On Friday, January 29 at 3pm ET, Firelight Media presented a special edition of the Beyond Resilience Series at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, “Creating & Commissioning Art In Times of Crisis.”
Throughout the past year, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) artists have been commissioned by institutions to perform cultural work from their position at the epicenter of interlocking systems of oppression – racial and economic inequality, police violence, and a global pandemic that disproportionately impacts communities of color.
How can BIPOC-led organizations challenge this paradigm while continuing to provide opportunities for artists of color in times of crisis? How can BIPOC artists best be supported in making socially-relevant work, even as they and their communities experience precarity? This conversation looked to past and present BIPOC artists, filmmakers, and institution builders who make bold and visionary work within and without the establishment.
The panel discussion was moderated by Marcia Smith, president of Firelight Media, and included Maori Karmael Holmes, founder of BlackStar Film Festival; F. Javier Torres-Campos, director of the Thriving Cultures program at Surdna; Frank B. Wilderson III, writer and Chancellor’s Professor and Chair of African American Studies at UC Irvine; and Coco Fusco, interdisciplinary artist and professor at Cooper Union.
Join Firelight Media on YouTube Live for a conversation with the visionaries behind the most exciting Black-run movie theaters in the U.S.
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Join Firelight Media's Beyond Resilience series for a special panel presentation at BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia.
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Firelight Media and the Documentary Producers Alliance hosted a conversation about the power of BIPOC producers.
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Firelight Media hosted a Beyond Resilience Masterclass with filmmakers behind some of the most lauded Black music documentaries of the decade.
Firelight Media's Beyond Resilience series co-presented a panel at CAAMFest Filmmaker Summit in San Francisco.
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Firelight Media and Distribution Advocates hosted a conversation about navigating the festival to awards pipeline for documentary filmmakers.
A conversation with filmmakers and scholars about Muslim and MENASA representation.
How can we band together to (re)build a system that will ensure independent filmmakers can thrive?
