Afro Prairie Film Festival honours black cinema in Winnipeg

Black cinema is taking centre stage in Winnipeg this weekend at the city's first Afro Prairie Film Festival.

The three-day event celebrates black cinema from across North America and aims to promote the work of established and emerging black Canadian filmmakers, according to festival co-organizer, Alexa Joy Potashnik.

"It's to simply have exposure and representation, because often times people don't think about how black people exist here and that we're doing incredible things," Potashnik said. "It's about taking over an industry that traditionally hasn't been serving our community."

The festival is presented through a partnership between Winnipeg Film Group and Black Space Winnipeg, an organization that fosters and supports black culture in the city.

Timing couldn't be better

It's the first black-centric film festival ever held in the Prairies and Western Canada and, Potashnik says, with the current buzz around the big hit Black Panther the festival's timing couldn't be better. The film, featuring an African superhero, sold the most presale tickets for the first day of any Marvel movie. It made $192 million over the Family Day weekend, coming in just behind The Avengers, which earned $207.4 million over its first three days.

"To have such vast representation in a major Hollywood blockbuster is quite important," Potashnik said of Black Panther. "Especially for younger generations, the fact that they can see a black superhero and black women in such powerful roles … I think it's time."

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The festival, which runs Feb 23-25, will include screenings, workshops and the chance to hear talks by featured guests, including U.S. filmmaker Charles Burnett, director of The Killer of Sheep and To Sleep With Anger.

Burnett will talk about the changes for black filmmakers and actors that he's seen in the movie business over his decades-long career, Potashnik says.

Burnett was "doing movies in the 1960s and 1970s during an era that was extremely difficult for black filmmakers," she said. "He's going to speak to a lot of his experiences and I'm honoured that he thought to visit a small town like Winnipeg to support organizations like Black Space."

Go to Black Space Winnipeg's website for more information and to order tickets.