Recent Black Oklahoma Cinema

Join us for a celebration of recent films by Black filmmakers in Oklahoma, showcasing their talent and creativity in the world of cinema. All admission is FREE but RSVP required - click the ticket button to register now.

Organized as part of the Black Artists of Oklahoma Project at the University of Oklahoma, this event is made possible through the generous support of the Mellon Foundation and the National Archives’ National Historical Publications Records Commission.

The event will a program of short and feature length films spans genres to represent the vibrant creativity happening across the state. Q&As with the filmmakers and participants in the films will follow each screening plus a lobby reception in between the film blocks.

2:00p screening includes:

Introductory remarks by Robert Bailey

James "VideoHero" Ridley - New Year, New Justice - 30min, a documentary about activists protesting Julius Jones's death sentence.

Frederick Murphy and Kimberly M. Knight - Duality: A Collection of Afroindigenous Perspectives - 54min, a documentary about people who identify as Black and Indigenous.

Post-film Q&A with New Year, New Justice filmmaker James "VideoHero" Ridley and Sache D. Primeaux-Shaw, a participant in Duality: A Collection of Afroindigenous Perspectives. Q&A moderated by Gary Mason.

4:00p Intermission in Gallery

4:30p screening includes:

Introductory remarks by Robert Bailey

Kian Taylor - Freedom to Dream - 19min, a documentary about Oklahoma artist Ebony Iman Dallas working on a mural project.

Marie Casimir - I Dream of Greenwood - 7min. Black and Blues - 6min. They Say My Scars - 3min. Three art films that combine cinema with dance.

Marlon Ladd and Nathan Lee - The Order of the Wolves, Chapter One: Merrick the Assasin - 32min, an artistic action film about a professional killer undergoing an existential crisis.

Post-film Q&A with filmmakers Kian Taylor, Marie Casimir, Marlon Ladd, and Nathan Lee joined by Jerome Braggs, participant in They Say My Scars. Q&A moderated by Gary Mason.

About The Black Artists of Oklahoma Project: The Black Artists of Oklahoma Project is a multiplatform collaborative effort based at the  University of Oklahoma that celebrates the history of African American and other African  diaspora art from Oklahoma through research, exhibitions, publications, and programming. Begun in 2020, its efforts have been supported by the National Archives, Mellon Foundation,  National Endowment for the Arts, Oklahoma Arts Council, and Norman Arts Council. An NHPRC-Mellon Planning Grant for 2024-2026 is enabling collaboration with community  partners and expert scholars to develop plans for a digital edition that will incorporate primary source documents to tell historically contextualized stories about the lives and work of  Oklahoma’s Black artists. Additionally, we are committed to collaborating with emerging and established Black artists, filmmakers, performers, and curators who have ties to Oklahoma. For more information, contact robertbailey@ou.edu.