By Brandon Nicholas
For a sunny* second year in a row, I was in Miami Beach for the American Black Film Festival. Last year, I wrote about my experience at the ABFF as a GLAAD Ambassador, and in the article, I said that I “look forward to attending ABFF in the future as a presenter.” That was not the case this year. Plot twist, I know. I’m still grateful to have attended the festival because it’s such a wonderful experience.
This year, GLAAD served as a sponsor for the American Black Film Festival, which celebrated its 29th year of Black programming. GLAAD’s theme was Reel & Radiant. A very fitting theme for the four days I spent there. It’s always a joy to be surrounded by Black LGBTQ+ folks. And there was a more palpable presence of queerness this year, both on screen and off. Several films had queer characters and subjects and there were several queer filmmakers who presented as well.
Blackness is not monolithic, and that was a beauty to witness here. So many beatiful (and fine!), melanated people from varying ages and backgrounds were present. I met so many wonderful people while helping out and hanging out at the GLAAD booth, where Laquann Dawson photographed attendees at the photo booth. I ran into a filmmaking in New York who had a short film that premiered thereI spoke with one gentleman for an hour about the potential of Baltimore City as a hub for artists and filmmakers.
A nice convergence of community was at GLAAD’s mixer, which included an insightful panel around Black queer filmmaking with filmmakers Okema T. Moore and Patrik Ian Polk and moderated by Shar Jossell.
There were many great selections at this year’s festival. A highlight of mine was Zeke, a (straight) short film by Kerry Coddett. Zeke is a dark satire that follows Vic, a loyal client whose life is shattered after a trusted Brooklyn barber crosses a dangerous line. As a documentary filmmaker anchored in queer storytelling, it was a joy to see “Come Together: Arts Power for Change,” a documentary directed by Nathan Hale Williams that explored the impact of Dirty Laundry, a 2006 Black gay film directed by Nathan’s creative partner and friend, Maurice Jamal. Laundry, a short film by Okema T. Moore, was another wonderful film. Elle/Elle directed by Kelli Kali was a beautiful film about a white (I know) queer couple navigating a major shift in their relationship once when Elle, one of the partners, invites the world into her trans identity. I also enjoyed Graduation Day by young filmmaker and actor Jordan Aaron Hall, which played during ABFF’s Voice of the Culture block. Graduation Day is a short film about a flamboyant, straight, Gen Z kid who gets in somewhat of a love triangle with his best friend and a girl he’s crushing on.
My highlight, like last year, was the community of Black queer and trans filmmakers taking up social, purposeful, artistic space in Miami and at ABFF. Blue-sky dreaming at the beach with the other ambassadors, networking and queering the straight canon with festival attendees, these are the moments I live for.
It’s affirming to see films around queer themes at such a preeminent Black Film Festival. It makes me feel like the stories I tell have a home at the largest African American Film Festival. And while I’ll always enjoy my experience as a GLAAD ambassador at the American Black Film Festival, each year makes me want to be in the ABFF family even more. Third times the charm?
* For those who remember, last year gave a tropical storm, and it derailed many festival goers’ plans. I arrived two days after my original date, after getting rebooked for flights out of Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK airport.
