Building a creative heart in the Central District, Seattle Black Film Festival returns to Langston Hughes

Scenes from Dark and Tender: The Big Island, a follow-up to the award-winning documentary about the transformative power of touch (Image: The Chronically UnderTouched Project)

The 23rd annual Seattle Black Film Festival takes place April 30 – May 3 at the Langston Hughes Center, showcasing 55 films and four workshops throughout the event. 

Seattle has its own bustling film scene, with the Langston Hughes Center at the heart of it.

The 23rd annual Seattle Black Film Festival kicks off next week with an opening night party on Thursday, April 30th. A steadily growing event, this year’s festival will screen 55 independent films from all across the world, centering and celebrating the community.

This year’s theme is ‘The Sound of Us,’ highlighting the voices and creativity of the Black diaspora, with a nod to its setting in the Puget Sound region.

Taylor Freeman, Programs Manager for the Langston Hughes Center and SBFF Manager, is in her second year running the event, and her passion and drive behind the festival is apparent.

“Our festival focus has always been to be responsive to community needs,” said Freeman. “If there’s anything I can do to help build up Seattle’s creative community, I and Langston want to be able to do our part.”

In addition to the screenings, SBFF will offer four workshops throughout the weekend, as well as social events centered around community building and all kinds of creative expression.

Programming is developed to both showcase and expand filmmaking opportunities, providing a learning space for attendees to learn and strengthen necessary skills for the industry, such as editing or pitching.

An actor herself, Freeman and the team hope to both cultivate and grow the creative filmmaking community here in Seattle. “We want folks to not have to feel like they have to go to New York or LA,” said Freeman. The centering of community in the programming shows the dedication to that mission.

On Sunday, the film festival will be free, providing the greater community the chance to come be a part of screenings and workshops.

As a part of the ‘Tender is a Revolution’ block that day, the Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project will be hosting a workshop following the screening of films, including its own, “Dark and Tender: The Big Island.”

A sequel to their first documentary “Dark and Tender,” which screened at last year’s festival, this film follows ten Black men at a week-long workshop building trust and intimacy through grounding exercises such as platonic touch, listening, and journaling practices. These documentaries offer viewers the opportunity to explore what tenderness looks and feels like in practice.

Ben Wilson, co-founder of Color of Sound and producer on the films, was initially a participant in one such workshop with CUT Project founder, Aaron Johnson. After the workshop, Wilson knew he wanted to support Johnson’s documentary and has been a creative partner ever since.

“Part of the feedback we got from the first project [Dark and Tender] was that people wanted to be more immersed in the actual workshops,” said Wilson.

Centering empathy, both the documentary and workshop offer accessible practices to support healthy relationships and combat negative and harmful stereotypes faced by people of color, and especially by Black men.

This sequel documentary offers that more immersive experience, which Wilson believes will help prime audiences for the subsequent workshop.

“There’s this universal concept of touch and platonic touch, and that many of us suffer a lack of platonic touch and have our own unique stories,” said Wilson. “The goal is to help these Black men in this case to start to get in touch more with their tender side, to build empathy, to help them to be better listeners.”

Both Freeman and the SBFF team encourage everyone to come with an open mind, ready to have fun, and be in community.

“We are resilient when we are together,” said Freeman. “Even when we are separated and are going through hard times, we can come back to the sound of us.”

Tickets range from $25 to $135, with a virtual pass option allowing the opportunity for viewers to watch these films from May 4th to 10th.

The Langston Hughes Center is located in Seattle’s Central District at 104 17th Ave S. Learn more at langstonseattle.org.

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