In its sixth year, the Columbus Black International Film Festival plans to show its power.
Power is the theme for the program of shorts and features that “showcase Black filmmakers locally, nationally and internationally while highlighting a spectrum of stories told by people of the African diaspora.”
“When Barry Jenkins won the Oscar for Moonlight, it was like, Hollywood was into Black,” says Cristyn Allen-Steward, CBIFF founder. “When Black folks are at the helm of their own stories, that’s when we have the most power. Now you can turn on your TV and see Black Sci-Fi, Black horror, Black drama. There is power in that, and that goes back to representation. People say, ‘I see myself. I feel seen. People are paying attention.’”
Allen-Steward intends to showcase and develop that power, not just through the slate of Black-made films. She says the festival has always made it a priority to develop filmmakers. One way to do that is by introducing new filmmakers to other local artists, once again offering workshops and panel discussions to facilitate opportunities for Black filmmakers to get to know their peers and mentors.
Allen-Steward sees value in developing business skills as well. To that end, one new event for year six is the pitch competition, From Pitch to Screen. Filmmakers were encouraged to pitch their short film ideas with a logline and brief video. A jury chose finalists, who will perform their pitches live at this year’s festival. The winner will have support and guidance to hone their pitch for investors, as well as money toward production, plus a premiere at Studio 35.
The contest came from Allen-Steward’s brainstorming about how CBIFF could help generate more homegrown filmmaking. Local filmmaker Tyrone Russell is a finalist.
“My project is a short documentary,” he says. “I pair a Black artist from Columbus (poet Vernell Bristow) with a Maori visual artist in New Zealand. I’m especially interested in the conversations two artists of color can have around how art impacts and contextualizes how we see the world and how we see ourselves in it.”
“I wanted to start teaching about pitching and why it was important,” Allen-Steward says. “Everybody always says, ‘I have a story, where is the camera guy or the actors.’ It’s never, ‘I have a story, let me get some money.’ The quality of our films can come from how much money we can get.”
It’s all in keeping with Allen-Steward’s plan to do more with CBIFF than show films. She wants to develop filmmakers, and she thinks Columbus is the place to do that.
“We’re a community-oriented city,” she says. “We like to rally together. We like to come together and say I want to bet on this person. I found that with CBIFF, people saying, ‘This is a great idea, how can I help?’ You know you’re going to get the support of the city.”
Power: Columbus Black International Film Festival will take place at the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St., Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22.
For tickets and showtimes, visit wexarts.org.
For more information on CBIFF, including opportunities to volunteer or donate, visit columbusbiff.com.
Full lineup:
Saturday, May 21
- 11 a.m. – Power: Student Shorts
- 12:15 p.m. – Power: Shorts 1
- 2 p.m. – BLACK AS U R (Michael Rice, 2022)
- 4 p.m. – From Pitch to Screen
- 5–7 p.m. – networking reception
- 7 p.m. – Queen of Glory (Nana Mensah, 2021)
Sunday, May 22
- 11 a.m. – Power: Shorts 2
- 1p.m. – Anastácias (Thatiane Almeida, 2021)
- 3–4 p.m. – filmmakers’ roundtable
Follow Hope on Twitter @maddwolf and listen to her weekly movie review THE SCREENIING ROOM.