From Oscar Micheaux to Julie Dash, from Nia DaCosta to Ryan Coogler, Black cinema has been shaped by the manifestations of Black genius. Visionaries with a desire to put into the world a point of view that is often excluded from the cinematic landscape. Black filmmakers have time and time again created masterpieces that ultimately become fixtures in the culture as must-see classics. Robert Towsend gave us Meteor Man. Mario Van Peebles gave us New Jack City. Kassi Lemmons gave us Eve’s Bayou and the list goes on. Even when the name of the filmmaker escapes the mind, the work lives on indelibly. 

 

In a climate where the past and present of the Black experience is under the active threat of erasure, it is the art by black creatives that will reflect our times and be the catalyst for the resistance that black resilience has always been. Black filmmakers will be on the frontline and the Melanated Movie Night Film Festival wants to platform as many of them as we can. 

 

Our aim is to provide a safe space for the cinematic creative collective to build connections, discover opportunities, and gain inspiration to fuel their prowess. More than that, the Melanated Movie Night Film Festival wants to unite the movie lovers and movie makers from across the country, bringing them to P.G. County, a hub for black wealth and excellence. 

 

James Baldwin famously said, “The place in which I’ll fit, will not exist until I make it.” Too often black filmmakers are denied a seat at the mainstream table. The remedy to this is to build a table that corrects that. So, the Melanated Movie Night Film Festival has joined the line of film festivals that are centering black stories and the filmmakers who are telling them. We need as many platforms as we can have to amplify black voices making a difference through film. More than being just about the silver screen, relationships are being forged and impact is being made. Melanated movie magic happens here, and we can’t wait to share it with you.