Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival Celebrates "A State of Grace" with Stories on Love, Loss & Faith

    NEW YORK, NY, October 15, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & LectureSeries — the first Academy Qualifying film festival devoted to women filmmakers — will present an exciting four-week season showcasing deeply personal stories about love, loss and faith under the theme A State of Grace.

The 27th annual Reel Sisters kicked off the festival in Harlem with an awards ceremony and an evening of shorts on Oct. 4 and Oct. 10, respectively. The festival runs through Oct. 31 featuring movie premieres, virtual screenings and panel discussions. There will also be a special script reading co-hosted with BRIC Media on Oct. 29, 2024. In-person screenings will take place in six different venues in Brooklyn and Harlem including the Kumble Theater, Center for Fiction, Maysles Documentary Center and Miller Theatre.

"We are proud to showcase a spectacular line-up of films that reflect the full spectrum of our shared humanity, including our ability to use humor and wit to overcome life's challenging moments," said Festival Founder Carolyn A. Butts, a recipient of the 2024 The Just Brooklyn Prize , which honors five Brooklynites for their contributions to building power within Brooklyn communities. She will be honored at Barclays Center on Oct. 30, 2024.

On Oct. 4, 2024, Reel Sisters presented our Trailblazer award to Huriyyah Muhammad, the award-winning director of Chocolate With Sprinkles and co-founder of the Black TV & Film Collective (BTFC), for her outstanding contributions to cinema. The event included the world premiere of two shorts by Reel Sisters Micro Budget Fellows Candace D. Patrick, writer/director of Finding JaMia's Spirit; and Vivienne Shaw, writer/director of 29 Hour Famine. Remote Paradise produced and directed by Sheronna Shakara Osbourne was screened at our awards ceremony as the kick off to the festival's official 27th Anniversary season.

Don't worry if you missed Reel Sisters' kick off — the festival has a strong selection of upcoming screenings and events. Here's a short list of must-see films to add to your festival schedule!

For schedule and tickets, visit reelsisters.org or call 212-865-2982.

Reel Sisters Festival Highlights & Premieres

Oct. 19, 2024, 7:40 pm – Kumble Theater, LIU

TRAILER: Postcard

He Looked Like A Postcard (Invited – Brooklyn Premiere)
Director: Qasim Basir Producers: jessica Care moore, Gingi Rochelle, Lasana Hotep, Samantha Basir and Eve Ensler Writer: jessica Care moore
narrative, 96 min.

Accomplished Poet and newly single mom, Serendipity, returns home to Detroit with her 10-year-old son Idris to find peace and meets a popular muralist who happens to look like a postcard given to her from a close friend. A self-love story about the power of using your imagination to create the life you want, Serendipity chooses to manifest her own reality with the stroke of a pen. The film stars jessica Care moore and Tobias Truvillion in the leading roles.

Oct. 20, 2024, 4:50 pm – Center For Fiction

An Unusual Suspect (Invited – World Premiere)
Director/Writer: Booker T. Mattison
Producers: Roberta Setzu and Christian Ortega
Narrative, 90 min.

Two years out of law school and eager to prove herself, ambitious young attorney VIOLA JANUARY takes on a high-stakes pro bono case: defending a man who was wrongfully convicted of kidnapping a woman. Against all odds, she wins. But as new evidence emerges, Viola realizes the case is far from closed—and now she's caught in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer determined to keep the truth buried. With her life on the line, Viola must unravel a dark conspiracy before it's too late.

NOTABLE FILMS

Oct. 19, 2024, 1 pm – Spike Lee Screening Rm., LIU

How to Sue the Khan
Director: John Beder
Producer: Raji Ramanathan, Ben Crump, Cameron S. Mitchell
documentary, 34 min.
From Producer Ben Crump. America's first hate group, the Ku Klux Klan, dealt out hatred and violence for over a century without penalty — until five Black women and a young Black civil rights lawyer finally forced them to pay for their crimes. The strength of these women and the groundbreaking 1982 civil case set forth by their attorney established a legal precedent that paved the road for today's fight against organized hate.

Oct. 19, 2024, 4 pm – Kumble Theater, LIU

Brownies (Reel Sisters Best Director Award)
Director/Writer: Aisha Ford
Producers: Preston Lee, Carole Murphy
narrative, 13 min.

