Premiere of the Diaspora Festival of Black and Independent Film takes audiences on an international journey

In between recent showings of blockbuster films “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” at the Varsity Theatre on Sept. 26, Black independent filmmakers got their time to shine at the premiere of the 2024 Diaspora Festival of Black and Independent Film. 

The festival, hosted by the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Research in Black Culture and History, started with a screening of two films, followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers and audience members.

The first film screened was a four-minute short titled “SACRED AXA” written, produced and directed by Africana religious studies scholar and director of the Stone Center LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant. The film depicts Manigault-Bryant’s relationship with sacred spaces in Anguilla, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. 

“It was a place that I had stepped foot in, I think back in 2012 for the first time, and it was a place that I felt cosmically connected to immediately upon stepping foot on the soil,” Manigault-Bryant said. 

“SACRED AXA” is a compilation of footage from Manigault-Bryant’s trip, taking the viewer through the small island with a population of 14,000 people. 

Most footage included in the film moved viewers through the island with her, as it was taken from her perspective — snapshots of a place both unfamiliar to Manigault-Bryant, and yet one that she said felt like home. Manigault-Byrant is also a licensed drone pilot and used drones to film some scenes.                                                                                            

On such a small island, Manigault-Bryant said that there are many sacred places, including churches of multiple denominations, sacred watering holes and other spaces where rituals take place.

Artist, educator and cultural investigator Arturo Lindsay also debuted a documentary he wrote, produced, narrated and directed, titled “Arte Congo: Artists’ Journey on the Congo Coast of Panama.” 

The Congos of Panama are descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped Spanish Colonial plantations in the 17th Century. Arturo, who is Panamanian, documents his time in Portobelo, Panama and examines Congo culture through a new Afrocentric art movement called Arte Congo.

Lindsay was born in Colon, Panama, and immigrated to the US at age 12. After he left, he promised himself that he would return to Colon when he got older and give back to his community. In the documentary, Lindsay said he especially wanted to do this after the Panama raids in 1989 by the US government, which left many citizens dead and injured. 

Lindsay fulfilled his promise by doing research on Portobelo — his inspiration for "Arte Congo." The film showcased seven Congo artists’ unique artwork, which included portraits of Black Panamanians as royalty or blended in with the animals and terrain of Panama. 

Between these shots of art were interviews of Lindsay with well-known American artists inspired by the Arte Congo movement, like Amy Sherald, who painted the esteemed portrait, "First Lady Michelle Obama", in 2018.

At the beginning of the Q&A, Lindsay left some words of wisdom for young attendees.

“Think about what cultures already exist and what cultures you are part of and exist in, even in your own families, and do your best to help record what's going on, because history today is tomorrow's past,” Lindsay said

Nyah Johnson, a junior majoring in media and journalism who has also worked with Manigault-Bryant in her work-study position at the Stone Center, braved the rain to attend the event and was amazed by what she witnessed.

In response to “Arte Congo,” Johnson said, “I'm really glad I went and just heard about different pieces of art that I had never heard about, different cultures. You know, blackness is not a monolith, and I feel like, even as a Black person, I'm constantly learning about our culture.”

Students who did not attend the premiere have more opportunities to support Black and Independent films in October. There will be two evening screenings on Oct. 3 and Oct. 10 and a special screening in collaboration with the Black Queer Studies Conference on Oct. 12. Lunchtime screenings will be on Oct. 15 and Oct. 29 in the Hitchcock multipurpose room. 

The Stone Center website contains more details for screening schedules. 

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