Join NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) LIVE IN-PERSON for our Monthly Film Festival on February 19th for films, drinks, Q&As and networking!

Register Here: https://www.newfilmmakersla.com/events/event/february-19th-2022-monthly-film-festival-infocus-black-cinema/

About this event

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) hosts its February Monthly Film Festival and annual InFocus: Black Cinema program, along with a block of films from The Black TV & Film Collective 2021 Black Producers’ Fellowship, the Los Angeles premiere of writer-director Christian Rozier’s Apache Leap and a program of local and international music videos. The Festival is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

The day begins with Schooled: The BTFC 2021 Black Producers' Fellowship, a sampling of films from The Black TV & Film Collective Black’s inaugural Producers' Fellowship. To amplify Black creative voices, provide an invaluable development opportunity for emerging professionals, and develop a pipeline of skilled Black producers primed for career advancement, The Black TV & Film Collective Black created the Producers Fellowship to provide six emerging producers with $25K production grants, in-kind support and critical mentorship as they develop and produce narrative short films inspired by the Black experience in America. This project is exclusively focused on producers because they create “make or break” opportunities for entertainment professionals in front of and behind the camera. Producers are lifetime job creators that impact diversity and inclusion with the projects they bring to the screen, and often have careers that end in the corporate boardrooms of the multinational corporations that create, distribute, and market content to the public in all forms.

Next, InFocus: Black Cinema Shorts presents a selection of films from emerging Black creators both in front of and behind the camera. The program explores joy, connection, community, grief, fear and love through stories that delve into mental health, poetry, professional recognition, collective power, and the mystery of what lies beyond.

The evening continues with the Los Angeles premiere of writer-director Christian Rozier’s debut feature film Apache Leap, the story of an Apache artist navigating challenges while racing a deadline to get a job, produced in collaboration with the community of San Carlos Apache Tribal Reservation.

The night concludes with Music Videos, a visually rich collection of storytelling through the music video medium that celebrates the relationship between film and music on the big screen, spanning a multitude of genres of both music and filmmaking.

NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year, across both our general and InFocus programming. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects for consideration for upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the schedule for InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion and region by spotlighting communities of filmmakers within our filmmaking community as part of our monthly program.

NFMLA is supported by contributions from the South Park Center, LBA Realty, FilmLA, WarnerMedia 150, BBH, HBO, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Wells Fargo, Blackmagic Design , City National Bank, Creative Artists Agency, POV, Easterseals, FilmTrack, SAGindie, Picture Shop, Netflix, the LA City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Community Foundation, the LA County Department of Arts and Culture, the California Arts Council, California Humanities, Sundance Institute, Banc of California and Screen International

SCHEDULE:

Program #1 – Schooled : The BTFC Black Producers' Fellowship 2021

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM – Pre-Reception

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM – Program

3:00 PM - 3:15 PM – Audience Q&A

Program #2 – InFocus: Black Cinema

3:15 PM - 3:45 PM – Pre-Reception

3:45 PM - 5:45 PM – Program

5:45 PM - 6:00 PM – Audience Q&A

Program #3 – Feature Film: Apache Leap

6:00 PM - 6:30 PM – Pre-Reception

6:30 PM - 8:00 PM – Program

8:00 PM - 8:15 PM – Audience Q&A

Program #4 – Music Videos

8:15 PM - 8:45 PM – Pre-Reception

8:45 PM - 10:00 PM – Program

10:00 PM - 10:15 PM – Audience Q&A

11:00 PM – Event Wraps

Please ensure that you have been vaccinated with proof of vaccination or be ready to present a negative COVID-19 test in order to attend any live in person programming and/or events.

Please note: if you are not vaccinated and are presenting a negative COVID-19 test for entry, the test MUST BE TAKEN WITHIN 48 HOURS OF YOU ATTENDING PROGRAMMING AND/OR EVENTS.