The Blackhouse Foundation has set its programming for this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival. The programming will run from Jan. 21 to Jan. 23, all taking place on Sundance’s virtual Main Street.
“We are privileged to have a unique partnership with our returning sponsor Meta. Together, we are excited to host three exciting virtual activations,” said Blackhouse’s executive director Jenean Glover commented. “We are consciously inclusive in the delivery of transformative content to our audience of diverse creatives and digital festival-goers. As we pivot to a digital festival for the second year in a row, we are excited to scale our audience in much the same way Blackhouse and Meta increased our impact on our student filmmaker fellows tenfold in 2021.”
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Now in its 15th year, Blackhouse works to expand opportunities for Black creatives through education about financial, production, marketing, and distribution resources. In addition to this year’s programming, Blackhouse Foundation will run The Blackhouse Portrait Studio, featuring photographer Erik Umphery.
“For fundamental change to happen, consistent support to find, grow and elevate opportunities for Black filmmakers is key. That’s the driving force behind Meta’s SEEN expansion – the SEEN Black Filmmakers Program – which we launched last Sundance together with our founding partner The Blackhouse Foundation,” said Meta’s Jen Barrett, the founder of SEEN.
More virtual activations, discussions, events, and community gatherings will be announced in the coming days, but the recently revealed programming, sponsored by Meta, are listed below:
Friday, Jan. 21, 4:30 p.m. MT: At the Sundance Filmmakers Lodge, Meta and Blackhouse present “Being SEEN: The Black Filmmakers Journey,” featuring filmmakers JaSaun Buckner and Kaelo Iyizoba from Meta’s SEEN Black Filmmakers Program, moderated by Blackhouse executive director Jenean Glover, and includes Blackhouse co-founder Brickson Diamond and Meta’s Head of Entertainment Creative Shop, Jen Barrett.
Friday, Jan. 21, 6 p.m. MT: We The Culture, Meta’s Black Creator program, led by Michelle Mitchell (Meta, Media Partnerships) will engage in candid conversation with Ms. Tina Knowles-Lawson –– star of the Facebook Watch show, Talks with Mama Tina and co-founder of the WACO Theater Center, along with impressive creators from its inaugural year. Together, this group of creatives will discuss their journeys and the role We The Culture has played along the way.
Saturday, Jan. 22, 10 a.m. MT: Instagram and #ShareBlackStories Presents: The Land of Milk and Honey, a vision by Alexander-Julian (AJ) Gibbson (Creative Director) and Shakeil Greeley (Brand and Editorial Director); panel moderated by Sarissa Thrower (Instagram Comms). This project was ideated as an audit of the American Dream, in the form of a series of photo essays and video interviews with immigrant families of color. The United States is famously known as a “land of immigrants,” and this project explores and celebrates the ways in which immigrants are different and how their experiences vary, intersect, and deviate, all within the spectrum of the American experience. These families are shot in their homes and communities, by photographers of the same descent, and dressed in clothes designed by members of those same immigrant groups. It’s imperative to find ways to really see one another, to look deeply and embrace the kaleidoscopic experience of what it means to be an immigrant.
