Newark Black Film Festival

Last updated
Newark Black Film Festival
Date(s)Mid-July
FrequencyAnnual
Venue Newark Museum of Art
Location(s)Newark, New Jersey
Founded1974
Website https://newarkmuseumart.org/2023-newark-black-film-festival/
Every summer, the Newark Black Film Festival is held at the Newark Museum of Art Newark Museum jeh.JPG
Every summer, the Newark Black Film Festival is held at the Newark Museum of Art
The New Jersey-born singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson in 1942. The Paul Robeson Awards are held biannually at the Newark Black Film Festival. Paul Robeson 1942 crop.jpg
The New Jersey-born singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson in 1942. The Paul Robeson Awards are held biannually at the Newark Black Film Festival.

The Newark Black Film Festival (NBFF), is an annual film festival that has taken place since 1974 in Newark, New Jersey, and is the longest running Black film festival in the United States. [1] [2] It operates under the auspices of the Newark Museum of Art. The NBFF focuses on the work and history of African Americans and the African Diaspora. Screenings are typically followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers and scholars.

Contents

The Newark Black Film Festival Paul Robeson Awards began as a biennial competition in 1985. [2] [3] The festival receives funding in the form of grants from various foundations and corporations and is free of charge to the public. [4]

History

The concept of the festival was originated by filmmaker Oliver Franklin in 1974 at the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Center. Gus Heningburg, of the Greater Newark Urban Coalition, suggested that the Newark Museum host one of its traveling events, after which it became part of the museum's programming. As quoted in the Newark-based newspaper, The Star-Ledger , Rutgers University professor Clement Price (originally on the selection committee) said "The festival was started in the lean years of Newark history, following the disturbances of the summer of '67, The Newark Black Film Festival was one of the early and more credible efforts to address the trauma and civic dislocation and the concerns about the future of Newark. The enduring aspiration of the festival has been to show films that give a believable portrait of African-American and African diasporic life." [5]

During its history, films have been shown at other venues in the city including the Newark Public Library, Newark Symphony Hall, Washington Park, Rutgers University–Newark, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Cityplex12. [6] [7] [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newark, New Jersey</span> Most populous city in New Jersey, United States

Newark is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 311,549, an increase of 34,409 (+12.4%) from the 2010 census count of 277,140, which in turn reflected an increase of 3,594 (+1.3%) from the 273,546 counted in the 2000 census. The Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 305,344 for 2022, making it the 66th-most populous municipality in the nation. Newark is a principal city of the Greater New York metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Brunswick, New Jersey</span> City in Middlesex County, New Jersey, US

New Brunswick is a city in and the seat of government of Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A regional commercial hub for central New Jersey, the city is both a college town and a commuter town for residents commuting to New York City within the New York metropolitan area. New Brunswick is on the Northeast Corridor rail line, 27 miles (43 km) southwest of Manhattan. The city is located on the southern banks of the Raritan River in the heart of the Raritan Valley region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheeler Winston Dixon</span> American filmmaker and scholar

Wheeler Winston Dixon is an American filmmaker and scholar. He is an expert on film history, theory and criticism. His scholarship has particular emphasis on François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, American experimental cinema and horror films. He has written extensively on numerous aspects of film, including his books A Short History of Film and A History of Horror. From 1999 through the end of 2014, he was co-editor, along with Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, of the Quarterly Review of Film and Video. He is regarded as a top reviewer of films. In addition, he is notable as an experimental American filmmaker with films made over several decades, and the Museum of Modern Art exhibited his works in 2003. He taught at Rutgers University, The New School in New York, the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and as of May 2020, is the James E. Ryan professor emeritus of film studies at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prudential Center</span> Multi-purpose indoor arena in Newark, New Jersey, U.S.

Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team. The Prudential Center is owned by Josh Harris and David Blitzer of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) and is operated by Devils Arena Entertainment, an HBSE subsidiary. By 2023, the arena was among the top five concert venues worldwide by earnings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gateway Region</span> Urbanized area of northeastern New Jersey, US

The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jersey City Museum</span> Former art museum in New Jersey, US

The Jersey City Museum was a municipal art museum in Jersey City, New Jersey. The establishment opened in 1901 and was housed in the main branch of the Jersey City Free Public Library. It relocated to a new building in 2001, but due to financial difficulties and discord with the city, closed to the public in 2010. In 2018, the museum collection was donated to the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University.

