BLACK ASSOCIATION OF DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS WEST

17th ANNUAL DAY OF BLACK DOCS

Saturday, May 18, 2024, from 12:00pm -6:00pm at the American Film Institute, 2021 N. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Free parking.

The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West (BADWest) proudly presents its signature event, DAY OF BLACK DOCS. It is a celebration of documentaries, which highlights the Black Experience and spotlights its filmmakers from around the world.

This year, DAY OF BLACK DOCS will kick-off on Friday, May 17, 2024, 7pm with an Opening Night panel discusssion and post reception, "New Voices, New Faces" , showcasing new and emerging Black documentary filmmakers. The event is held at Film Indpendent. Click the above link for more info and purchase your $20 tickets.

Our 17th annual DAY OF BLACK DOCS is Saturday, May 18, 2024, 12:00pm to 6:00pm; the Saturday daylong event will include screenings, panel discussions, Q & A with filmmakers. $25 for the all day event. We have curated an impactful lineup of a short and three feature length documentaries for this year’s showcase; stories of resilience and determination, such as a family’s journey to find love amidst the challenges of the U.S. prison system, the experience of the first Black woman on a NASCAR pit crew and an intimate father-son bike ride captured cinema verité stye from St. Louis to Chicago; and the story chroncling the life of the inconic musical performer, Luther Vandross.

• Early Bird All-day tickets $20 (April 10 - April 17, 2024)
• All -day tickets $25

• Single ticket $15

• Reserved Seating for entire day's event $50 (all day seating)
• Night & Day Combo $40 (Friday panel/Saturday all-day event)
• Tickets purchased online only. No walk-ins.

• Due to seating, purchasing tickets in advance is highly recommended.

• All ticket sales end May 18, 2024 at 9AM .

Food vendors. (MamaAunties Vegan Goodies and Sybil Jatta)

F or more information about the event, visit www.badwest.org.

Day of Black Docs is sponsored by the International Documentary Association (IDA), Film Independent (FI) and The Concordia Fellowship.

DAY OF BLACK DOCS 2024

SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024 at AFI

Three sensational feature length documentaries and a compelling short documentary film.

MODERATOR - TIM COGSHELL

DAY OF BLACK DOCS is hosted by award winning writer, director and producer Tim Cogshell. Tim is a veteran film critic and journalist with over 30 years of experience working for national print, broadcast, and internet-based media concerns, including NPR, KNBC, Spectrum News, ABC 7, Box Office Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Alt-Film Guide, among others. He's a regular on NPR affiliate KPCC's FilmWeek with Larry Mantle and co-host of the CineGods podcast.

THE FILMS

WOMEN ON THE OUTSIDE

Growing up, Kristal watched nearly every man in her life disappear to prison. She channeled that struggle into keeping families connected, both as a social worker and with her van service that drives families to visit loved ones in far-off prisons. But when Kristal's dad and brother return to Philly, her happiness meets the realization that release doesn't always mean freedom. Passionate, funny and resilient, Kristal remains determined to carve out a different future -- for herself and for her young nephew, Nyvae. Part observational documentary, part family album, A Woman on the Outside is a tender portrait of one family striving to love in the face of a system built to break them. Directed by Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville (Feature Documentary/US/85 min)

OVER THE WALL

Nine seconds — it’s about all you have. Welcome to the fast-paced world of a NASCAR pit crew. Over the Wall is an immersive film following Brehanna Daniels, the first Black woman pit crew member and tire changer in NASCAR, as she works her way back from injury to participate in the Daytona 500, the biggest race in the sport. A testament to the power of perseverance and what it takes to be a trailblazer. Directed by Krystal Tingle (Short Documentary/US/18 min)

