Letter of Gratitude 2023
Dear BCC Community,
As we stand on the threshold of a new year, our hearts feel heavy with the weight the spirit of humanity was/is tested in countless ways. The tragedies and unimaginable hardships that have unfolded, (and continue to unfold) across the globe have left us heartbroken and seeking solace in the power of storytelling. We strive to support people who are telling stories from different parts of the world and wonder what stories will be etched in our collective memories.
Amidst the challenges that have defined this year, it is important that we pause, reflect, and express gratitude for the countless blessings that have come our way in 2023.
YEAR IN REVIEW
OUR 2023 PROGRAMS + PARTNER PRESENTATIONS
2023 was a combination of BCC programs and co-presentations with existing and new local partner organizations that share our mission of amplifying Black films, artists, and filmmakers.
OUR PROGRAMS THIS YEAR:
BLACK SONIC EVOLUTIONS - June 1st -30 th, 2023. As part of our annual Black Sonic Evolutions (BSE) program that recognizes Black Music Month in June, we inaugurated a new series of music documentary screenings at Northwest Film Forum. Our film selections offered Black liberation histories and celebrated the artists who have given us enduring cultural soundtracks for powerful social and political change. This year we screened FINDING FELA at Northwest Film Forum!
We partnered with Loving Room: diaspora books + salon, whose founder Kristina Clark created a powerful reading selection of books on BOOKSHOP.org as perfect companions for our program! This list included music histories, critical cultural publications, and biographies of some of the iconic artists we celebrate during Black Music Month, including the fearless political artist and father of AfroBeat, Fela Kuti. Highly suggest checking it out again – and this curated booklist. Many of the publications will make thoughtful offerings this season which align with this critical time of human rights crises, protest movements, and the mobilization of art, music, and writing for an informed change in our broken geopolitical systems.
OUR PARTNER PRESENTATIONS THIS YEAR
AUDRE LORDE DOCUMENTARY - THE BERLIN YEARS (2012) - February 19th, 2023. Did you know the incisive and instructively brilliant Audre Lorde spent her last years in Germany? BCC celebrated her birthday weekend with a screening at Grand Illusion Cinema of this very special documentary that explores a little-known chapter of the writer’s prolific life, her role in coining the ascription “Afro-German”, and the years she spent teaching and building a Black queer feminist coalition in Berlin.
NEPTUNE FROST - March 29th - April 2nd, 2023. We screened this for a second run, this time partnering with Meany Center for the Performing Arts, UW Simpson Center for the Humanities, and Northwest Film Forum, as supporting program for The MOTHERBOARD Suite performances. Celebrated as a seminal and iconic film by poet and artist Saul Williams, and Rwanda-born artist Anisia Uzeyman, NEPTUNE FROST is an anti-colonialist sci-fi musical, a call to reclaim technology for progressive political ends. And if you are following the ongoing genocide in the Congo, we highly recommend streaming this NOW as it is a powerful call to our witnessing of that region.
MOTHERBOARD SUITE AT MEANY - April; 1st, 2023. Performed by Saul Williams and collaborators. The West Coast premiere of this non-linear work is performed by Saul and his musical collaborators and features seven choreographers — Maria Bauman, Kayla Farrish, Marjani Forté-Saunders, d. Sabela grimes, Jasmine Hearn, Shamel Pitts|TRIBE, and Seattle choreographer Jade Solomon Curtis. Each choreographer was invited into the world of Williams’ exploration at the intersection of technology and race, exploitation, and mystical anarchy, where hackers are artists and activists.
Post show discussion moderated by BCC's Berette S Macaulay.
CAMILLE BILLOPS” TRILOGY – March 29th, 2023. Presented by LANGSTON, Black Cinema Collective, SIFF, and Grand Illusion Cinema. Trailblazing artist and polymath Camille Billops (1933–2019) and her partner in life and work, James Hatch (1928–2020), left behind invaluable legacies as archivists who worked tirelessly to preserve records of Black cultural life and as filmmakers who turned their unflinching camera on Billops’s own, often painful personal experiences.
DRYLOGOSO (1998) June 9th -11th, 2023. Black Cinema Collective partnered with Langston and SIFF and screened Cauleen Smith's restored iconic film, DRYLONGSO in its new 4K restoration at SIFF Cinema, at the Uptown Theater in Seattle. This film embeds an incisive look at racial injustice within a lovingly handmade buddy movie/murder mystery/romance. It was an incredible portrayal of a woman in a photography class who begins taking pictures of Black men out of fear they will soon be extinct. To our Oakland fam, you’re gonna have to put this on your radar!
OFF THE PAGE – March 9th, 2023. Award-winning poet, Kamari Bright organized an introductory, hands-on workshop highlighting non-traditional expressions of poetry. Participants had a chance to experience animation poetry, embodied movement poetry, and video poetry in a lively, drop-in setting at Northwest Film Forum. This program was sponsored by Black Cinema Collective and co-presented with Cadence Video Poetry Festival.
