AGLIFF Reveals Retrospective Film And Queer Black Voices Recipients For PRISM 37

Austin's oldest film festival and premiere LGBTQ+ film fest of the Southwest, aGLIFF revealed the winners for The Queer Black Voices Fund (QBV) for PRISM 37 taking place in-person August 21–25, 2024 in Austin, TX. aGLIFF's 37th annual festival will celebrate winners and mentor of the Queer Black Voices Fund with a dinner and screening at the Draylen Mason Music Studios at KMFA on Thursday, August 22.

The 2024 QBV recipients are: writer/director/producer æryka jourdaine hollis o'neil for in the interval; director Brandon R. Nicholas for Miss Honey: The Catsuit; writer/director/executive producer Deshon Leek for Mélange.

"These inspiring films from Black Queer Artists speak from the heart, weaving tales of courage and authenticity," said Queer Black Voices Chair Meail Flowers. “These films not only highlight the unique perspectives of Black Queer creatives but also encourage others to demand and carve out their own space in the film ecosystem. We look forward to gathering all of these talented filmmakers at this year's festival to nurture a future where our collective voices echo through generations.”

Each year, aGLIFF selects a mentor to spend time with the award recipients to coach them and consider one another's creative process. This year's QBV mentor is award-winning writer, director, and producer Rodney Evans. His debut fiction 2004 feature Brother to Brother, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to be nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards including Best First Screenplay and Film, will have a special 20th Anniversary screening on Saturday, August 24 at 3:45pm at the Galaxy Theatres. Evans will be on hand for the screening to reflect on the film 20 years later.

The QBV fund has been set up to ensure that queer Black filmmakers, directors, writers, and actors are represented as part of aGLIFF programming every year. This year's recipients will be given $500 with aGLIFF covering all costs involved with submitting and showing their films as part of PRISM 37 including attending the festival and screenings, participating in live forums, Q&A sessions and other special events. More information on the fund and event can be found at agliff.org/qbv.

Queer Black Voices Fund Awards Banquet & Screening

Presented by KIND Clinic

Thursday, August 22 at the Draylen Mason Music Studios at KMFA

5:30pm – Red Carpet & Social Time

7:00pm – Dinner, Screening & Live Filmmaker Discussions

This special evening will award grants to the three filmmakers at PRISM 37, celebrating their work, and raising money for future black creatives. Guests will have an opportunity to meet the filmmakers, view their short films, and hear from each on the inspiration behind the films and their creative process. All funds raised will support the Queer Black Voices Fund and future filmmakers.

“As someone who was inspired to become a filmmaker as an undergraduate film student due to the lack of feature films that authentically reflected my experience as a member of the Black LGBT+ community, I am deeply honored to serve as the artist mentor for this year's Queer Black Voices Program at aGLIFF's PRISM 37,” said filmmaker and Queer Black Voices mentor Evans. “I applaud the festival for its commitment to this program to nurture, amplify and assist emerging Queer Black film and media creators on their path to success however they define this for themselves. I am happy to share work and engage in honest dialogues with this year's cohort to help them to achieve their goals.”

PRISM 37 takes place in-person August 21–25, 2024 throughout the vibrant city of Austin, TX with screenings, events, Q&As and more. More information on the festival can be found at agliff.org/prism-37.

Named the 2022 Nonprofit of the Year by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, aGLIFF cultivates the Texas LGBTQ+ community by enlightening, educating, and entertaining moviegoers through programs that enrich LGBTQ+ and ally communities while developing LGBTQ+ awareness. The nonprofit organization's programs include Community Partnership Programs, “Queer Spectrum” Monthly Screening Series, and the Queer Black Voices Fund, all of which culminate around its annual film festival, PRISM.

More information about the PRISM 37 festival will be announced over the coming days.

QUEER BLACK VOICES FUND CLASS OF 2024:

in the interval

USA | 2024 | 23 minutes | English

Writer, Director, Producer: æryka jourdaine hollis o'neil | Cast: æryka jourdaine hollis o'neil

Both an intimate family portrait and cinematic collage of Black and trans collective memory and (be)longing, meditating on themes of safety, bodily autonomy and generations of compounding loss across time and media.

About æryka jourdaine hollis o'neil:

æryka jourdaine hollis o'neil (she/they) is a multidisciplinary scholar, writer, and artist. Utilizing an assemblage of narrative, documentary, experimental, personal and performative modes of address, their work convenes, and questions related themes of racialized gender, sexuality, desire, kinship, enfleshment and embodied capital, personhood, violence and belonging.

æryka is a concurrent Ph.D. Candidate in Black Studies and MFA student in Documentary Media at Northwestern University with specializations in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Critical Theory. They also hold a Master of Arts in American Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Documentary Filmmaking from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Miss Honey: The Catsuit

United States | 2024 | 6 minutes | English

Director: Brandon R. Nicholas | Cast: Moi Renee, Brandon R. Nicholas

Miss Honey: The Catsuit is the story of how Fashion Designer and Ballroom Icon Douglas Says created his legendary cut-out catsuit and how Caribbean Artist Moi Renee came to wear it for a televised performance of his song, “Miss Honey.”