BIKE VESSEL

Eric D. Seals grew up eating just about every southern delicacy you could name: pulled pork, liverwurst sandwiches, fried fish, alongside his father, Donnie Seals Sr. Living in Wheaton, a west suburb of Chicago, he also watched his dad drink and smoke for almost ten years, until 1995 when he almost died. Donnie Seals Sr. would undergo his first open-heart surgery before age 50. In the next fifteen years, he would have a total of 3 quadruple bypass surgeries and be forced into early retirement. However, the story doesn’t end there. Seals’ is now 70 years old and bicycles more than 30 miles daily; his heart problems have all but disappeared. Having once been on more than 20 daily medications, he is now down to one, and his doctors call his recovery miraculous. A cinema-verite, participatory documentary following Seals Sr. and filmmaker Eric as they bike from St. Louis to Chicago Directed by Eric D. Seales (Feature Documentary/US/92min)

FILM LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH

Chronicles the life of an iconic musical performer Luther Vandross, from childhood musical talent to worldwide fame. Explores his collaborations, influences, character and relationships with family, friends and fans. Directed by Dawn Porter(Feature Documentary/US/101 min)

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024 at AFI

12:00 PM - 6:00PM PST

BADWEST WELCOME

12:05PM WOMEN ON THE OUTSIDE

1:31 PM OVER THE WALL (short)

– Q&A with Writer/Producer Kiara C. Jones, Women on the Outside and Director, Krystal Tingle, Over the Wall

2:05 PM BIKE VESSEL

– Q&A with Director, Eric D. Seales

BREAK

4:15 PM LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH

– Q&A with Producer, Leah Smith

PANELISTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

For more information about BADWest, please visit www.badwest.org. Become a Member. Support Black filmmakers to tell our stories.

The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West is a project of Fulcrum Arts' Emerge fiscal sponsorship program. www.fulcrumarts.org

Moderator, Tim Cogshell

Tim is a veteran film critic and journalist with over 30 years of experience working for national print, broadcast, and internet-based media concerns, including NPR, KNBC, Spectrum News, ABC 7, Box Office Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and Alt-Film Guide, among others. He's a regular on NPR affiliate KPCC's FilmWeek with Larry Mantle and co-host of the CineGods podcast.

Zara Katz, Lisa Riordan Seville, Directors Women on the Outside

Zara Katz (Director/Producer) is a filmmaker and photo producer for editorial,

documentary and branded content, specializing in crafting character-driven visual stories. Zara is currently Photography Director at NBC News.com, and has worked with outlets including The New York Times Lens blog, Time magazine, Medium, The Guardian U.S.,Pop-Up Magazine and Lifetime/A+E Networks. She was the Senior Photography Producer on a Getty Images/Dove campaign photographed by more than 100 women and non-binary photographers, which won the Silver Glass Lion at Cannes in 2019.

Lisa Riordan Seville (Director/Producer) is an award-winning reporter and filmmaker

whose stories explore how money, power and policy shapes the lives of everyday people.

Lisa’s investigative and enterprise work has appeared across NBC News platforms, on

BuzzFeed News, The Guardian U.S., Lifetime/A+E Networks and WNYC Radio. It has

been recognized with a Peabody, a Hillman Award and a Sigma Delta Chi from the

Society of Professional Journalists, among others. Her most recent piece was a cover

story for New York Magazine about the deaths of 15 men in New York City's notorious

Rikers Island jail complex.

In 2014, Zara and Lisa created Everyday Incarceration, an Instagram feed featuring

visual stories of 40 years of mass incarceration. Their work has been exhibited at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Photoville and FOTODOKS, and was featured on the New

York Times' Instagram feed. A Woman on the Outside is their first feature documentary.

Kiara C. Jones, Producer/Writer, Women on the Outside

Kiara C. Jones (Producer/Writer) is an award-winning producer, director, writer and the

proprietor of Cultivated Films LLC, a New York-based production company that

champions diverse storytelling and focuses on creating sustainable financial models for

independent filmmakers. Kiara's filmmaking has been widely celebrated including with an

Independent Spirit Award nomination for producing Anja Marquardt's She's Lost Control

and the Grand Jury Award from The Directors Guild of America for her debut feature

Christmas Wedding Baby. Kiara produced the Sundance premiere Premature, directed by

Rashaad Ernesto Green and has been an IFP/Blackhouse Producing Fellow, a Trans

Atlantic Partners International Co-Production Symposium Fellow, a 2019 BRIO Award

Winner and an inaugural fellow of the WGA-E Inclusive Screenwriters Workshop

mentored by Scott Frank.

