New York, New York, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New York Film Academy (NYFA) is thrilled to announce a student-led panel about the future of Black film festivals and the role young Black filmmakers play at this time in US history. The panel, Moment, Movement, or Mainstream: A Conversation Between Young Black Filmmakers and Black Film Festivals, will be held on Friday, August 21, 2020 and will be open to the public.
Panelists for the event involve diversity specialists, festival directors, and film programmers from across the industry, including:
- CR Capers - Founder & Director, Hip Hop Film Festival
- Amber Espinosa-Jones - Manager, Outreach & Inclusion Department, Sundance Institute
- Yolonda Brinkley - Creator, Diversity in Cannes
- Kimberly Singleton - Curator and Advisory Board Member, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival
Moderating the conversation will be respective club presidents and NYFA students LaDerrian Meredith and Jumanah el Shabazz of NYFA’s African Black American Film Society (ABA) and Film Festival Club.
"This is a great opportunity for everyone to come together and discuss how we can look forward to making films,” shares LaDerrian Meredith, President of the African Black American Film Society at NYFA. “I am excited by the efforts the panelists have made and will make to address diversity and inclusion for now and in the future.”
"We are in a tremendous moment of change in the film industry and in society that has left many people with the question – what happens next?,” says Jumanah el Shabazz, President of the Film Festival Club at NYFA. “Our discussion will address that thought and, hopefully, allow the audience to walk away with points they can use to continue to chart their careers and submit their work to the best festivals in the country and around the world.”
Supporting the student-led panel are NYFA’s faculty advisors for the African Black American Film Society, Terah Jackson and Kimberly Ogletree, as well as the Director of NYFA’s Film Festival Department, Crickett Rumley.
“By connecting this panel with students and many others, we will truly understand the meaning of those that control the image and control the narrative,” remarks Ogletree. “Now is the time for filmmakers to be seen, heard, and recognized for their skillful abilities to make a difference through the art of storytelling and filmmaking."
“Our panelists have been working towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in the arts for years, so they are uniquely qualified to speak to where we have been and where we are heading as a nation and as filmmakers in this moment,” shares Rumley. “I look forward to hearing their thoughts and getting inspired.”
New York Film Academy welcomes all individuals looking to learn, listen, and contribute to the conversation to attend the panel on August 21, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (4:00 p.m. Pacific Time). To register for the Moment, Movement, or Mainstream: A Conversation Between Young Black Filmmakers and Black Film Festivals panel, please click here.
About New York Film Academy
New York Film Academy (“NYFA”) is a leading film, media and performing arts college that offers hands-on intensive undergraduate and graduate degree programs, certificates, and workshops across a multitude of areas of study in New York City, Los Angeles, South Beach/Miami, Gold Coast (Australia), Florence (Italy), Beijing and Shanghai (China), and more. Its programs are accelerated and NYFA students can complete a four year BFA degree in three years. NYFA’s online program offerings allow students the opportunity to advance their creative and technical skills in NYFA’s “Hands-Online Workshops,” available across NYFA’s visual, media, and performing arts disciplines.
NYFA is regionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). These accreditations extend to all NYFA campuses in the United States and overseas.
For more information, please visit nyfa.edu.
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