Black Harvest Film Festival celebrates Black independent filmmaking

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Photo credit: Damonte Williams, Walk All Night: A Drumbeat Journey, Aug. 14, 15

The Gene Siskel Film Center is proud to present the 22nd annual Black Harvest Film Festival from Aug. 5 through Sept. 1, 2016; BHFF celebrates the best in contemporary independent filmmaking, exploring the stories, images, heritage, and history of the Black experience in the U.S. and around the world.

With some 50 films tapped, some of this year’s highlights include NBC 5 Chicago’s LeeAnn Trotter leading A Black Harvest Feast with special guests and an exciting homecoming reunion of Black Harvest filmmakers past and present on August 6. Chicago radio host and music critic Richard Steele will be honored with the Gene Siskel Film Center’s Legacy Award at the Aug. 17 screening of Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story.


Screenings of Tear the Roof Off: the Untold Story of Parliament Funkadelic on Aug. 12 and 13 will feature personal appearances by three of the iconic band’s musicians.

On Aug. 27, two events that are sure to draw crowds are Zeinabu Irene Davis, one of the founding advisors to Black Harvest, returns to Chicago to premiere Spirts of Rebellion: Black Film from UCLA  and Chicagoans Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn-Whack premiere Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise prior to its theatrical run in September.


Most films in Black Harvest will be accompanied by filmmakers appearing in person for post-screening Q-and-As.

Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State Street. Tickets are available at www.siskelfilmcenter.org/blackharvest. For more information, visit the Gene Siskel Film website or call 312-846-2800.

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