2023 American Black Film Festival guide

A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy in this pulpy mystery caper.

Seven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.

Explores the amazing life and career of Donyale Luna, as one of the first black models to appear on the cover of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar in Europe.

Sexually awkward Stacey Johnson decides to take control of her life, cancel her ex, and conquer her fears by having a threesome with her new beau and a mysterious woman she's never met. What could possibly go wrong?

It centers on the efforts to reform the Mississippi correctional system, led by the inmates of Parchman Prison.

Joe, a blue-collar plumber, learns his recently deceased father lived a secret life and stole millions of dollars from dangerous people. Now those people think Joe has the money. Joe must race against time to find the truth and the money.

After a high-profile firing, Jenna's fashion career comeback hits a snag when she falls for a charming, much younger coworker - who happens to be her boss's son. As sparks fly, Jenna must decide if she'll risk it all on a secret romance.

It highlights how ESSENCE Magazine has informed and reflected Black culture in the United States in the last 50 years.

It tells the story of a sculptor and an investigator. They try to find her missing newborn and uncover a dark and fatal secret.

The coming-of-age joyride of Cootie, a 13-foot-tall man who escapes to experience the beauty and contradictions of the real world. He forms friendships, finds love, navigates awkward situations, and encounters his idol, The Hero.

Each year, over 600,000 people are reported missing in the United States. Gabi Mosely and her crisis management team use unorthodox methods to find the forgotten people.

Follows the award winning creator of The Real Husbands of Hollywood and director of Back On The Strip as he gives a first look of his comedy special.

Billie is plagued by blackouts and strange visions that lead her to discover she's stuck in a series of time loops, possibly related to her mysterious new girlfriend.

After her ex-boyfriend's acting career takes off, Samantha picks up the pieces to her broken heart and (so-called) acting career to rediscover her essence as a modern Latinx actress.

After the mysterious death of her husband, a woman hires a reluctant spirit hunter to expel an evil spirit tormenting her family. Unknown to the spirit hunter, the family has a dark secret that they have sworn to keep hidden at all cost.

Dre Shaw reluctantly puts his life as a rising social-media star on hold to return home for a family wedding--and go from family liability to family savior.

It tells the story of Naomi, who turns down law school to pursue poetry. She struggles to survive in 1993 Denver, after being cut off during a period of violent crime in the city known as the Summer of Violence.

A disgraced ex-cop is forced to work for a ruthless kingpin to pay off his father's debt and protect his family.

Loyalty amongst friends isn't always the case, when your life is on the line.

After a robbery goes wrong, two young lovers are caught in a deadly series of events that threaten to destroy their dreams of a better life.

The Rise and Takeover of Comedians from Washington, D.C. Dave Chappelle. Martin Lawrence. Wanda Sykes. and Tommy Davidson!... have two major commonalities. They are four of the highest grossing comedians with an amassed wealth of over $200 Million Dollars.... And oh, yeah, in case you have not heard, these behemoths in entertainment also hail from our nation's capital... Washington, D.C. By the late 1980s, America was in the midst of an unprecedented boom in Stand-Up comedy. Over 300 clubs opened between 1978-1988 as thousands of young comics from Eddie Murphy to Rosie O'Donnell got behind the mic for the first time. This wealth of comedians continued to emerge across the U.S. in the early '90s, and D.C. was no exception. Washington DC and the DMV area as a whole has born and bred many of the most famous comedians in the world. Is this a coincidence or a comedic contagion in the DC air? For a while, humorous and historical accounts of DC's talent was overlooked, yet this was an extraordinarily fertile breeding ground for producing the nation's top comedic talent - and why few actually realize it. Without a doubt, the DMV is the mecca for comedy. Comedians that blossom from the DMV area, unlike larger cities like New York City or Los Angeles, many of whom are transplants... continue to conquer stages, film, radio, television, nationally and internationally. THE MECCA OF COMEDY is a 60 - 90-minute documentary that explores the rise of Black comedy and comedians from the mid 1980's to the present within the DMV area. We'll take a trip around the DMV to learn where some of the earlier comedy clubs and rooms were located that allowed Black comedians to perform and examine the challenges many of them faced. As time progressed, more and more of these hometown comedic legends who were rooted within the DMV, transcended to glorious heights of fame... many of them are still soaring. But let's face it, these paths traveled did not occur over night. There is no testimony without a test. Thus, this documentary probes into the lives of these comedians, understanding how their upbringing and environment impacted their comedy, delving into their highs and lows within their career and life, learning about their current activities, and future aspirations. THE MECCA OF COMEDY will utilize interviews, pictures, file and archival video, and other content to implement in the documentary. The underling purpose of this documentary is to hear about the advancement and growth of these comedians, follow their journey, witness their joys and pains, peaks and valleys, salient breakthroughs, and navigating the comedy space while continuing to mature and transcend as husbands/wives, parents, realtors, activists, politicians, authors, actors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, radio and podcast hosts plus so much more. All these spaces were launched by a joke which propelled these talented entertainers from our nation's capital to ascend.

Follows the dramatic but little-known story of the 1969 student strike that transformed the face of higher education.

Black ownership of farmland has dwindled to alarmingly low numbers due to many factors including usage of an obscure law, Heirs' Property. Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land examines the causes, effects, and solutions to this issue.

BIRTHING JUSTICE, a feature-length documentary film, captures the experiences and challenges of Black women, their families, caretakers and advocates, and examines the structures and systems that determine disparate rates of mortality.

Cowboy culture as a representation of black Oklahomans' history, present, and future.