It hasn’t been around as long as other local film festivals, but the Twin Cities Black Film Festival (TCBFF) is nearing a quarter century of spotlighting Black films.
“After four incredible years at the Capri in North Minneapolis, we’re excited to embark on a new chapter in the lovely city of Edina … uplifting Black storytelling and celebrating the filmmakers who bring it to life,” TCBFF Founder/Director Natalie Morrow posted on the festival’s Facebook page.
TCBFF24 ran Sept. 25-27 at the Edina Theatre, 50th and France.
“I just reflect on how my films that I started with, how I started, how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve grown and how much I’m still growing. Twenty-four years is crazy,” Morrow said in an MSR interview before the festival. “I can’t believe I’ve done it this long, but I’m glad I did.”
For more than two decades, Morrow has turned a dream into an annual cinematic event showcasing Black films, shorts and documentaries by local and national filmmakers, established and novice alike, at various Twin Cities locations each fall.
Morrow has also brought in special guests for post-screening Q&As with the audience.
“We’ve had everyone,” she said. “We were able to bring in Nate Parker. He was writing ‘Birth of a Nation.’ We brought Pam Grier, Sterling K. Brown before he blew up, we had him here. I remember Angela Bassett. She was here doing another event, but she stopped through for us.
“Will Smith has always been someone who helped me. He helped me with my relationship with 20th Century Fox, so I appreciate him,” Morrow said.
She also credited Van Hayden, an independent filmmaker and producer who first interned on Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues” in 1989. “Van started off volunteering with us on our very first film festival,” Morrow said. “Van was one of the ones that started off and helped us kind of shape the Twin Cities Black Film Festival in the right direction.”
Veteran actor and director Gregory Alan Williams made an appearance last year following a screening of a film he acted in and produced.
Through it all, the constant has been Morrow, who screens the submitted films and introduces them, along with the filmmakers when they’re available. She calls it a labor of love, but one that hasn’t come without hiccups over the years, especially in the festival’s founding years.
“I think the support could be better on both sides,” Morrow said. “I look at some of the other festivals here, and the support is there. There’s a lot of stuff that people don’t know that have happened over the years behind the scenes, where some of our relationships with businesses have been sabotaged to the point where we weren’t able to put out what we wanted to.
“But I still kept going,” she said. “I know we were a threat, because why would you try to sabotage another festival if they weren’t a threat to you? It gives me more energy to keep pushing, and we are still here.”
This year’s TCBFF in Edina followed the festival’s usual structure: Friday was Minneapolis night, featuring local and statewide filmmakers; Saturday offered a full day of films and shorts; and Sunday closed with a brunch.
“We do have some good films. We have a smaller amount, about 20 to 26 films,” Morrow said before the festival. “We usually show around 40, but we’ve got some really good ones. We’re excited to be at the Edina Theatre on 50th and France this year. A new space, a new feeling.”
Morrow suffered a stroke a few years ago but kept TCBFF moving forward despite periods of limited mobility. “I am hanging in there. I’m getting better,” she said. “I’m still doing my therapy. God’s teaching me a lot. He’s still by my side. I’m still grateful, still thankful.
“And as long as He wakes me up every day, I give Him the thanks and I keep it going.”
Morrow said she plans to take a break after this year’s festival. “I think after this year, Lord willing, I will take a break to just regroup to 2027 and come out and get ready for the next 25 years,” she said.
For more information on the Twin Cities Black Film Festival, visit www.tcbff.org.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@spokesman-recorder.com.