American Black Film Festival marks 30 years of celebrating and protecting Black storytelling
TheGrio...
With star-studded screenings, panels, and rooftop celebrations, ABFF continues its mission to elevate Black voices in film.
In June of 1997, Black film industry A-listers such as Regina King, Halle Berry, Debbie Allen, Robert Townsend and more descended on Acapulco, Mexico, for a celebration of Black film. Berry received her first-ever acting award. After its debut at the festival that same year, the film “Hav Plenty” was picked up by Miramax and given a theatrical release. Space was also made for critical conversations about the film industry’s lack of opportunity for Black talent in the 1990s. It was the start of something special.
Word of the event back home made the festival sound more like a party, something founder, television and film producer Jeff Friday, admits did occur.
“We partied, but we got some work done,” he told theGrio on Thursday, May 28.
Nearly 30 years later—after a rebrand and a move stateside—the party rages on.
From packed movie screenings with cast members to buzzy red carpets to standing-room-only conversations and star-studded rooftop soirées stretching late into the night, for five days beginning Wednesday, May 27, the 30th annual American Black Film Festival (ABFF) transformed Miami Beach into a celebration of Black storytelling.
“Someone asked me how’s it feel? I’m never speechless, but this time I’m actually speechless,” Friday said during the opening night screening. “I’m so full of joy and gratitude. Y’all been rocking with us for 30 years.”
The festival kicked off with a screening of Malcolm D. Lee’s upcoming Peacock film, “Strung,” followed by conversations with Lee and cast members Chloe Bailey, Coco Jones, Lucien Laviscount, and Lynn Whitfield. The following day, after audiences laughed, cheered, and shouted their way through the screening, the cast reflected on the experience of sharing the film with a room full of Black viewers.
“Nothing like watching a movie with Black folks,” Jones teased.
And that’s when the purpose of ABFF’s 30-year run became clear. This year’s festival, led by ambassador Regina King and with a “Homecoming” theme complete with a Florida A&M University marching band, arrives at a particularly significant moment for Black storytelling. In a year when you can count the number of Black-led films to reach theaters on one hand, and as Black history, culture, and diversity efforts continue to face mounting political and cultural attacks, the festival felt less like an industry event and more like an urgent gathering.
For 30 years, ABFF has served as a place where Black artists can bring their work home, not in the geographic sense, but in a cultural one. It’s where filmmakers can share their stories with audiences who instinctively understand the references, appreciate the nuances and respond with the kind of enthusiasm only family can provide. Frankly, it’s the artistic equivalent of showing your latest accomplishment to Big Mama and ‘em. Nobody is going to cheer louder.
“This is a safe space for us,” Friday added. “There’s been a lot in the news about places where we’re not treated so kindly. Our culture is exploited, but it will not happen here.”
That energy wasn’t reserved for celebrities or established filmmakers. During the HBO Short Film Showcase, audiences audibly reacted to films from across the diaspora, laughing, gasping, and engaging with stories as they unfolded. When filmmakers became emotional discussing the inspirations behind their projects, the crowd responded with encouragement and applause.
The support felt reciprocal. Throughout the week, artists repeatedly spoke about the importance of spaces where Black creatives can gather, share work and celebrate one another. That spirit surfaced everywhere. Across the festival’s film selection, in addition to “Strung,” it ranged from gripping family dramas like “Girl Dad,” starring Marsai Martin and Courtney B. Vance, directorial debuts like T.I.’s “Thought She Was the One,” modern musicals like “Otra,” docs like “Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story,” international narratives like “Small Gods,” and more.
One panel featured Black voice actors discussing the importance of representation in anime and the ways Black audiences have long embraced art that rarely centered them. Another saw media icon Iyanla Vanzant reflect on her next chapter as she prepares to return to television. The festival’s conversations moved between industry realities, artistic ambitions and the responsibility many creators feel to tell stories that might otherwise go untold.
The festival’s annual awards ceremony highlighted both emerging and established talent, sometimes even within the same award—Marsai Martin and Bashir Salahuddin tied for the performance award. Documentary, narrative, episodic, and international filmmakers were recognized alongside screenwriters, directors, and other performers, continuing a tradition that has previously honored names such as Issa Rae, Ryan Coogler and Halle Berry before they became some of the industry’s most influential figures.
Yet some of the festival’s most meaningful moments happened away from the stage and outside of the screenings. Media personality Bevy Smith, who hosted the HBO Short Film Showcase, told theGrio she has attended ABFF for more than 20 years. During her first visit, she recalled waiting for a taxi and striking up a conversation with a fellow attendee who turned out to be Charles D. King, the future founder and CEO of Macro.
“That’s the kind of magical things that happen at ABFF,” Smith said. “That’s the reason why it’s a special place, because if you open yourself up, you never know who you’re talking to.”
She’s right.
A casual conversation while waiting for a panel could find you chatting with a filmmaker from your hometown, an entertainment reporter, a studio executive or a future collaborator. Throughout the week, strangers became contacts while ideas became possibilities. First time attendees made plans to return while several celebrated it being their third, 10th or over 20th time.
The soundtrack to it all reflected the breadth of the diaspora itself. Baltimore club and DC go-go blended with Chicago house, Afrobeats, soca, and R&B as filmmakers, executives, journalists and movie lovers floated between screenings, panels, and parties.
By the week’s closing signature White Party at M2 Miami, hosted by Terrence J, the atmosphere felt less like an industry event and more like a family reunion. Dressed in white, attendees packed the dance floor, celebrated another successful year, and toasted to the future of Black storytelling.
Thirty years after a group of Black creatives gathered in Acapulco to celebrate stories Hollywood often overlooked, the mission remains remarkably unchanged. The festival has grown. The industry has evolved. But for one week every summer, Black storytellers still come together to share their work, celebrate one another, and imagine what else is possible.
And judging by the packed theaters, the standing ovations, and the crowded dance floor that closed out the week, they’re still getting plenty of work done.