About Brandon R. Nicholas:

Brandon Nick is a queer Afro-Caribbean filmmaker, portrait photographer, and podcaster. His art is a pursuit towards joy, reclamation, understanding, and pleasure in service to butch queens, femme queens, Black queer folx, and queer folx of color.

He uses non-fiction storytelling to amplify the images and stories of Black LGBTQ folx. Brandon does this through Let's Get Back to Queer, a mixxy audio documentary podcast that explores the forces that shape and break LGBTQ communities; and The Each-Other Project, a digital media platform he co-founded that fosters and celebrates community for queer and trans people of color through art and advocacy. Brandon is also a part of the inaugural GLAAD Equity in Media and Entertainment Initiative cohort.

Mélange

USA | 2024 | 15 minutes | English

Writer, Director, Executive Producer: Deshon Leek | Cast: Miles Cameron, Bereket, J.R. Yussuf

Two men reconnect in a jazz bar after a period of estrangement. When sharing a dance stirs up old feelings, the pair attempts to run away from acknowledging their intimate past. Mélange is an exploration of fear and desire for intimacy uniting.

About Deshon Leek:

Deshon Leek is a writer, director, and Emmy Award-winning producer. He received a bachelor's degree in film at Morehouse College before relocating to New York City. Deshon's work often focuses on challenging conventional notions centered around black manhood, queer identity, and mental health. He is a recipient of the 2024 En Foco Media Arts Fund and Tongal x Black Film Space Grant Award Finalist. His latest film, Mélange made its world premiere at the 2024 Rio LGBTQIA+ International Film Festival.

QUEER BLACK VOICES FUND 2024 MENTOR AND RETROSPECTIVE FILM:

Brother to Brother

USA | 2024 | 94 minutes | English | 20th Anniversary Screening

Director, Writer: Rodney Evans | Cast: Anthony Mackie, Roger Robinson, Alex Burns

Kicked out by his homophobic parents and distancing himself from a racist boyfriend, a college student befriends an elderly impoverished man he discovers was an important figure in the Harlem renaissance.

About Rodney Evans:

Rodney Evans is a fiction and documentary film writer, director and producer. His debut fiction feature Brother to Brother won the Special Jury Prize in Drama at the Sundance Film Festival. His feature length film, Vision Portraits, had its world premiere in the Documentary Feature Competition at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival and won the Jury Award for Best Documentary at San Francisco's Frameline Film Festival.

Evans was the recipient of the 2019 Frameline Award for LGBTQ+ representation, a Sundance Momentum Fellowship for 2020 and a Ford/Mellon Disability Futures Fellowship for 2021. He is an NEH/Firelight Media Spark Fund Recipient for 2022. He earned a BFA in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University and an MFA from The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Film/Video Production.

QUEER BLACK VOICES FUND

The Queer Black Voices Fund was created in response to the events of 2020 surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Javier Ambler, among other incidents between police officers and African Americans. The fund has been set up to ensure that queer Black filmmakers, directors, writers, and actors are represented as part of aGLIFF programming every year. The organization began awarding grants to cover costs associated with submitting and showing qualified films as part of PRISM 34 and aGLIFF's year-round programming. The fund also will be used to cover travel expenses to bring filmmakers to Austin for special events surrounding the festival when possible.

 

Past aGLIFF board member, Lenore Shefman of Shefman Law gave the fund a jump start by pledging to match donations made to the Queer Black Voices Fund up to $5,000, which was matched during the 2020 festival. The fund has raised over $25,0000 to date and aGLIFF continues to fundraise as part of its ongoing commitment to future Queer Black filmmakers.

TICKETS: 

aGLIFF encourages fans to consider membership to get the best access and support aGLIFF's year-round programming. Members and badge holders have priority access to reserving tickets for individual films and events upon purchase.

PRISM 37:

 Festival badges are available now at $125. Memberships get the best access, support aGLIFF's year-round programming, and include festival badges and an array of other perks depending on the level. Memberships are available now; Festival badges are on sale now at agliff.org/badges. A limited number of single tickets for the opening night film are available now for $40 and include the opening night screening, live Q&A, the opening night reception with lights bites and complimentary drink ticket. Single tickets start at $15, plus applicable service fees. aGLIFF members and badge holders receive priority access to seating at the theatres and venues.

QBV DINNER & SCREENING: Members and badge holders receive one complimentary ticket to the event. General admission tickets are $100; Tables start at $1,000. Tickets are on sale now at agliff.org/qbv and agliff.org/prism-37. All proceeds from the evening will benefit the QBV Fund and BiPOC initiatives.

aGLIFF MEMBERSHIP: Memberships start for as low as $25 a month and are available for purchase now. Memberships can be paid upfront or in monthly installments. Memberships include festival badges and an array of other perks depending on the level and range in price from $300 to $2500 and above. Memberships are available now at agliff.org/members.

 

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