Filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit their film to the 17th annual Seattle Black Film Festival. Formerly the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, the festival is a major season program of LANGSTON, the non-profit organization housed in the historic Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.
For several years, the festival team weighed changing the festival name to better represent the festival and the community. This year, with the help of community and audience input, the festival name change was complete.
“The Black community in the Seattle area is bursting with creation, activism, invention, and talent. It’s important the identity of the festival represent the city and the extended Seattle Black community that inspires us, beyond our roots in the Langston Hughes facility,” said festival Director, Andrea Stuart-Lehalle.
Festival Curator, Zola Mumford, has been with the festival since its inception.
“This festival has always taken a global approach to programming, showing films that represent the great variety within the Black diasporic experience,” says Mumford. “This is reflected in the name change.”
A panel of international judges made up of film enthusiasts, community members and film professionals will spend the winter reviewing the films and the official selection will be announced in early March 2020.
Audiences will help determine the winners of the following awards during the 2020 festival: Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Direction, Student/Youth Filmmaker Award, and Local Hero Award.
The call for submissions is open until January 5th, 2020, but local filmmakers and students are encouraged to take advantage of free early-bird submission. For complete submission criteria visit filmfreeway.com/SeattleBlackFilmFestival.
