Black & Brown Femme Film Festival 2023

BBFF 2023: Black & Brown Femme Film Festival

October 7, 2023

4:30–6:30 PM

Music Box Theatre

3733 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago, Illinois

Presented by Black & Brown Femme Films

Black & Brown Femme Film Festival brought six films by Black and Brown femme filmmakers to Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre on October 7, 2023. The sold-out festival centered independent cinema, creative expression, and perspectives too often overlooked within the traditional film industry.

The program gathered filmmakers, artists, supporters, and moviegoers for a shared evening of storytelling on the big screen. Although the event was originally promoted as the Black & Brown Femme Films Showcase, BBFF recognizes it as its first film festival and the beginning of its continuing commitment to creating space for Black and Brown femme filmmakers.

On the Screen

Six Films and Six Creative Voices

Six Black and Brown femme filmmakers shared their work during the festival. Each film brought its own point of view, artistic language, and emotional perspective to the screen, demonstrating the range of stories being created outside the boundaries of conventional filmmaking spaces.

Together, the films formed a program rooted in individuality rather than a single definition of what Black, Brown, or femme cinema should be. The filmmakers were able to present their work to an audience prepared to listen, engage, and experience those stories collectively.

A Night at the Music Box

A Sold-Out Film Festival

The Music Box Theatre filled to standing room only. The response demonstrated that audiences were eager to experience independent films created by Black and Brown femmes and to support the artists bringing those stories to life.

Inside the theater, the films became more than individual projects. They became part of a communal experience shared by filmmakers and audience members in the same room. Every seat filled represented an investment in stories that deserved visibility, care, and space on a cinema screen.

The atmosphere reflected the community-centered spirit that would become central to BBFF’s future programming: artists supporting one another, audiences encountering new perspectives, and people gathering around the belief that representation should extend beyond who appears on screen to include who is empowered to create.

Behind the Festival

Creating the Opportunity

The festival grew from founder Vici Howard’s determination to share her short film The Singles. After submitting the film to more than twenty festivals without an acceptance, she decided to create an independent screening rather than wait for permission from the traditional festival system.

Howard invited five other Black and Brown femme filmmakers to screen alongside her. That decision transformed one filmmaker’s search for a venue into a collective opportunity for six artists—and created the foundation for the Black & Brown Femme Film Festival.

Community at the Center

Making Space for Our Stories

BBFF 2023 affirmed the importance of creating welcoming spaces where Black and Brown femme filmmakers could be seen, supported, and celebrated. It also showed what could happen when artists created opportunities together instead of relying entirely on institutions that had historically excluded their perspectives.

The connections formed through the festival extended beyond the screening itself. The evening helped establish a growing community around BBFF’s mission and opened the door to future film festivals, exhibitions, performances, conversations, and cultural programs.

Festival Gallery