The Queer Arts Center Announces The BlaQ ArTed Short Film Fest

The East Bay Queer Healing Arts Center-a.k.a. The Queer Arts Center-in collaboration with Spectrum Queer Media and Whippoorwill Arts, has announced The BlaQ ArTed Short Film Fest, taking place November 22nd through 28th with both online and in-person film screenings.

Kicking off at 5 pm PST on the 22nd with an outdoor drive-in premiere at Oakland's Chabot Space & Science Center, The BlaQ ArTed Short Film Fest will feature the films of nine Black Queer, Trans, and Nonbinary emerging youth filmmakers, creating an atmosphere in which they will be able to enjoy each other's films, cheer each other on, and take questions from the audience about their films and the process behind creating them. Veteran filmmaker Khepera Batties will open with a tribute to the BlaQ Arted Film Fest's mission to uplift marginalized Black voices with his piece The unSPOKEN which celebrates everyday citizens in the context of the past, present, and future of the Black experience in America.

The festival, curated by BlaQ ArTed Fest founder and host, Kin Folkz, will then be able to be viewed virtually from Monday, November 23rd, through Sunday, November 28th, at QueerArtsCenter.com. An encore virtual screening with a live-streamed filmmaker Q+A will take place on Sunday, November 28, on the festival's closing night. Tickets for The BlaQ ArTed Short Film Fest will go on sale starting Saturday, November 7th, at 12 pm (noon) PST, also at QueerArtsCenter.com.

The BlaQ ArTed Short Film Fest, the culminating event of The East Bay Queer Healing Arts Center's BlaQ ArTed Digital Storytelling Internship highlights the genius and innovation of Black Queer, Trans, and NonBinary transitional aged (18-25 years) artists by providing them with the equipment, guidance, and access to create short films that authentically represent who they are and the issues of importance to them. In the films being screened throughout this festival, the issues addressed include teen homelessness, body-shaming, misogynoir, Black American identity formation in an Anti-Black society, confronting transphobia, and fostering youth resilience.

The BlaQ ArTed Short Film Fest's Films and Filmmakers:

Hilda Ameyaw - Title: Sankofa (2020)

Maya Godfrey - Title: Cope (2020)

Eddrena Hall - Title: Image a Process (2020)

Miaya Potter - Title: Mind in Idle (2020)

Meoow(Lottie) fultz - Title: yellowhouseblues (2020)

Silvia Gathondu - Title: Restless (2020)

Zena West - Title: Sufferance (2020)

Leo Sherman - Title: Star (2020)

Shay House - Title: The Fluidity of Success (2020)

Plus The Emcee's Intro film

Kin Folkz - Title: Tell Black Girls That They Are Gods (2016)

Find more information or purchase tickets for The BlaQ ArTed Short Film Fest at QueerArtsCenter.com.