San Francisco Black Film Festival
P.O. Box 15490
San Francisco, CA 94115
News Release Contact: Jackie Wright
For Immediate Release 415 525 0410,
June 14, 2017 jackiewright@wrightnow.biz
San Francisco Black Film Festival XIX Opens with
San Francisco Native Danny Glover’s
Nollywood Produced “93 Days”
Following the successful Wednesday June 14 packed standing room only Media Briefing & VIP Reception at the San Francisco Veterans Building, Opening Night for San Francisco Film Festival XIX is “An Intimate Night with Danny Glover, synchronizing with the spirit and theme of the festival’s multicultural mission to create a platform for emerging filmmakers to engage established artists.
San Francisco-Over the years since being founded by the late San Francisco Arts Impresario Ave Montague, the San Francisco Black Film Festival has been described as a platform to blast stereotypes and bring people of various cultures together for a better understanding of each other. Native San Franciscan, Danny Glover’s latest project “93 Days” is on the forefront of breaking through stereotypical thinking as it shares a fact-based behind the headlines look at Nigeria stepping up to the plate to defend its people against the deadly Ebola virus and epidemic that ravaged nations in West Africa in 2014.
“The Intimate Evening With Danny Glover,” headlining the festival will be in the historic Fillmore District, “the Harlem of the West” at the former Yoshi’s Jazz Center, Thursday, June 15, 2017.
“We are so pleased that our long-time friend Danny Glover is joining us in such a dramatic way with a story that will inspire everyone, no matter his or her race,” said Kali O’Ray, Co-Director of the San Francisco Black Film Festival with his wife, Katera Crossley. “It’s an amazing film that speaks of the power of the human spirit with a woman, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh as the major force for Nigeria’s victory. The film is dedicated to Dr. Adadevoh.
“To point out the obvious, “93 Days” was developed in Nigeria, but the film by Steve Gukas had more than one race working on the film,” said Katera Crossley, Co-Director of the San Francisco Black Film Festival. “Having this particular film speaks to the festival’s multiculturalism and our focus is helping different people and cultures to understand each other. We say that the ‘San Francisco Black Film Festival is healing the world one film at a time.’”
To date, the festival is made possible in part by the following sponsors: California Arts Council; San Francisco Arts Commission; Comcast; PG&E; Comerica Bank; Film Bread; Rainbow Grocery; DeYoung Museum; SPUR; African American Arts and Culture Center; Marines’ Memorial Association; P. Harrell Wines; Fillmore Jazz Festival; Westin St. Francis Hotel; The San Francisco Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women; Dolby Laboratories; National Coalition of Black Veteran Organizations; Cesar Chavez American Legion Post 505; The San Francisco Veterans Film Festival; Maison Noire Américaine; The San Francisco Bay View Newspaper; Block Report Radio; KPOO Radio; LaHitz Media; The Village Project; Shelly Tatum Presents; Ink Tip; San Francisco Juneteenth; Jackson Street Productions; and Wright Enterprises.
Opening Night “An Intimate Night with Danny Glover,” constitutes the second day of activities for the festival. A pre-festival event includes a media briefing and VIP reception and screening made possible by the Cesar Chavez American Legion Post 505 at the San Francisco Veteran’s Building. The San Francisco Black Film Festival Media Briefing from 5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. will share the festival’s schedule to also include events and/or screenings at the DeYoung Museum, SPUR, Marines Memorial Club & Hotel with video clips and the unbranded commercials produced by Comcast for general media use. Following the media briefing the film industry fun begins with a touch of “parlez vous francais” as Robin Bates and Constance Bryan, the founders of San Francisco based Maison Noire Américaine host in collaboration with the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Alliance Francaise, and Cesar Chavez American Legion Post 505, a VIP Reception & the San Francisco debut screening of “Mariannes Noires” by Carnegie Mellon University Professor Mame-Fatou Niang and Kaytie Nielson.
With different venues around San Francisco as indicated in the Comcast commercial, “The San Francisco Black Film Festival Gives You a Tour of San Francisco,” and thanks to Maison Noire Américaine, a tour of Oakland as well as the San Francisco Black Festival, Maison, and David Roach of the Oakland International Film Festival have joined forces to have a special dinner Friday night with Professor Niang at the Bissap Baobab Oakland Restaurant.
Across the Bay or in San Francisco, there’s no reason to not attend the San Francisco Black Film Festival, especially with the Warriors clinching in game five their second NBA Championship in three years. Who knows you might see one or two of the specially invited guests at “An Intimate Evening with Danny Glover.”
There’s always time to invest in excellence. Increase your company or organization’s social responsibility capital by sponsoring a day, a film, reception, contest or panel. Contact the San Francisco Black Film Festival at sfbff@sfbff.org for sponsorship opportunities.
For more information about San Francisco Black Film Festival XIX and its lineup of films and activities to include panel discussions, parties and a contest-honoring Dad, “My Dad Is My Hero,” visit www.sfbff.org.
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About San Francisco Black Film Festival
Ave Montague (1945-2009), arts impresario, fashion industry executive, publicist, founded the San Francisco Black Film Festival in 1998. Montague created the San Francisco Black Film Festival, a 501c3 nonprofit, with the artistic vision to provide a platform for Black filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors to present their art. As a competitive film festival, SFBFF identifies filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors that are emerging as talents and established artists who are contributing to the cinematic legacy of African Americans.
SFBFF conscientiously expands the notions of “Black film-making” to a global perspective. The organization is multicultural and inclusive of all in the expression of the African Diaspora experience.
The San Francisco Black Film Festival has screened more than 10,000 films from around the world. Kali O’Ray (son of Ave Montague) and his wife Katera Crossley, both formerly of Atlanta, Georgia are co-directors of The San Francisco Black Film Festival.
The Mission of the San Francisco Black Film Festival is to celebrate African American cinema and the African Cultural Diaspora and to showcase a diverse collection of films – from emerging and established filmmakers. This is accomplished by presenting Black films, which reinforce positive images and dispel negative stereotypes, and providing film artists from the Bay Area in particular and around the world in general, a forum for their work to be viewed and discussed. The San Francisco Black Film Festival believes film can lead to a better understanding of and communication between, peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while simultaneously serving as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.