The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series is an annual film festival founded by African Voices magazine and
Long Island University
Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...
's Media Arts Department, Brooklyn Campus. Established in 1997, Reel Sisters is dedicated to providing opportunities for
women of color
The term "person of color" (plural, : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "White people, white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily a ...
filmmakers to advance their careers in the film industry.
History
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series was founded in 1997 by African Voices magazine publisher Carolyn A. Butts and
Long Island University
Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
Campus. It is the first Brooklyn-based festival devoted to supporting films produced, directed and written by women of color. Butts came up with the idea in 1996, when she experienced push-back when shopping a short film she produced, in the hope of turning it into a feature-length documentary on the Brooklyn poetry movement. "It was so hard to get support for me as an African American woman,” she reflected. “So, I kind of came in with a small group of women, and I came up with the idea to do a conference or a festival that was solely devoted to women of color -- not just African American, but Caribbean, Latina, and Asian. That's kind of how it was sparked to have an outlet where we could network; we could build a resource for each other to get our films made. It's not always money
rhaving money. It's also having that support system -- that tribe that you can go to to get your films produced."
The festival screens over 35 films each year, and since its inception, has screened over 5,200 films by women of African, Caribbean, Latino, Asian, Indian and Native American descent. Reel Sisters attracts about 2,271 attendees, who arrive from across the United States and from abroad. The festival has grown from a two-day event to a month-long celebration
that includes lectures and workshops on a variety of subjects, and also curates events throughout the year.
Reel Sisters is a competitive festival and films are selected by an independent jury. Films by gender non-conforming filmmakers are accepted, as long as they are women-centered. In 2013, Reel Sisters presented
Shola Lynch
Shola Lynch (born March 20, 1969) is an American filmmaker, artist and former child actress. She is best known for her films ''Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed'' (2004) and ''Free Angela and All Political Prisoners'' (2012), both of which focus ...
(''Free Angela & All Political Prisoners'') with its Trailblazer Award and
Issa Rae
Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), credited professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, producer, and comedian. Rae first garnered attention for her work on the YouTube web series ''Awkward Black Girl''. Since 2011, Rae h ...
(''
Awkward Black Girl
''The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl'' (often simply referred to as ''Awkward Black Girl'') is an American comedy web series created by and starring Issa Rae. It premiered on a dedicated YouTube channel on February 3, 2011. The show follow ...
'') with the first Reel Sisters Innovation Pioneer Award for groundbreaking working in producing her award-winning
web series
A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...
. Reel Sisters also provides scholarships to emerging women filmmakers and offers other resources for women filmmakers.
The festival sometimes chooses a theme, such as the 21st edition in 2018, which was dedicated to self-care, wellness, and healing.
In 2018, the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival became the first Academy Award Qualifying Film Festival for narrative shorts dedicated to women of color.
Reel Sisters is sponsored by
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is the department of the government of New York City dedicated to supporting New York City's cultural life. Among its primary missions is ensuring adequate public funding for non-profit cultur ...
,
New York State Council on the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996), ...
and the Brooklyn Council on the Arts.
Awards
The festival accepts and screens film in any genre and from any media, including animation and web series. Awards are provided in the following categories:
; Jury awards:
* Best Director
* Best Documentary
* Best Screenplay
* Best Experimental
* Best Animation
* Best Feature
* Best Short
* Best Narrative
* Best Web Series
* Best Original Soundtrack
* Reel Sisters Spirit Award
; Reel Sisters special awards:
* Hattie McDaniel Award - honors women who are pioneers in the fields of theater, film and media
* Trailblazer Award - recognizes honorees in the film and television industry for their outstanding accomplishments and professional integrity in opening doors for other women of color
See also
*
List of women's film festivals
Women's film festivals are film events geared to promote women in the film industry. Women’s film festivals began due to the lack of female voice within the film industry. To combat this hindrance, their own film festival was designed. Most women ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Long Island University
Women's film festivals in the United States
Film festivals in New York City
African-American film festivals
Film festivals established in 1997
Women in New York City
African Americans in New York City
African-American women's organizations
Long Island University
University and college lecture series
Recurring events established in 1997