The Oak Park Black Film Festival is back at Sacramento's historic Guild Theater for its fifth year, running through Sunday with a lineup of feature films, documentaries and short films made by African-American filmmakers. The festival gives attendees a chance to watch the work and then meet the directors, producers and actors who made it, along with panel discussions on how the projects came together.
According to KCRA, the event offers screenings and discussions at the Guild Theatre through Sunday, continuing a run that provides a platform for Black filmmakers to showcase their work. The festival was established in 2022, according to organizers, and this year's fifth annual edition is scheduled for Oct. 5-11 at the Guild Theater in Oak Park, per the same organizers. Each year the festival has reportedly drawn massive crowds, with screenings selling out nearly every day, organizers say.
Opening Night Spotlighted a 93-Year-Old Cameraman
On Wednesday, the festival's first screening was the documentary The Eyes of Ghana, which KCRA describes as award-winning. The film follows 93-year-old Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse, who served as the former personal cameraman to Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president, the station reports. The documentary was directed by Ben Proudfoot and runs 90 minutes, according to a Variety review.
Ethan Lewis, head of nonfiction and sports for Higher Ground — the production company owned by Barack and Michelle Obama — spoke about the importance of the festival's mission. “I think it's important and incumbent upon ourselves to make space and room for each other to share our work,” Lewis said, per the station's report.
A Harvard Pioneer's Story Takes the Screen
Another featured film, Limitless: The Dr. Chester Pierce Story, is a documentary about the life of Dr. Chester Pierce, who worked as a psychiatrist and was the first African American to play intercollegiate football against a white team in a former Confederate state while attending Harvard, the station notes. His career also took him to Antarctica for research, to NASA to help select astronauts, and to Sesame Street to help educate a new generation of preschoolers, per the same account. The documentary was directed by Gloria Respress-Churchwell and runs 89 minutes, according to ROX Film Fest.
Respress-Churchwell, who came from Boston to screen the film, explained why the story mattered to her. “It's so important to share Black stories because everyone wants to see themselves in a story,” she said, according to the station's report.
Panels and Passes Round Out the Week
Beyond the screenings, the festival's panel discussions give audiences a chance to learn more about what it took to bring the projects to life, the station notes. Tickets were available online, and the festival's schedule offered a Premiere Pass with early admission to the entire seven-day event, according to event organizers. Last year's festival, held Oct. 7-12 at the same Guild Theater, featured documentaries, short films and feature films from local and national filmmakers, as reported by the Sacramento Observer.