Set in 1983 at camp, Snot (12) and her all-black girl scout troop seek revenge on an all-white privileged troop for calling them a racial slur. However, things take a left turn which leads to a shocking truth.

Oct. 19, 2024, 2:35 pm – Spike Lee Screening Room, LIU

A Race in the Sun (Reel Sisters Best Documentary Short)
Producer/Director: K. Nicole Mills
documentary, 20 min.

An exploration of cycling culture through the eyes of Ayesha McGowan who rose through the ranks of the New York City underground cycling world to break barriers as the world's first African American woman to become a professional cyclist.

Oct. 20, 2024, 1 pm – Center for Fiction

Jellyfish and Lobster (Reel Sisters Short Narrative Award – Oscar Qualifying Film)
Director/Writer: Yasmin Afifi
Producer: Elizabeth Rufait
Narrative, 20 min.
A magical realist, dark comedy/drama set within the backdrop of a gritty British care home. When two old and terminally ill patients discover a magical pool that restores them back to their younger selves beneath the water, they are forced to reconcile with the inescapable truth of their mortality, or drown in the illusion of their past.

Oct. 20, 2024 — 3:05 pm – Center For Fiction

Ya Hanouni (Reel Sisters Best Screenplay Award)
Writer: Lyna Tadount, Sofian Chouaib
Director: Lyna Tadount, Sofian Chouaib
narrative, 2:38 min.
While the Mom and the Dad try to put their baby to sleep, a competition arises between them: who will manage to get the baby to say the first word?

Oct. 20, 2024 — 3:05 pm – Center For Fiction

The Flacalta Effect
Writer: Rochée Jeffrey
Director: Rochée Jeffrey
Producer: Ebony Elaine Hardin, Takara Joseph
Comedy, 8 min.
After a drug with anti-aging properties has apocalyptic consequences, two Black sisters fight for their lives—and looks—in this satirical take on toxic beauty culture.

Oct. 26, 2024 – 1 pm – Maysles Documentary Center

Chocolate Milk (Reel Sisters Best Documentary Feature)
Producer/Director/Writer: Elizabeth Bayne
documentary, 92 min.
Chocolate Milk explores racial inequities in birth and breastfeeding in the US by following the stories of three Black mothers in South Los Angeles over multiple years – a new mom, a WIC employee and a homebirth midwife

MICRO BUDGET FELLOWSHIP FILM PREMIERES

Oct. 4, 2024, 6:30 pm – Riverside Theater

Finding JaMia's Spirit
narrative, 14:43 min.
PRODUCERS: Candace Patrick, Musau Onwubiko DIRECTOR/WRITER: Candace Patrick
A little girl looks for her dad's ancestor spirit.

29 Hour Famine – Riverside Theater
narrative, 16:28 min.
PRODUCERS: Gorby Mufan Shih
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Vivienne Shaw (Etzu Shaw)
When a devout teenager discovers evidence of someone eating at her church youth group's annual fasting event, she goes to absurd lengths to catch the culprit.

Oct. 26, 2024, 3:10 pm – Center For Fiction

Cold Feat
Producer/Director/Writer: Morgan Alicia Smith
narrative, 15 min.
A suburban physical therapist's life is committed to helping others, while sitting on the sidelines of her own dreams.
Reel Sisters Film Festival offers affordable ticket prices. A one-day pass is $25 and a section pass is $12 ($8 for seniors/students). Students, seniors and group discounts are available.

Reel Sisters All Access Passes includes:
• Access to 70 films by women of color from across the globe
• Opportunities to network with filmmakers and professionals in the film industry
• Access to panels, workshops, special screenings, virtual showcase & awards ceremony

To view the schedule and purchase tickets at the website www.reelsisters.org.

About Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival

Founded in 1997 by African Voices magazine and LIU Brooklyn Campus, Reel Sisters is among the first film festivals dedicated to supporting women of color filmmakers. Reel Sisters is one of 26 Oscar qualifying film festivals in the nation. Renowned for celebrating both veterans and rising stars alike, Reel Sisters has honored everyone from Radio One founder Cathy Hugues to HBO's Insecure writer and director Issa Rae. Reel Sisters has award more than $70,000 in fellowship and cash awards since is inception. Six MicroBudget Film Fellows received $5,000 each to turn their scripts into short films and access to Reel Sisters scriptwriting workshops.

Reel Sisters is supported, in part, by Councilmembers Crystal Hudson and Farah Louis, the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts and West Harlem Development Corp.

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