Behind The Scenes Of The Black Harvest Film Festival

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But first, from blockbuster dramas and documentaries to short films that share so much in just a few minutes, Black filmmakers are telling impactful stories in every genre. And you can check out more than 75 examples of this on full display at this year's Black Harvest Film Festival. The event returns to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Gene Siskel Film Center this Friday. So movie lovers, get your popcorn ready. In this episode of the pod, you'll learn more about the power of black cinema in Chicago and the storytelling and themes that you won't want to miss at this year's festival. At the table with me was Jada Amina, curator of the Black Harvest Film Festival. And she started by telling us more about the event. Here she is.

Jada Amina (1:26)

Well, we are Chicago's Black Film Festival. That's been doing it for 32 years now, so it feels like quite the feat.

Sasha-Ann Simons (1:35)

Wow, congratulations.

Jada Amina (1:35)

Yes, we kick off this Friday, and the festival spans so many genres from sci-fi, horror, rom-coms, date night situations, and of course, documentaries.

Sasha-Ann Simons (1:49)

Situationships.

Jada Amina (1:50)

Situationships for sure. If you come to our After Hours program, you'll see a bunch of those.

Tender regrets and aspirations.

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:01)

Everyone deserves to see a good movie.

Jada Amina (2:02)

You know. There's a film for everyone, and we're just excited to celebrate films that are coming out of Chicago and that also span Diaspora.

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:13)

Yeah, let's hear more about that because you're featuring more than 75 films this year. That's a huge number.

Jada Amina (2:19)

Yes, and 60 of those are Chicago premieres.

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:21)

Oh, excellent. How do you narrow down which ones to showcase?

Jada Amina (2:25)

Oh, my goodness. I watched 600 films this year.

And I must say that black filmmakers are incredibly talented and endowed with creativity. So my job is not the easiest, but it's made easier when I'm led by what's happening around us. And we're talking about election day. So what's happening around the world and, of course, what's happening here in the states and in the city.

Sasha-Ann Simons (2:54)

Yeah, a lot of people sending the message out today about how important it is to vote and the reasons why.

If this is important to you, vote. If that is important to you, vote. What stood out to you as far as the themes that were kind of coming up in those 600 films that you had to watch?

Jada Amina (3:09)

Yeah, there are so many incredible stories that emerge out of the ancestral, which is how we get shorts programs like Ancestral Futures that are speaking to just the intergenerational dialogue between the continent of Africa and of course all of our all of the descendants and the community that we share through spirituality and tradition.

There's a lot of expansive formatting of films, so we get really experimental. I've seen that in the past years and of course we have feature films, nine of them this year, one of which I would love to highlight because it is pretty much sold out.

Sasha-Ann Simons (3:49)

What's it called?

Jada Amina (3:49)

It is called If I Go Will They Miss Me by Walter Thompson Hernandez.

Sasha-Ann Simons (3:54)

I should point out for listeners that our control room is going wild because we've got a few people going to see it next week. Like take it away.

Jada Amina (4:01)

Excellent. So it's showing on the 12th, but it's also showing this Saturday, we're honoring Walter Thompson Hernandez with the visionary award. It's a film that takes place in Watts, which I consider a kindred city with a kindred spirit to Chicago. Of course, the great migration story.

And the film follows a father and his son who are facing grief and housing precarity. And it has some magical surrealism. It's going to make you cry. I love to cry, particularly in a theater.

Sasha-Ann Simons (4:33)

I love a good cry.

As curator, what do you want portrayed? What do you personally look out for? Things like what you just described, right?

Jada Amina (4:43)

Absolutely. I think, you know, I have a lot of conversations around representation.