San
Francisco Black Film Festival
Media Contact:
Jackie Wright, 415 525 0410 jackiewright@wrightnow.biz
San Francisco Black
Film Festival XXIII Fact Sheet
June 10-June 13, 2021
The San Francisco Black Film Festival is the brainchild of the late arts impresario Ave Montague. It is a rare Black legacy organization in San Francisco as Kali O’Ray and Katerra Crossley, Montague’s son and daughter-in-law, became the directors in 2010. Due to the untimely demise of Kali O’Ray just three weeks before the entertainment industry lost Chadwick Boseman, the leadership now includes Cree Ray and Kali Ray, the children of Kali O’Ray who joins Katera Crossley to continue the legacy. Annually more than 50 films are screened at various venues in San Francisco giving both the independent filmmaker and Hollywood actors and filmmakers an opportunity to interact and exchange ideas as the festival is a platform for thought provoking panels, parties and film showcases.
The Coronavirus Pandemic impacted the festival as all entertainment and most businesses were impacted. Yet it did not stop the growth of the festival as Director Kali O’Ray gave blessings for publicist and community development director, Jackie Wright of Wright Enterprises to initiate international projects with the Durban International Film Festival and Durban Film Mart. The projects continue in the current year of the festival as it expands its vision to engage the worldwide African Diaspora.
The San Francisco Black Film Festival that delivered in the virtual space at the height of the pandemic will continue to do so with plans underway to include live events as the City of San Francisco allows for socially-distanced events.
A characteristic of the San Francisco Black Film Festival has always been the family-friendly prices. The family-friendly priced tickets will be on sale in early June. They can be found at the festival website: www.sfbff.org. The San Francisco Black Film Festival is open to everyone. It’s an opportunity for all multicultural Bay Area residents and visitors to San Francisco see the worldwide African Diaspora from an affirming perspective. The San Francisco Film Festival films and venues can be found at www.sfbff.org. Family friendly priced tickets are $10-$50 (All Acess Festival Pass).
Community involvement is a mainstay of the San Francisco Black Film
Festival which has given job training opportunities in the areas of event
planning, customer service, public relations, writing, photography, social
media and other life skills training.
Working with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women San Francisco
Chapter’s Doris
Ward Workforce Employment and Training Program, The San Francisco Black
Film Festival has not only made a difference in the lives of hundreds of
filmmakers, it has trained youth and trainsitioning adults for a better path to
employment for the past three years. The
San Francisco Black Film Festival “Walks the Talk” as it is the change it wants
to see when it comes to social justice.
The establishment of the Jeff Adachi Social Justice Award for filmmakers who embark on equity and equality themes in their films is just another indication of the San Francisco Black Film Festival being true to its core value of “Healing the World One Film at A Time.”
HIGHLIGHTS OF PAST FESTIVALS
San Francisco Black Film Festival
& Durban South Africa 2020
San Francisco Black Film Festival
Promoted Equal Standard @DIFF
San Francisco Black Film Festival Jeff
Adachi Media Briefing @ Cinemark 2019
https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Danny-Glover-in-person-to-kick-off-SF-Black-Film-11217951.php#photo-13055093
“Lambadina” Opening Night San Francisco Black Film Festival @ SF State University 2016
https://www.prlog.org/12333880
Robert Townsend 2012
http://sfbayview.com/2012/06/champion-karim-mayfield-and-director-robert-townsend-bring-knockout-power-and-star-power-to-san-francisco-black-film-festival/
Mario Van Peebles 2011
https://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/strong-second-act/Content?oid=2181850
About San Francisco Black Film Festival
Ave Montague (1945-2009), arts impresario, fashion industry executive, publicist, founded the San Francisco Black Film Festival in 1998. Montague created the San Francisco Black Film Festival, a 501c3 nonprofit, with the artistic vision to provide a platform for Black filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors to present their art. As a competitive film festival, SFBFF identifies filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors that are emerging as talents and established artists who are contributing to the cinematic legacy of African Americans. SFBFF conscientiously expands the notions of “Black film-making” to a global perspective. The organization is multicultural and inclusive of all in the expression of the African Diaspora experience. The San Francisco Black Film Festival has screened more than 10,000 films from around the world. Kali O’Ray (son of Ave Montague) and his wife Katera Crossley, both formerly of Atlanta, Georgia, co-directed The San Francisco Black Film Festival until O’Ray’s untimely death in August 2020. Now the festival is directed with O’Ray’s children Cree Ray and Kali Ray.
The Mission of the San Francisco
Black Film Festival is
to celebrate African American cinema and the African Cultural Diaspora and to
showcase a diverse collection of films – from emerging and established
filmmakers. This is accomplished by presenting Black films, which reinforce
positive images and dispel negative stereotypes, and providing film artists
from the Bay Area in particular and around the world in general, a forum for
their work to be viewed and discussed.
The San Francisco Black Film Festival believes film can lead to a better
understanding of and communication between, peoples of diverse cultures, races,
and lifestyles, while simultaneously serving as a vehicle to initiate dialogue
on the important issues of our times. For more information about the San Francisco Black Film Festival
visit www.sfbff.org.
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