The 2020 March on Washington Film Festival will take place September 20-27. And this year we’re going virtual. Let the countdown begin!
The storyteller -- the person documenting events -- sometimes supersedes the person actually living the experience being described. This year we will explore the question of “Who Tells the Story” in our week-long festival. Through thought-provoking film screenings, panel discussions, and the performing arts, we attempt to capture some of the true heroes and the real yet still untold events of our nation’s Civil Rights Movement -- then and now.
All-Access Virtual Film Guide
*Notes: Most films will be available on-demand for the duration of the March on Washington Film Festival
Sunday, September 20, 2020
James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Debate
In 1965 at the Cambridge Union in the UK, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley held a historic debate that illuminated America’s racial divide.
7:00 p.m. ETS Baldwin and Buckley Debate Reimagined
We are updating the motion Baldwin and Buckley addressed: The American Dream Is Still at the Expense of African Americans, with talks by contemporary public intellectuals and university debate team students.
David Frum, political commentator and staff writer, The Atlantic;
Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Harvard Kennedy Center
Rebuttal questions: Michael Franklin and David Edgerton, Howard University Debate Team
Yara Shahidi, Actress, Producer & Change Agent
Moderator: Nicholas Buccola, author, The Fire Is Upon Us
Monday, September 21, 2020
2020 Awards Gala Honoring Congressman
John Lewis
With the March on Washington Lifetime Legacy Award
7:00 p.m. ETS 2020 March on Washington Film Festival Awards Gala
Honoring Congressman John Lewis with the March
on Washington Lifetime Legacy Award
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
You Asked for the Facts
2019 | Dir. Mary Blessey | 58 min
Four years after the historic enrollment of James Meredith, student activists devise a plan to defy Mississippi’s unconstitutional “Speaker Ban” and bring Robert F. Kennedy to the University of Mississippi in 1966 to reveal the truth about his phone calls with former governor and staunch segregationist, Ross Barnett.
7:00 p.m. EST You Asked for the Facts Roundtable
Four years after the historic enrollment of James Meredith, student activists devise a plan to defy Mississippi’s unconstitutional “Speaker Ban” and bring Robert F. Kennedy to the University of Mississippi in 1966 to reveal the truth about his phone calls with former governor and staunch segregationist, Ross Barnett.
Mary Blessey, filmmaker
Gerald Blessey, eyewitness and former mayor of Biloxi
Lisa Osborne Ross, COO, Edelman
Kerry Kennedy, RFK Human Rights
Moderator: Laura Jarrett, Anchor, Early Start, CNN
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
1999 | Dir. Stanley Nelson, Jr. | 1hr 26 min
Since the early 1800's Black newspapers have existed in almost every major city in the U.S. This is the first documentary to provide an in-depth examination of the history and contributions of African American newspapers.
7:00 p.m EST Mightier Than the Sword - History of the Black Press
A roundtable talk by contemporary news purveyors and scholars on over a century of African American newspaper publications and journalists to examples of current media outlets.
Danielle Belton, Editor in Chief, The Root
Frances “Toni” Draper, Publisher and CEO Afro American Newspapers
Ozier Muhammad, Award-winning Photojournalist, New York Times
Moderator: Frederick T. Joseph, author, media advocate, philanthropist
Thursday, September 24, 2020
5:00 p.m. EST Reel Empowerment Lab virtual workshops for students
The Lab is a multi-day series of masterclasses, workshops and discussions where industry experts share their roles in the entertainment and journalism fields, offer advice and address the skills that careers in film and journalism require. Areas of expertise include producing, storytelling, entrepreneurial journalism, finding meaningful mentors, implementing impact campaigns and more.
Moderator: Imani Cheers, George Washington University
RSVP to participate in the 2020 Reel Empowerment Lab Virtual Workshops
The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show
2020 | Dir. Yoruba Richen | 1hr 17min
In its day, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson dominated the TV ratings. But one of its most overlooked achievements is the week when Carson gave up his host chair to singer, actor and Civil Rights activist Harry Belafonte in 1968, becoming a first for an African American in late night television. Belafonte’s guests included such entertainment and Civil Rights icons as Lena Horne, Paul Newman and Aretha Franklin, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, just months before they were assassinated.
The Czar of Black Hollywood
2014 | Dir. Bayer Mack | 1hr 7min
A documentary that chronicles the early life and prolific career of African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.
7:00 p.m. EST Black Hollywood Then & Now
An analysis on the evolving roles and status of African Americans in the U.S. film industry Oscar Micheaux to the present, from the perspectives of a producer, director, actor and distributor.
