Madison’s Black Film Festival returns from 19 to 22 November with more venues, a wide-ranging programme and a clear purpose: putting Black stories at the centre. From queer cinema and cultural video essays to family favourites and local filmmaking, the fourth annual event offers audiences plenty to discover, with most screenings free to attend by registration.

Essential Takeaways

  • Four days, more spaces: Events run from 19 to 22 November, with programming at the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center, Madison Public Library’s Central Library and the Center for Black Excellence and Culture.
  • A varied programme: The line-up spans queer-themed features, video essays, sports dramas, holiday films and local shorts.
  • A local spotlight: Sunday includes a filmmaker discussion featuring Dasha Kelly and Naomi Re’a, alongside screenings including Makin’ Cake and Sherman Park.
  • Know before you go: Screenings from 20 to 22 November are free with registration; the 19 November opening fundraiser requires a separate ticket.

A bigger festival, with a home for Black culture

The Black Film Festival is widening its reach this year, pairing a four-day programme with a new venue for its opening and closing events. The Center for Black Excellence and Culture will host the opening fundraiser and reception, as well as Sunday’s films, panel discussions and closing reception.

The festival is presented with Nehemiah and its Justified Anger: Courses initiative. Festival founder Siobhan Jackson has said she hopes the new centre will become a home for future editions, a fitting match for an event built around Black art, culture and community care.

The centre was created as a place for Black-led gathering, learning and creative work. Isthmus’s report on its opening describes facilities including theatres, galleries, recording booths and community spaces, giving the festival a setting that speaks to more than the films on screen.

A documentary revisits a viral moment

Opening night centres on Alabama Brawl, William Eric Bush-Anderson’s documentary about the 2023 Montgomery riverfront confrontation. The film connects the widely circulated incident with the area’s history and the continuing significance of race, power and memory.

The filmmakers describe the documentary as an independent effort to preserve Black stories, and their website says Amazon declined to upload it under its policies. Mansa’s film page also frames the confrontation as part of a larger historical and cultural story. That makes the screening a pointed start to a festival interested in how stories are told, shared and remembered.

Queer cinema and cultural critiques share the bill

Friday’s programme at OutReach brings together three films focused on Black storytelling and queer experiences: Hedda, Kokomo City and Black Burns Fast. It’s a striking shift of setting and subject, giving the festival a place to explore stories that can sit outside the usual cinema spotlight.

Saturday moves to Madison Public Library’s Central Library, where video essays by F.D. Signifier and Shanspeare sit alongside Remember the Titans and Roll Bounce. The festival’s mix of criticism and familiar films makes room for both close analysis and the pleasures of revisiting a story you already know.

Local filmmakers take centre stage on Sunday

Sunday pairs holiday favourites Almost Christmas and This Christmas with short films and a regional filmmaker discussion featuring Dasha Kelly and Naomi Re’a. Kelly’s Makin’ Cake is part of the programme, while Re’a is producer of Sherman Park, a short directed by Paulina Lule Bugembe-Kuwahara.

The Wisconsin Film Festival programme guide lists Sherman Park as a ten-minute narrative film from 2025, directed by Bugembe-Kuwahara. Its synopsis begins with friends in a park and takes a darker turn, while the Black Film Festival preview describes it as a proof of concept for a planned feature. Short films can leave a surprisingly big impression; here, the festival gives audiences a chance to hear from the people making them, too.

Plan your visit before you head out

The festival’s schedule moves between three venues, so it’s worth checking the location for each screening before setting off. Friday’s films are at OutReach, Saturday’s programme is at the Central Library, and the opening and Sunday events take place at the Center for Black Excellence and Culture.

Madtown Jamz’s event listing confirms that screenings from 20 to 22 November are free with registration, while the 19 November fundraiser needs separate registration. If you’re choosing just one day, Sunday offers a particularly broad mix: family films, local shorts and a conversation with regional filmmakers.

For a festival built around many different Black voices, the expanded programme feels like an invitation to watch, listen and stay for the discussion.

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