Newark Arts High School is a four-year magnet public high school, serving students in Ninth through twelfth grades in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. The school is located in the University Heights section of Newark. Starting in 2011-12, the 7th graders of William Brown Academy were housed there as its venue was being built.

Taalam Acey is an American spoken-word artist. He began pursuing the art in 1997 after visiting a poetry reading upon the invitation of a friend. At that point in his life, Acey was a full-time lecturer in senior level accounting at Rutgers University and a principal partner in a small business consulting firm. In 1999, Acey left Rutgers University to become a full-time performance poet. Each year, he travels to more than 50 cities in the United States and abroad to share his art and perspectives with enthralled audiences. Much of Acey's poetry addresses social and political issues from an afro-centric perspective while he maintains a fan base of a wide range of ethnicities. His work also provides a poetic perspective of relationships, whether man to woman, mother to son, or man to man. He champions the struggles of single parenthood and fatherly responsibility.

cWOW Gallery

cWOW Gallery, also known as City Without Walls Gallery, is located in Newark, New Jersey, occupying a building on Halsey Street at Crawford Street in the Lincoln Park/The Coast Cultural District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newark Symphony Hall</span> United States historic place

Newark Symphony Hall is a performing arts center located at 1020 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. Built in 1925, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It was known for many years as The Mosque Theater, and is the former home of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey State Opera and the New Jersey Ballet Company.

There is a long history of television and film in New Jersey, which is considered the birthplace of the movie picture industry.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Newark, New Jersey, United States.

Sports in Newark, New Jersey, the second largest city in New York metropolitan area, are part of the regional professional sports and media markets. The city has hosted many teams and events, though much of its history is without an MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL team in the city proper. Two venues in the northeastern New Jersey metro region, Prudential Center and Riverfront Stadium (closed), are in Downtown Newark. Red Bull Arena is just across the Passaic River in Harrison. The Meadowlands Sports Complex is less than 10 miles away from Downtown and reached with the Meadowlands Rail Line via Newark Penn Station or Broad Street Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivian E. Browne</span> American artist

Vivian E. Browne was an American artist. Born in Laurel, Florida, Browne was mostly known for her African-American protest paintings, and linking abstraction to nature. She has received multiple awards for her work, been an activist, professor and a founder of many galleries. According to her mother, Browne died at 64 from bladder cancer.

Clement Alexander Price was an American historian. As the Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of History at Rutgers University-Newark, Price brought his study of the past to bear on contemporary social issues in his adopted hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and across the nation. He was the founding director of the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at Rutgers; the vice chair of President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the chair of Obama's transition team for the National Endowment for the Humanities; a member of the Scholarly Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture; and a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is the namesake of the jazz club Clement's Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno</span> American husband-and-wife team of filmmakers

Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno and Jerome Bongiorno are husband-and-wife filmmakers based in Newark, New Jersey, USA. Marylou is a producer, director and screenwriter who received her MFA from the graduate film program at New York University. Jerome is a cinematographer, editor, animator and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Sterling</span> American journalist, author and historian

Guy Sterling is an American journalist, author and historian. He spent most of his 35-year newspaper career as a reporter with The Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey, primarily covering the courts and criminal justice matters, the Meadowlands sports complex and the New Jersey Mafia.

James M. Oleske is an American pediatrician and HIV/AIDs researcher who is the emeritus François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Professor of Pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey. He is best known for his pioneering work in identifying HIV/AIDS as a pediatric disease, and treating and researching it beginning in the 1980s. He published one of the first articles identifying HIV/AIDS in children in JAMA in 1983 and was a co-author of one of the articles by Robert Gallo and others identifying the virus in Science in 1984.

References

  1. Villadolid, Alice C. (June 24, 1979). "Black Film Festival" via NYTimes.com.
  2. 1 2 Muro, Matt (June 27, 1999). "A Century of Black Film" via NYTimes.com.
  3. Newark Black Film Festival
  4. Newark Black Film Festival — Entry Deadline February 26
  5. Tsai, Martin (June 30, 2010). "Newark Black Film Festival provides treat for fans". TheStar-Ledger.
  6. "Newark Black Film Festival". NewJerseyStage.com. July 25, 2018.
  7. Perry, Claudia (June 23, 2008). "Newark Black Film Festival adds Camden venue". nj.
  8. "Newark Museum Black Film Festival Marks 45th Anniversary". June 12, 2019.