‘So much to be excited about': Dayton Black Women's Film Festival returns in May

Yahoo

29-04-2025

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — If one thing can be learned from securing the big movie for the third annual Dayton Black Women's Film Festival, it's this: Sometimes it's not what you know, but who you know.
During a recent interview with WDTN.com, festival founder and filmmaker Angelina Mitchell shared how she managed to snag a screening of documentary 'Seeds,' the festival's big name.
Directed by Wright State alum Brittany Shyne, 'Seeds' tackles the role of Black farmers in the American South. The movie won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance in February.
'I'm still kind of processing it': Wright State grad talks 'Seeds,' top honor at Sundance
Mitchell credits her mentor for the assist in landing the prize-winner.
'I just, I threw it out there as kind of like, 'Man, I really wish I could screen 'Seeds,'' she said. 'He kind of worked everything out for me and made it happen because Brittany is also somebody who's mentored by him. And he reached out to her and he connected everything, and she agreed immediately.
'That's really how it happened. I honestly just asked. And I was like, 'You know what? Why not shoot my shot?' essentially. And now we're able to screen 'Seeds,' which I'm super excited about because it is one of the most visually stunning documentaries I have ever seen.'
Mitchell calls Shyne's cinematography — she serves as well as her own DP — 'just beautiful.'
'You figure out things about this country and yourself and, things that you didn't know were happening that are still happening,' she says. 'I just think it's a documentary that everyone needs to see, because it will absolutely change your life.'
The movie, which screened at the Yellow Springs Film Festival, will be getting its Dayton premiere as part of the DBWFF's Opening Night at The Neon on Thursday, May 15.
The festival lasts through Sunday, May 18.
Mitchell laughs that she did 'bite off a lot more than I can chew' in stretching the festival to four days, but she calls it 'really great, really special.'
Among the events she is most excited about is the Black Women in Filmmaking Workshop at the Bassani Theater being held in partnership with the Dayton Metro Library. It will feature sessions on screenwriting, led by director Selina Burks-Rentschler, and direction, led by filmmaker Kailah Ware. (The event is free, but registration is required and limited.)
On Saturday, May 17, the festival is organizing a free networking brunch at The Neon
'Just come and eat for free, and you get to meet Black women filmmakers and see what they're doing and what they're working on and get connected,' she says. 'We're so supportive of each other because we are all we have in this industry.'
Hosting the festival at the Neon is a treat that Mitchell is appreciative of.
'My partnership with the Neon means so much to me, I wouldn't be able to do any of the things that I do or be able to take on a four day festival essentially, if not for Jonathan McNeal.
'Jonathan really is such a mover in the community. He will do anything when it comes to supporting endeavors of artists in any space, but specifically with film, he really has enriched the community and the culture that we have here.'
Also on Saturday: The Shorts program at The Neon, which spotlights the work of Black female students currently enrolled at Wright State. Tickets are $15.
Organizing this year's shorts program shone its own spotlight on the changing demographics of the Wright State film program for MItchell.
'There are currently five Black women in the Wright State program which is so exciting because I was the only one — and I'm still the only Black person in my entire class, my now going into our senior year class.
'Just to see the shift that's happened in such a short time of being in those spaces and pushing for there to be a difference and a change made…'
The festival concludes Sunday at The Neon with an awards presentation as well as a 20th anniversary screening of Burks-Rentschler's 2005 documentary short, 'Saving Jackie.' Tickets are again $15.
When: Thursday, May 15, through Sunday, May 18.
More: daytonbwff.org
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