Krystal Tingle, Director, Over the Wall

Krystal Tingle is a Jamaican-American filmmaker living between Los Angeles and Miami. Tingle’s films reflect the rich complexities of Black women and explore the miracles that lie within the mundanity of life. Tingle’s short documentary, Over The Wall, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short at BlackStar Film Festival.She is the Series Field Producer for the Emmy-nominated, The 1619 Project (HULU), the Director/Producer for Soledad O’Brian’s Disrupt & Dismantle on BET, and the Supervising Producer for The Queen Collective for Flavor Unit Entertainment and Tribeca Studios. Tingle is developing her feature documentary Oh Happy Day!, which has received early support from California Humanities, Women in Film and Video, and Docs in Progress. Her production company, Doctor Bird Studios, specializes in documentary films and non-fiction content with a passion for stories that center on the Caribbean diaspora. Her non-profit, Chapel Cinema, works to provide ancillary care and support for independent Black women filmmakers on-set, in the field, and at home.

Eric D. Seals, Director Bike Vessel

Eric D. Seals | Director, DP

Eric D. Seals is a seasoned film director and cinematographer with 10+ years of

experience creating and managing feature films, television, and digital content

series. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Murray State University with

concentrations in Electronic Media and Business Administration. Eric started his

career at ESPN, working as a video editor on shows such as Sportscenter, Mike and

Mike, and First Take. In 2020, he was selected as a Diverse Voices in Documentaries

Fellow with Kartemquin Films, and in 2021, he was selected as a Netflix Directing and

Producing Fellow. Eric enjoys giving back to the film community by facilitating

workshops and has recently become an Adjunct Professor at Depaul University,

teaching a course in Sports Documentary Production. He is the founder and creative director of Digifé, a full-service film production company that focuses on documentaries and social impact stories. Eric and Digife have won numerous awards, produced commercials and TV shows, and developed various content for different brands.

Dawn Porter, Director, Luther: Never Too Much

Dawn Porter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on ESPN, Netflix, HBO, PBS, and Discovery. In 2023, her newest film, The Lady Bird Diaries, premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. The groundbreaking, all-archival documentary about Lady Bird Johnson reveals a complex portrait of one of the most influential and least understood First Ladies.

Porter’s four-part ESPN documentary series 37 Words premiered in June 2022 and examines landmark civil rights legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational institution that receives federal funding, and gave women the equal opportunity to play sports.

Dawn has been commissioned to create films for the Center for Investigative Reporting, Time and Essence Magazines, The New York Times Op Docs, and Amazon. Her work has received generous support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures and other esteemed organizations. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Directors Guild of America.

Leah Smith, Producer, Luther: Never Too Much

Leah Smith is a seasoned filmmaker with nearly 25 years of experience in the media industry. She began her career at CNN news, contributing to the launch of "Anderson Cooper 360.” During her time there, Leah covered significant events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and various presidential elections, earning two news Emmys for her coverage of the Haiti earthquake. In 2013, she received another News and Documentary Emmy for her work on "Kids on Race: the Hidden Picture", a documentary commissioned by CNN. Transitioning to NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Leah continued her focus on impactful storytelling. Currently, she's deep into her third collaboration with Trilogy Films under the guidance of the esteemed documentarian, Dawn Porter. Leah's latest endeavor, “Luther: Never Too Much,” is a testament to her enduring love for music, particularly the melodic sounds of Luther Vandross.
Leah holds a BA in English from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Thank You to the Day of Black Docs Curating Committee: Toni Bell, Tanayi Seabrook, Steve Williams, Joyce Lee, Tiffany Judkins and Joyce Guy. Special thanks to David Massey and Sybil Jatta. Thank you to all the BADWest member volunteers.

DAY OF BLACK DOCS SPONSORS

The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West is s project of Fulcrum Arts' Emerge fiscal sponsorship program. www.fulcrumarts.org.