Newark Black Film Festival

Newark Black Film Festival
Thursday, Jul 17, 2025 at 1:00pm
The Newark Museum Of Art
49 Washington Street

The Newark Black Film Festival, the longest-running Black film festival in the United States, has been a pivotal platform for Black filmmakers, actors, and storytellers since 1974. It showcases films that explore the intricacies of the Black experience, reflecting diverse narratives and fostering cultural enrichment.

The longest-running Black film festival in the US returns

Schedule of Events:

1-3pm - NBFF Youth Cinema: Mufasa: The Lion King

Mufasa: The Lion King (1h 58 min) PG 

Directed by Barry Jenkins 

Lost and alone, orphaned cub Mufasa meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destinies. 

6:30pm - 7:30pm - Newark Black Film Festival Panel: Film as a Tool of Resistance

Join us for an engaging discussion exploring how filmmakers use cinema to challenge injustice, amplify marginalized voices, and inspire social change. 

8 - 10pm - Newark Black Film Festival: Akin's Desert

Directed by Bernard Lessa. Runtime 1 hr 15 min. Not rated.

Akin is a dedicated Cuban doctor working in Brazil under the Mais Médicos program in 2018. As he builds a deep bond with an Indigenous community, the election of Jair Bolsonaro forces a choice: return to Cuba and leave behind the relationships he's forged or stay in Brazil and reinvent himself without the ability to practice medicine.

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