Natalie Morrow will attend events within the wheelchair she’s used while recovering from a stroke
Over its 22-year history, the Twin Cities Black Film Festival has grown right into a premier fall event showcasing visual art written, directed, produced and starring multicultural talent from world wide.
Not even when a world pandemic forced the festival to shutter its operations temporarily was the film fest’s future ever unsure. But that modified early this yr when its founder and CEO Natalie Morrow suffered a stroke.
“Doctors prescribed that I cancel all events to heal, but I didn’t have the guts to cancel the film festival. I actually have to go along with what the doctors say, but through the assistance of family and friends, we were in a position to honor those that submitted their movies to us,” she said.
Beyond the Twin Cities Black Film Festival, Morrow founded Black Fashion Week, which launched in 2017, and coordinates events for others through her event management firm, the Morrow Group.
Working high-stress 14-plus-hour days was typical for Morrow. Until it wasn’t.
“This yr I’ve discovered in case you’re too stubborn to take a seat down on your personal, God will try this for you,” she said. “I never realized how much I worked until I used to be told by my doctors to do nothing.”
As in years past, Morrow and her advisory group reviewed tons of of shorts, full-length features, documentaries and multimedia projects—a staggering 479 in total but intentionally down from the same old 700 or so before Morrow’s stroke. Despite its challenges, the festival’s review panel remained committed to delivering the “best in cinema” over its four-day stretch.
This yr’s event, running Oct. 10-14, features 26 movies—greater than half of which showcase the abilities of Minnesota-based filmmakers, including “Fresh Cut” by South Minneapolis author and director Maxie Rockymore. (Read more about Rockymore and the way a 25-year profession in social work influences her art, on Page 7.)
Morrow was forced this yr to cancel longstanding festival events, including parties that previously drew A-list Hollywood celebrities, and can attend this yr’s screenings within the wheelchair she’s used since her recovery began. However the festival stays committed to its founding tradition: providing an outlet for Minnesotans to have fun the art and artists who tell otherwise untold stories.
“We’re a really creative state,” Morrow said. “People in Minnesota know what they should do: Irrespective of what your focus, irrespective of where your talents lie, just be excellent. The Twin Cities Black Film Festival honors that.”
Cynthia Moothart welcomes reader responses at cmoothart@spokesman-recorder.com.
A full schedule, description of every film, ticket information, and viewing times can be found on the Twin Cities Black Film Festival website: tcbff.org.
For the third yr running, movies will likely be screened on the Capri Theater, 2027 W. Broadway, in North Minneapolis. Oct. 11 is “Minneapolis Night,” featuring greater than a dozen back-to-back short movies crafted by local directors.