchBLACK is the nation’s largest pitch competition for independent filmmakers and creative technologists creating Black content.
FEBRUARY 19, 2026
Filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith have been selected as Black Public Media's 2026 Trailblazers. The married duo, documentary filmmakers and co-founders of Firelight Media, will receive BPM’s most prestigious honor at the PitchBLACK Awards on Thursday, April 30, at 6:30 p.m
JANUARY 20, 2026
Ten award-winning films by students and recent graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will premiere on January 27 as part of the inaugural HBCU Week NOW Student Film Festival.
