The American Black Film Festival Goes Virtual
The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) launched in 1997, showing the best of black film across the country in industry hotspots like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Due to the COVID pandemic, 2020 introduced a new format to the popular film festival – a virtual festival showcase.
ABFF maintains a lot of its sought-after features, including short film contests, screenings, panel discussions, and awards; only this time, attendees must enjoy the festival through a dedicated online platform.
ABFF Online is a revolutionary way of immersing into a film festival that has similarities and differences compared to attending the festival in person. I had the opportunity to experience the virtual film festival and a previous festival held in New York City.
Celebrating black films and black filmmakers is a consistent focus of ABFF. The multi-day film festival provides a wide variety of films starring and directed by black filmmakers. Films range from feature-length, documentary, and short films.
The online film festival format provided an excellent way to view all of the films highlighted during the festival. General attendees register for free to gain access to the platform, which features all of the movies available for the festival’s duration.
The in-person festival offers an overall experience for attending the films. In New York, movies were played in various theaters around the city, and tickets were required to enter each one. The experience of visiting the theater, being around people interested in or a part of the films, and seeing the movie on the big screen makes the festival atmosphere come to life.
A benefit to attending the ABFF is panel discussions with black filmmakers involved in the industry. The festival hosts various talks scheduled throughout the festival to gain insights from actors, directors, producers, and more.
Attending a panel discussion in New York was great to see reputable stars engaging with the audience. The discussion allowed curated questions, but also Q&A with the audience at the end. The intimate setting with limited seating allowed for a tailored conversation.
Online panel discussions varied significantly than in-person. Remote panels allowed for more of the industry stars to feature in the talks. The discussions were also available on the platform after the live stream for checking back at conversations you may have missed.
One aspect lacking from the online format was audience engagement. It would have been great to see a chat box during the live events to share commentary with other attendees or even submit questions to the panels.
Overall, the first-ever online ABFF was successfully curated to maintain the festival’s reputations of showcasing the past, present, and future or black film.
