SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Oak Park's first Black film festival is coming to the historic and newly remodeled Guild Theater.
“We can do live productions or you see the screen," said Cassandra Jennings, the president and CEO of St. HOPE.
“We have five days of some fantastic films and filmmakers. You will get feature films. You will get short films and documentaries about history, life, and sports," Jennings said.
You don’t have to just sit in your seat; you can grab some refreshments too.
“We did do some renovations to this during COVID so that we’re able to have a concession stand that will serve snacks and drinks depending on what the event is," Jennings said. "We also wanted to have someplace where we could at least gather and lounge and make you feel comfortable.”
Jennings says the Black film festival is an exciting new development in the capital city for people to learn about different cultures.
“This is an opportunity to support up-and-coming filmmakers, and then to tell the story from their eyes," Jennings said. "Oftentimes we get history told from somebody else, and it’s not always accurate.”
To that end, former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson plans to host panel discussions to promote dialogue.
“At the end of the day, we hope not only our Black community, but our entire community will be enlightened and will be better understanding of the culture of the African-American people," Jennings said. “We’re going to bring some great filmmakers telling their story. Just bringing history alive.”
The Black Film Festival will be Sept. 7-11. More information can be found HERE.
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