BCC BLACK FILMMAKER MICROGRANT + ✨✨CELEBRATION✨✨
In January 2023, we kicked off a year full of hope and promise when we launched the Black Cinema Collective Filmmaker Microgrant for first-time Black filmmakers based in Washington or Oregon. We embarked on this journey to provide a platform for emerging talents within our communities that not only nurtures artistic growth but also amplifies the invaluable perspectives and experiences of our Black filmmakers+artists.
After careful consideration and deliberation by Seattle-based filmmakers Tifa Tomb and Maya Santos, the grant was awarded to four talented new voices in storytelling:
The 2023 Black Cinema Collective Filmmaker Microgrant is supported with funding from our Creative Equity Grant through the Seattle Foundation (@seattlefoundation). Artist development package of awards is offered through generous co-sponsorship support by Northwest Film Forum.
✨✨✨✨✨ We closed out the year on the perfect note. We came together as a community to celebrate our exceptional 2023 Black Cinema Collective Filmmaker Microgrant awardees and raised a heartwarming toast in their honor. We are still basking in the glow of an extraordinary celebration that overflowed with joy and love! ✨✨✨✨✨
Amber Flame, Taylor-Nicole, Leah Teklemariam, and Cacey Williams - it was amazing getting to know you all and learning more about your film project developments! We look forward to the incredible collaborations, stories, and films that will emerge as a result of this microgrant program. Together, we will continue to uplift and amplify the voices that need to be heard in and beyond our communities!
Other artists in the house giving vibes - DJ Chari (@chariliveworks) had us swaying and steppin' all over that lobby.
Rubin’s (@rujabes) kind eyes were catching every wiggle, smile, and connection that was made.
And the food! Not much left over when it’s good! Thank you, Taste of the Caribbean for those jerk wings, patties, and sweet plantains, Jacksons Catfish Corner for those fish strips and hush puppies, and Nuflours Bakery the delish gluten-free lemon and raspberry bars! Support Local!!
Our Grantee Celebration is supported by our C.A.R.E. Grant through the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.
RETREAT
We were fortunate to be able to go on a team retreat for the third year thanks to our Creative Equity Fund Grant from Seattle Foundation. This intentional break allowed us to strategically evaluate our processes to ensure our continued growth and position ourselves to better serve and engage with our community. Thanks so much Michelle Hagewood and Lisbeth White for hosting us so warmly at Centrum Artists’ Residency.
✨Highlights from the Retreat:
✨We caught up (since we don’t physically see each other so much), had laughs over meals and morning coffee (and tea)!
✨We soaked in gorgeous sunsets, took long hikes on the beach and extensive Fort Worden grounds where Centrum is located, and hung around adorable (totally tame + unfazed) deer families – which are like, everywhere! 🦌
✨We dove into big picture📸 imagination work and revisioning for BCC’s future!
✨We also did some backstage work sessions for upcoming projects and celebrations.
✨We went for soak sessions at Soak on the Sound to reach peak rejuvenation! 💦
✨We visited the gorgeous Rose Theater in downtown Port Townsend, a cinematic escape space of red velvet plushiness for movie watching. Not to mention their Starlight Room – which is essentially a ballroom with high ceilings, chandeliers, and loveseats everywhere, looking out over the Salish sea. We need a future movie watching session here!
✨We got to enjoy downtown Port Townsend shops, and their annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.
✨We attended a beautiful poetry reading at @wilderbeefarm, @poetryonthesalishsea program featuring book readings by poets @satimookherjee, Civic Poet of Seattle @shinyupai, and #CaitlinScarano. Their words painted arresting and inspiring images.
SHOUT OUTS
We are again thankful for all our partnerships and supporters with whom we were able to offer rich programming for our shared communities. It was our privilege and honor to work with each of you.
Partners + Supporters + Artists + Advisors
Rana San, Christopher Day, Jill Busby, Derek Edamura, Paul Siple, Maria Zamora, Suji Cho, and Jessica Vangel at Northwest Film Forum, Brian Alter, Hubie Dolan, and Trevor Brandt at Grand Illusion Cinema. Elizabeth Duffel and Kristen Kosmas of Meany Center for the Performing Arts & UW Simpson Center for the Humanities, and Naomi Bragin of UW Bothell, Kristina Clark at Loving Room Book+Salon, Beth Barrett and Kasi Gaarenstroom at SIFF, Isabella Price at Langston, Tifa Tomb, Maya Santos, Rubin Quarcoopome, DJ Chari, Susan Harewood, and Lauren Berliner.
THANK YOU!!!
From BCC to you and your loved ones, we wish you an abundance of peace, rest, warmth, and some fun as we close the chapter on 2023!
*Warm Love & Light*
BCC Team
Abbie, Berette, Chile, Savita
