
The late actor Tupac Shakur (at right) is featured in the 1991 film “Juice.” The movie is part of the slate of films set for the Afrikana Film Festival Sept. 15-18. (Image courtesy Afrikana Film Festival)
The seventh annual Afrikana Film Festival returns Sept. 15-18 with a full menu of works — a mix of shorts, documentaries and classic films — as well as some dinner and conversation on the side.
The festival includes over 60 films from more than 12 countries, and more than 40 filmmakers and artists from around the country are expected to attend.
The festival, which, according to its website, is “dedicated to using high-quality, well-crafted stories to elevate black culture,” will also include performances, panel discussions, meet-and-greet events, and workshops around the city.
The festival begins Thursday, Sept. 15, with a free 8 p.m. screening of “The Birth of a Planet” at the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia. The short film is a documentary about The Richmond Planet, the Black newspaper led by editor John Mitchell Jr., who used his publication to battle systemic racism during the late 1880s.
At 7 p.m. on Friday, a 25th-anniversary screening of “Eve’s Bayou” will show at The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. The 1997 film was directed by Kasi Lemmons, who also directed 2019’s “Harriet,” a feature film partially shot in Richmond. “Eve’s Bayou” follows a 10-year-old girl living in Louisiana in the 1960s and features actors Jurnee Smollet and Samuel L. Jackson. A dinner follows the screening.
On Saturday, the festival features short films such as “Mending Walls,” the story of 30 artists who created murals around Richmond to promote empathy and racial justice, and “Sundays in July,” about a young couple navigating their own egos, fears and flaws. A short documentary about the record label Black Fire, which features local musician Plunky Branch, screens at 5:30 p.m., followed by a conversation with Branch.
Afterward, there will be a dinner and midnight brunch at The Valentine museum prior to a screening of “Juice,” which stars the late rapper and actor Tupac Shakur in his first major role. This year marks the coming-of-age film’s 30th anniversary.
“It’s an honor to be able to elevate these anniversary films that became instant classics and to introduce them to a new generation that may not have seen them yet,” says Enjoli Moon, the festival’s founder and creative director.
Also on Saturday, Geechees, Gardens, & Gourds: A Taste of Liberation Dinner returns with chef Benjamin “BJ” Dennis, who was featured in the Netflix culinary docuseries “High on the Hog,” at 6:30 p.m. The meal also includes a screening of “Cxffeeblack to Africa,” a documentary about a Memphis, Tennessee-based couple (Renata and Bartholomew Henderson) who journey to Africa to meet with a coffee producer. A discussion with the couple follows. At 3 p.m. on Sunday, a virtual writer’s workshop with award-winning author Walter Mosley closes out the festival, along with a screening of “The Black America Is … Project” at Browne Studio.
With such a wide variety of content on the film festival’s schedule this year, film buffs are bound to find something that fits their tastes.
“I hope that people will feel inspired by the range of stories they see, and to see reflections of themselves in the films,” Moon says. “I hope people come out to reconnect, and having that happen at Afrikana is very exciting.”
For a full schedule of events, visit afrikanafilmfestival.org. All-access passes are $60 to $90. Prices for other events and screenings vary.