Screen shot of Far From Casablanca, 2020 ACCIFF Best Cinematography Winner Yousseff Rhanem.
Collage of 2020 AFCCIFF Award winners. (Photo: NKB)
The 2020 AfroComicCon Virtual Short Film Festival took place Saturday, October 24 at 7 a.m. PST/10 a.m. EST as part of the larger “AFROCOMICCON,” which is the premiere comic con event for people of color and the African diaspora dedicated to showcasing talent, creators and content produced by people of African descent. Normally held in the San Francisco Bay area, the “CON” was held virtually due to COVID-19 constraints. Viewers were able to watch the films on AfroComicCon’s YouTube page and Black Press USA”s YouTube channel. The film festival kicked off with an interview with iconic Black speculative fiction writer Tananarive Due, followed by screenings of films by the finalists, a discussion with two of the festival judges Carlton Hargro (20th Place Media) and Ronda Rocha Penrice (AAFCA) and an announcement of the winners.
The festival winners were:
Best Film and Best Director: Outcast by Royce Adkins
Screen shot from Outcast by Royce Adkins, 2020 AfroComicCon Virtual Film Festival Best Film and Best Director Winner.
Best Cinematography – Far From Casablanca by Youssef Rhanem
Screen shot of Far From Casablanca, 2020 ACCIFF Best Cinematography Winner Youssef Rhanem.
Steven Russell was awarded second place in the Best Film and Best Cinematography categories for his film, The Dark Strums, respectively.
Screen shot of Steven Russell’s “The Dark Strums,” 2020 AFCCIFF 2nd place winner for Best Film and Best Cinematography.
The audience award winner is What Could Have Been by Semmi Cole:
Screen shot of What Could Have Been by Semmi Cole, audience award winner of the 2020 AFCCIFF (Virtual).
All finalists will receive gifts from AfroComicCon sponsor Ultimate Wireless (Follow on IG @Ultimate_Wireless_llc). Top festival winners including the audience award winner will receive trophies provided by NNPA/BlackPress USA (Follow on Twitter @NNPA_BlackPress). The Best Director/Best Film winner will also receive a MasterClass gift certificate for an annual membership compliments of The Burton Wire (@TheBurtonWire on IG or Twitter) and a $750 cash prize from NNPA/Black Press USA. The Best Cinematography winner will also receive a $500 cash prize. The 2nd place Best Cinematography winner will receive a gift certificate to B&H Photo.
Film festival director Nsenga Burton hosted discussions with finalists like Natalie Cooke and winners Steven Russell, Youssef Rhanem and Royce Adkins.
Filmmaker Royce Adkins discusses his award-winning film Outcast with Nsenga Burton, festival director of AFCCIFF. Adkins won the 2020 Best Film and Best Director Awards.
In addition to the film festival, there are over 50 panels and events for virtual attendees. Check out the full 2020 AfroComicCon at AfroComicCon.org. AfroComicCon was founded by Michael James and Hally Bellah-Guther.
This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow Nsenga on Twitter or IG @TheBurtonWire or @Ntellectual.Â
