Africana Studies Launches New Black Film Series

RIC’s Africana Studies Program has launched a new, yearlong event open to the campus and off-campus community – the Black Film Series. 

Conceived by Assistant Professor of History and Africana Studies Sherri Cummings, this series, she says, is important for everyone.

“Educators of Africana studies, as well as other disciplines in the humanities, are always looking for new ways to broach and teach about issues affecting Black and Brown communities, past and present,” says Cummings. “Film is the perfect medium for this. Artists are creating works that not only creatively address such issues, but students, and the larger Providence community, also get to see themselves reflected on the screen, thus opening up opportunities for deeper conversations about their own experiences.”

The first film in the series, “Stamped from the Beginning,” will be shown on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. in Gaige 100. Admission is free and all screenings will be followed by a discussion. See trailer:

Director of Africana Studies Sadhana Bery states, “A variety of Black films from across the diaspora will be screened throughout the 2024 academic year, including “Earth Mama,” along with a conversation with its filmmaker, Savanah Leaf.

“Through a range of genres, including, narrative fiction, documentaries, horror, Afrofuturism, comedy, musicals, etc., these Black films will explore Black life from multiple perspectives,” says Bery. “As a visual medium, they continue the Black tradition of storytelling. Their representations make us think and feel about what dream hampton says is ‘preferably unheard or deliberately silenced’ by dominant mainstream cinema. Through creativity, imagination and remembrance, the cinematic Black gaze can shift paradigms, create new ways of seeing and knowing, and even transform lives. We hope you will join us on this visual journey through Black life across time and space.”

Funding provided by the Division of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.