SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Salt Lake City Film Society just announced the event, “Presenting Black Cinema,” that will run from Feb. 3 through Feb. 25.
This film series was curated by specialty guest programmer, Saidah Russell, who is currently working at Sundance Film Festival as a shorts programmer. She has also worked with Jacob Burns Film Center, the Hamptons International Film Festival, Tribeca Festival, and more. She is the Director of Programming for the TIDE Film Festival, which is a Brooklyn-based festival dedicated to showcasing work by filmmakers of color.
Her film curation will help SLCFS spotlight the unique and varied experience of black cinema to residents of Utah.
During “Presenting Black Cinema” SLCFS will present films each weekend that are classified into the following categories — all are directed by contemporary black directors:
- Musicals
- Afro-Futurism
- Southern Gothic/Horror
- Action/Adventure
- Drama
The upcoming films are as follows:
- Feb. 10, Neptune Frost (2021)
- This film is about, “An intersex African hacker, a coltan miner, and the virtual marvel born as a result of their union,” the website states. It is an Afro-Futurism/Musical film.
- Feb. 11: Black Panther (2018)
- This film is about, T’challa, heir to Wakanda, who must step forward to lead his people into a new future, and confront a challenger. It is an Action/Adventure film.
- Feb 17: Eve’s Bayou (1997)
- This film is about women ruling a gothic world of secrets, lies, and mystic forces, amid the supposed control of Louis Batiste, head of an affluent family, father, husband, and womanizer. It is a Southern Gothic/Drama film.
- Feb 18: Tales from the Hood (1995)
- This film is about a funeral director telling horror stories, about African Americans, to three drug dealers that he has trapped. It is a Horror/Satire film.
- Feb 24: Till (2021)
- This film is about the mother of Emmett Till, who was murdered in a lynching, and her plans to expose racism and bring justice. This is a Drama/Based on a True Story film.
- Feb. 25: Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
- This film is about the betrayal of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (an African American revolutionary party) in the late 1960s in Chicago by an FBI informant. It is a Biographical Crime/Drama film.
All movies are scheduled for 9 p.m. on their respective dates. To buy tickets, or learn more about the films, go to their website, www.slfstix.org. The films will play at Broadway Centre Cinemas, 111 E. Broadway (300 S), Suite 99, in Salt Lake City.
