The Toronto Black Film Festival is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Geoff Pevere Geoff Pevere (born October 1957) is a Canadian lecturer, author, broadcaster, teacher, arts and media critic, currently the program director of the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival in Toronto.John Semley, "Can we play with madness?: Toronto' ...

, "Toronto Black Film Festival". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', February 14, 2014. Held in February each year as part of

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

, the festival programs a selection of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n, Caribbean,

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and Black Canadian films. The festival was launched in 2013 as an outgrowth of the Montreal International Black Film Festival, which was created by actress and filmmaker

Fabienne Colas Fabienne Colas Joseph, (born March 18, 1979), is a Haitian-Canadian actress, director and producer. She is head of the Fabienne Colas Foundation, which is dedicated to the promotion of film, art and culture as it organizes many festivals. Fabie ...

, and is sponsored by the Global Television Network and

TD Canada Trust TD Canada Trust, frequently shortened to simply TD, is the commercial banking operation of TD Bank Group in Canada. TD Canada Trust offers a range of financial services and products to more than 10 million Canadian customers through more than 1,1 ...

."1st Annual Toronto Black Film Festival (TBFF) announces line-up". ''

Canada NewsWire CNW Group Ltd., also called Canada Newswire and CNW, is a commercial press release service owned by Cision. Cision Distribution services in Canada are powered by Canada Newswire. The service is offered stand-alone or as part of its flagshiCision ...

'', January 29, 2013. The inaugural festival included the films ''

Last Flight to Abuja ''Last Flight to Abuja'' is a 2012 Nigerian disaster thriller film written by Tunde Babalola, directed and produced by Obi Emelonye, and starring Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Hakeem Kae-Kazim and Jim Iyke. Shot in Lagos, the film received 5 nominati ...

'', ''

Phone Swap ''Phone Swap'' is a 2012 Nigerian romance comedy-drama film written by Kemi Adesoye, directed and produced by Kunle Afolayan. It stars Nse Ikpe Etim, Wale Ojo, Joke Silva, Chika Okpala, Lydia Forson and Afeez Oyetoro. The film was conceived after ...

'', ''

Turning Point A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work. Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to: Film * ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke * ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...

'', '' Case départ'', '' Fair Sex (Les Manèges humains)'' and ''

War Witch ''War Witch'' (french: Rebelle) is a 2012 Canadian dramatic war film written and directed by Kim Nguyen and starring Rachel Mwanza, Alain Lino Mic Eli Bastien and Serge Kanyinda. It is about a child soldier forced into a civil war in Africa, an ...

(Rebelle)''. Films are screened at a variety of venues in the city, including the Carlton Cinema, the

Isabel Bader Theatre The University of Toronto is made up of several academic and administrative buildings at each of its three campuses. St. George Campus Scarborough Campus Mississauga Campus Demolished/Former Buildings {, class="wikitable sortable" , ...

and the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...

's Jackman Hall. Since 2015, the festival has presented an annual career achievement award to an important figure in African diaspora film. The festival honoured

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

in 2015,

Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King ...

in 2016, Lou Gossett Jr. in 2017,

Robi Reed Robi Reed (born Robin Lynn Reed) is an American casting director

in 2018, Tarana Burke in 2019,

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

in 2020, and Taraji P. Henson and

Clement Virgo Clement Virgo (born June 1, 1966) is a Canadian film and television writer, producer and director who runs the production company, Conquering Lion Pictures, with producer Damon D'Oliveira. Virgo is best known for co-writing and directing an adapt ...

in 2021."Toronto Black Film Festival founder says 2021 edition is ‘more significant’ than ever"
''Coast Mountain News'', February 16, 2021. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

, the 2021 festival was presented online.Chris Knight
"Across Canada, Black is the new fest"
''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', February 10, 2021. It opened with Youssef Delara's film '' Foster Boy'', and closed with Mia Donovan's documentary film ''Dope Is Death''.

References

External links

* Film festivals in Toronto Black Canadian film festivals Film festivals established in 2013 {{Canada-film-festival-stub