MAY 19 – JUN 2, 2020 / JOIN US ONLINE

ANNUAL FESTIVAL

During these times when we need to hold our family and friends closer,  we are pleased to make our 2020 selected submissions available to you. The RIBFF planning committee looks forward to offering you quality programming virtually and in smaller gatherings in the very near future.

We invite you to join us online and support the Rhode Island Black Film Festival.

EMPOWERMENT VIRTUALLY

RIBFF 2020 IS GOING VIRTUAL

Opening Film

SUPPRESSED

THE FIGHT TO VOTE

In 2018 Brian Kemp successfully suppressed hundreds of thousands of votes to become the governor of Georgia. Suppressed: The Fight To Vote uncovers the insidious tactics Kemp, and politicians across the country, use to suppress the vote and stay in power.

This Opening Film is brought to in partnership with the Office of Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, Brave New Films, the support of our sponsors and the efforts of our planning committee.

Special Feature Documentary

BALLOON MAN

The rubber met the road in the early 1970s for Bill Costen. After being drafted by the Buffalo Bills and later being sent to a Buffalo farm team in Hartford, CT, a life-threatening tragedy forced him to put the pads down. The result was a lark that led to the birth of the first African American commercial hot-air balloon pilot in the country.

Balloon Man is about more than a 6’5 ex-jock showing the world how to navigate through the clouds; who weathered the ordeal of his mom passing when he was only 10 years old; who flunked out the University of Nebraska his freshman year and moved across the country with something to prove; who warmed the bench in high school only to be drafted in the pros five years later; who survived numerous twists and turns in his life to avoid becoming another ignominious statistic. It is about flight in every sense of the word.

Told through the eyes of Bill’s award-winning filmmaker daughter, Chantal Potter, Balloon Man is a multi-layered film that displays a story untold, that will prompt a call to your nearest hot air balloon pilot right after it makes you contemplate the meaning of a dream deferred. It is a piece of history that serves as another reminder of the rich tapestry of not only the African American stock, but also humanity.

Balloon Man crystallizes the art of struggle and redemption, while providing an unofficial blueprint for not becoming a victim of circumstance. It is the manifestation for father and daughter, of a dream simultaneously realized. Four decades, thousands of passengers and countless adventures later Bill still has a love for flying, proving that with a bit of faith the sky is the limit.