ColdTowne Theater Hosts Inaugural Black Austin Film Festival

“Dear Bruh,” directed by Ya’Ke Smith

In 2013, Winston G. Williams established the Capital City Black Film Festival: a community for independent filmmakers devoted to uplifting Black talent. ColdTowne Theater’s twist on Cap City’s legacy – Black Austin Film Festival – brings together world-renowned artists and local filmmakers for a weekend of short films, Q&As, panels, workshops, and improv shows. Director Ryan Darbonne recounts his participation at Capital City’s inaugural festival, saying, “Both events emphasize the same idea that being in community is really good for you.”

An Austin Film Festival collaboration kicks off the weekend with their First 3 Pages event, an opportunity for local filmmakers in possession of a work-in-progress screenplay to collaborate with ColdTowne actors for a live reading of the – you guessed it – first three pages of their projects. The script reading is an opportunity in turn for attendees to hear about upcoming film productions and connect with local writers and filmmakers.

Actor, improviser, and writer Tarik Rashaan Davis (The Amber Ruffin Show) will premiere his short narrative film “Doc: Race, Revolution, Relativity & the Confessions of a Time Traveling Terrorist.” Davis says “Doc” incorporates elements of Afrofuturism and speculative fiction in the mold of The Spook Who Sat by the Door, Brother John, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and Men in Black. Davis plays the titular Doc, an infamous and enigmatic time traveler in the Black Power movement. Co-star Ben Jaeger-Thomas plays Julio Benson, a reporter interviewing Doc on his television show, Revolt.

“The reality is,” Davis says, “time-traveling for a Black person means to go back and forward into spaces of trauma.” For Davis, participating in BAFF is special because “the entertainment space is a very white game. The fact that I get to commune with other Black filmmakers, improvisers, storytellers, and people who like art and community is the cherry on top.” A discussion with Davis and fellow filmmakers Darbonne and Alex Chew follows the “Doc” screening. The day’s schedule concludes with a Davis-hosted BIPOC improv show at 8:30pm called Freestyle Rapping 101.

Sunday’s schedule begins with eight short films including Darbonne’s “What They Found.” The director’s twist on Raymond Carver’s short story “So Much Water So Close to Home” follows two Black men on a fishing trip who find the dead body of a white man. Darbonne’s dialogue explores ideas of white supremacy and how it impacts their lives, even in death. “I grew up in Austin, and I’ve been here a very long time, but there is always the question about the severe lack of representation, whether it’s arts, music, or film festivals,” he says. “I think it’s nice to be showcasing a film that is specific to a certain community. There are nuances people just instinctively get that other people may not get, and I think that adds a lot of substance to the screening.”

The lineup for this year’s BAFF includes “Token Support Group” by Chew, “The Next Step” by Déborah Valcin, “Tain’t Nobody’s Bizzness” by Owokere “Benji” Unanaowo, “Sunflower” by Tiara Williams Smith, “Love Bites” by Chinwe Okorie, and “Dear Bruh” by Ya’Ke Smith. Another Q&A session with all of the filmmakers follows the screening.

Davis will give another workshop, Acting for Improvisers, on Sunday, and a networking event for people interested in film, community, and art concludes the weekend. The Black Austin Film Festival will celebrate the spirit of Black artists and filmmakers who are empowered to tell their own stories, like Davis. “Accepting and believing in your own fullness and brilliance creates projects with the unfiltered truth,” he says, “and that’s what audiences are looking for.”

Black Austin Film Festival

Saturday 3-Sunday 4, ColdTowne Theater

blackaustinfilmfestival.com