Roger Ross Williams, filmmaker, The Apollo
Yoruba Richen, director, The Sit-In and Director, Documentary Program, Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY
Hill Harper, actor, author and entrepreneur
Moderator: Angelique Jackson, Film and Media Reporter, Variety
Body and Soul
1925 | Dir. Oscar Micheaux | 1 hr 45 min
This black and white, silent narrative features the film debut of Paul Robeson, portraying dual roles.
Understanding Oscar Micheaux
An examination of pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s classic 1926 film, Body and Soul, delivered by Columbia University scholar, Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin.
Friday, September 25, 2020
10:00 a.m. EST Reel Empowerment Lab virtual workshops for students
The Lab is a multi-day series of masterclasses, workshops and discussions where industry experts share their roles in the entertainment and journalism fields, offer advice and address the skills that careers in film and journalism require. Areas of expertise include producing, storytelling, entrepreneurial journalism, finding meaningful mentors, implementing impact campaigns and more.
Moderator: Dr. Imani Cheers, George Washington University
RSVP to participate in the 2020 Reel Empowerment Lab Virtual Workshops
Brother Outsider
2003 | Dir. Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer | 1 hr 23 min
Illuminates the life and work of Bayard Rustin, who has been described as "the unknown hero" of the civil rights movement and chief planner of the 1963 March on Washington.
7:00 p.m EST The Life & Times of Bayard Rustin
Recollections of this pacifist master civil rights organizer, with a discussion on his impact and the example he has set for contemporary LGBTQ organizers.
Dr. Clarence Jones, personal advisor and attorney for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bennett Singer, filmmaker, Brother Outsider
Walter Naegle, partner of Bayard Rustin and Executive Director, Rustin Fund
Rashad Robinson, President, Color of Change
Ingrid Duran, CEO D&P Creative Strategies and filmmaker, The Out List, The Trans List, The Latino List
Moderator: Keith Boykin, journalist, author and political commentator.
8:30 p.m. EST March on Sports-Night of the Roundtable
A free-wheeling discussion on current events in professional sports with an array of sports journalists and sportscasters.
Solomon Wilcots, sports analyst and former NFL free safety
Lonnae O’Neal, senior writer, The Undefeated, ESPN director
Soraya McDonald, culture critic, The Undefeated, ESPN, and winner, 2020 George Jean Nathan Prize and dramatic criticism.
Greg Moore, journalist, Arizona Republic
Jamal Murphy, executive producer & co-host of the Bill Rhoden On Sports podcast; contributor, The Undefeated, ESPN.
Monique Jones, Deputy Editor, News, ESPN
Moderator: William Rhoden, veteran sports journalist and author, 40 Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete.
Saturday, September 26, 2020
12:00 p.m. EST Filmmaker Competition Roundtable
Meet the 12 finalist including the four Grand Prize winners of our 2020 Student & Emerging Filmmaker Competition
Moderator: Opal Hope Bennett, Festival curator and programmer
Woman in Motion
2020 | Dir. Todd Thompson | 1 hr 36 min
In 1976, Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek’s Lt. Uhura, toured the nation recruiting 8,000 of the nation’s best and brightest people of color for the NASA Space Program.
3:00 p.m. EST Woman In Motion Discussion
The filmmakers of Woman in Motion and a former migrant worker turned NASA engineer and astronaut join us to talk about diversity in the space program.
Featuring: Todd Thompson, filmmaker
Ben Crump, script writer and Civil Rights attorney
Jose Hernandez, NASA astronaut
Reshma Saujani, Founder, Girls Who Code
Moderator: Kat Calvin, Founder and ED Spread the Vote, Co-founder Project ID Action Fund and 2019 Roddenberry Foundation Fellow
All In: The Fight For Democracy
Global release coming September 18, 2020.
Examining voter suppression in the United States. Including personal experiences with current activism and historical insight, as led by Abrams, former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives. The documentary will take a closer look at the laws and barriers to voting that most people don’t know exist, or potentially threaten them as U.S. citizens.
5:00 p.m. EST All In: The Fight for Democracy Film Screening
7:00 p.m. EST Roundtable Discussion on Voter Mobilization
Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes, filmmakers
Valerie Jarrett, former Special Advisor to President Barack Obama
Moderator: Jamal Simmons, political analyst and television commentator
Sunday, September 27, 2020
1:00 p.m. EST Civil Rights and the World: After Words
A series of conversations on current events and social justice with diverse women leaders from international countries and communities.
Monica Ramirez, Founder and President, Justice for Migrant Women
Rokhaya Diallo, filmmaker, activist, journalist and contributor, Washington Post
Lisa Mumbin Brunby, Chair, Jawoyn Association, Northern Territory, Australia
Chaumtoli Huq, founder, Law@theMargins, South Asian rights activist and Associate Professor, CUNY Law Center.
Moderator: Isisara Bey, Artistic Director, MOWFF