Nate Parker Foundation Presents HBCU Storytellers Project at Pan African Film Festival

Nate Parker

By Darlene Donloe

The Nate Parker 4^th Annual HBCU Storytellers Project was held during the 28^th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF).

The HBCU Storytellers Project is a unique partnership between the Nate Parker Foundation, Inc. and the Kellogg Foundation. The partnership provides students the opportunity to learn the art of filmmaking while receiving a culturally enriching educational experience that prepares them to use film as a vehicle for racial healing and reconciliation. Student participants from Hampton University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, and Norfolk State University engaged in an 18-month process that empowered them to create 4 documentaries over the course of their tenure.

This year two films were screened followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Parker, who launched his foundation in 2015, watched from the sidelines as Brian Favors, Nate Parker Foundation co-founder and program director introduced the films and the student filmmakers.

This year’s short films were Culture Shot and 400 Years Later…Free-ish.

(l-r) Brian Favors, Elijah J. McNutt, and Nate Parker 

In Culture Shot, a popular basketball player who must decide whether to play a game where he will be seen by several pro scouts, or stand with his fellow students who are protesting for their rights at their college.  It’s a film about self-reflection, understanding, and unity.

Culture Shot, directed by Elijah J. McNutt, is an original screenplay by McNutt, Kennedy Williams, Laronn Marzett, Lee Jackson, Mason Bleu, Ryan Dickerson and Tissan Young.

400 Years Later...Free-ish

400 Years Later…Free-ish is a four-part docuseries that explores the 400-year commemoration of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia in late August 1619. The films capture this epic milestone through the journey of fifteen HBCU students as they explore past and present race relations in the birthplace of American slavery. The documentaries follow the students in their efforts to promote racial healing and reconciliation as they grapple with Virginia’s contentious history and the racial issues the confederate statues present.

Through the cinematic arts, the Nate Parker Foundation empowers young voices of African descent to advance social justice and revolutionize culture.

Both film presentations were a hit with the PAFF audience.