Oscar Micheaux and the Birth of Black Independent Cinema, an 18-film festival, including 7 new restorations, of work by the prolific independent director whose pioneering explorations of contemporary Black life paved the way for generations, will run at Film Forum from Friday, May 3 through Thursday, May 9.
Operating on shoestring budgets, Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) directed and produced more than 40 films between 1919 and 1948, shifting from silent to talkies, and depicting such complex and taboo subjects as religious hypocrisy, interracial marriage, police violence, and lynching, often with all-Black casts and producers. His work explored the Black experience with nuance and depth, often challenging the negative stereotypes so commonly portrayed in films of the era. Micheaux’s films were the first made by a Black filmmaker to be shown in white cinemas, and they were often hugely successful, with Micheaux working directly with theater owners to finance, distribute, and market them.
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Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the filmmakers selected to receive the 2024 Merata Mita Fellowship and the inaugural Graton Fellowship for Artists from California-Based Tribes. The Merata Mita Fellowship is an annual fellowship named in honor of the late Māori filmmaker Merata Mita (1942–2010) to support Indigenous women-identified artists endeavoring to direct their first feature film. This year’s Merata Mita Fellowship will go to Libby Hakaraia (Ngati Kapu, Ngati Raukawa au ki te tonga). The recently announced Graton Fellowship, created to support Indigenous artists from California-based tribes, both federally and non federally recognized, will go to Tazbah Rose Chavez (Dinè, Nüümü, San Carlos Apache). Both fellows were recognized at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Native Forum Celebration Presented by NBCUniversal Launch and Nia Tero at The Park in Park City, Utah.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) announced today the highly anticipated lineup for the 39th edition, which will run February 7 to 17, 2024. The festival will showcase 45 world premieres and 77 U.S. premieres from 48 countries, along with tributes featuring the year’s top talent, panel discussions, and free community education and outreach programs.
Zero to oneToday, in advance of the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival kicking off on January 18, the nonprofit Sundance Institute is commemorating the four decades of extraordinary independent filmmaking presented at the Festival with the results of a survey taken by the filmmaking communities on their top ten feature films that have screened at the Festival since it began in 1985. 
