Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Announces Full Program for the 31st Annual Black Harvest Film Festival

Festival lineup includes eight feature films and nine shorts, film awards, a Community Film Workshop, Mystery Movie Monday, and BLKNWS

CHICAGO, Oct. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago proudly announces the full lineup for the 31st Annual Black Harvest Film Festival, Chicago's annual showcase for Black cinema from across the diaspora. Spotlighting eight feature films, nine shorts programs, and more than 50 guests, this year's Festival will take place at the Siskel Film Center Friday, November 7, through Sunday, November 16, with support from presenting sponsor Gilead Sciences. Throughout the Festival, audiences will enjoy exclusive screenings, thought-provoking dialogues, and celebratory receptions as they come together to honor more than three decades of the Black Harvest Film Festival.

From the Block  returns this year, featuring short works from Chicago filmmakers—homegrown talent, Festival alumni, and first-time voices. A theme this year is homelands: films that trace memory, longing and return, reflecting how the idea of home reverberates across the diaspora. Among the highlights is BLKNWS: TERMS AND CONDITIONS, a bold new theatrical release that journeys through the Black Atlantic—formally daring, expansive and visionary, a work destined to shape the canon. Curation for this year's Festival affirms cinema as a force that continues to transform community and culture.

"Black storytelling has always been a ceremony—calling forth what must be seen, felt and remembered," said Black Harvest Film Festival Curator jada-amina. "When we gather in the dark before the big screen, a covenant forms—film and filmmaker, film and the faithful—each breathing life into the other. Black Harvest extends that lineage, reminding us that to see is sacred, to listen is to learn—and to keep the light even after the screens go dark."

Key Festival Events:

• Opening Night—Friday, November 7: NBC Chicago entertainment reporter LeeAnn Trotter will emcee, presiding over a showcase of vibrant short films. The Festival will present the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Black Harvest Film Festival Prizes to Black Harvest filmmakers chosen by a panel of distinguished jury members—Jheanelle Brown, David Fortune, and Darol Olu Kae. This is the eighth year a $1,000 prize will be awarded to a short film, and the fifth year a $2,500 prize will honor a feature film. Each winning film will be shown during the Festival. Following the program, attendees are cordially invited to a reception in the lobby.
  
  
• MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE: Elegance Bratton's electrifying chronicle of Chicago's house music celebrates the city's role in shaping a cultural revolution that reverberates across waters, carrying the ancestral memory that unites the African diaspora through sound, movement, and joy.
  
  
• PAW PAW & DAYJA: A family comedy where a Bigfoot-obsessed 10-year-old and her grandfather rediscover wonder through loss and laughter.
  
  
• Closing Night—Sunday, November 16: BLACK GIRL (1972, dir. Ossie Davis)—A tender coming-of-age portrait of a young dancer (Peggy Pettitt) torn between the weight of the world and her dreams, adapted from J.e Franklin's acclaimed play. Newly restored in 4K by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation, this screening brings one of Davis's most personal works vividly back to the big screen. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.Tickets include one free beer, wine, or non-alcoholic beverage.
  
  
• Special Guests: The Festival proudly welcomes more than 50 filmmakers for insightful, compelling dialogues following Festival films, including:
  • Chicago Premiere of BLKNWS: TERMS AND CONDITIONS with Kahlil Joseph: Visionary artist and filmmaker Kahlil Joseph (Lemonade) reimagines his celebrated Venice Biennale work in BLKNWS—a dazzling cinematic experience that defies categorization, exploring Black history, imagination, and media across centuries. Followed by an on-stage conversation with Joseph and the Visionary Award presentation.
    
    
  • Chicago Premiere of THE INQUISITOR: Barbara Jordan's extraordinary life of "firsts"—from Texas senator to congressional powerhouse—comes alive in this portrait narrated by Alfre Woodard. Includes Q&A with director Angela Lynn Tucker. Additionally, join Festival-goers from 7:00–8:15 p.m. on Thursday, November 13, for The Big Picture Reception, hosted by the Black Harvest Community Council. Admission is free with your ticket to the November 13 screenings of THE INQUISITOR or ALL ABOUT LOVE.

Festival passes and individual tickets are available for purchase.

See the full program here.  Note: Showtimes and guest appearances are subject to change.

About the Gene Siskel Film Center
For more than 50 years, the Gene Siskel Film Center has welcomed cinephiles and curious newcomers alike to experience a curated collection of the world's most compelling films. The Siskel Film Center is a nonprofit public program of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Lori Hile
773-746-5127
[email protected] 

Laura Bissett
312-291-1099
[email protected]

SOURCE School of the Art Institute of Chicago