“Boston has one of the largest gay populations, and it doesn’t make sense to ignore those people and their contributions for so long,” Enwereuzor says. “[The film festival] helps to give new meaning to the black artistic tradition.”
Citing past negligence in shying away from black homosexuals in the arts, she says that the BAF hopes to increase awareness about homosexuality in relation to filmmaking.
In past years, the film festival has showcased black independent films and featured films—some of which went on to become mainstream successes.
In addition to professional independent films, the festival, held at the Harvard Film Archive in the Carpenter Center on Sunday, will culminate with a student film competition. The BAF received hundreds of submissions from students of all universities and will give three student awards.
—Staff writer Cassandra Cummings can be reached at cummings@fas.harvard.edu