Inaugural HBCU Film Festival To Spotlight Emerging Black Filmmakers With $10K Prize

The HBCU Student Invitational Film Competition and Festival will be held in Detroit.

Tickets are now available for the first in-person HBCU Student Invitational Film Competition and Festival, set to take place on Aug. 23 at Detroit’s newly reopened Michigan Central Station, inside the New Lab.

The festival organization is dedicated to creating, maintaining, and bringing a platform that highlights young Black Artists to the forefront. The HBCU festival will feature films and visual art that are all produced by student creators from historically Black colleges and universities, The Detroit News reports.

The films will be screened for ticket holders near the end of August. Winning filmmakers will be awarded the Jury Award, which comes with a $10,000 prize and will be announced officially the day after the festival concludes.

The screenings include free panel discussions about filmmaking and artistic direction. Registration is required for the events. Tickets are available for the award ceremony and a gala afterward at Michigan Central Station at $50 and $100, respectively.

The festival is confounded by ACE, the city of Detroit Office of Arts, Culture & Entrepreneurship. It is being produced by Autumn Sun, a grassroots organization dedicated to young, Black artists. Detroit was selected to be the inaugural host city for the new festival because the founder of Autumn Sun, filmmaker Bruce Clifton, is a Detroit native.

ACE Director Rochelle Riley said in a press release, “Detroit is a creative arts hub for every genre, fine and performing arts, dance, everything — so it’s no surprise that our city is growing its opportunities for filmmakers.”

HBCU Student Film Festival is a weekend where “Detroit celebrates two days filled with creativity and inspiration as talented students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities showcase their cinematic skills,” she added.

It’s a “festival of amazing films, supports emerging filmmakers, and celebrates diversity in filmmaking. Then the festival wraps up with an awards ceremony and gala at Michigan Central.”

On opening night there will be film screenings at the New Lab. Saturday will feature free morning panel discussions and the awards ceremony and gala later in the evening.