“Necessity is the mother of invention” is a derivative of Plato’s words “our need will be the real creator” from the Republic, a Socratic dialogue about justice and happiness.
What does this ancient Greek philosophy have to do with the Black Film Festival this week? Everything. But first things first.
For $10, viewers can see well-known Black films — $20 for Red Carpet VIP tickets on opening night, featuring Harriet (7 p.m.) at the Pink Palace. Amazing Grace screens on Saturday (7 p.m.) at Crosstown Theater. Just Mercy (2 p.m.) and Best of Enemies (7 p.m.) will close the festival at Playhouse on the Square, followed by a panel discussion.
The most innovative and interesting aspect of the festival will be on Friday at 7 p.m. in the UC Theatre at the University of Memphis. That is where the New Film Makers’ Production, featuring six independent short films, will be screened.
“Last year we had a glitch,” says Dorrit Gilliam, COO of the Gilliam Foundation. “On Film Makers’ Production night, instead of screening each short film in its entirety, we mistakenly only had one montage of clips from each film.”
Necessity is the mother of invention. Gilliam did some quick thinking, pivoted, and brought all the filmmakers on stage to talk about their films instead.
“It was a huge success with the audience,” says Gilliam. “And we’re bringing it back this year.”
This year, the films will be shown in their entirety, about 10 minutes each, and the new component will be rolled over from last year giving filmmakers a platform to talk about their films and backstories.
WLOK Black Film Festival, various locations, visit wlok.com for movie schedule, Thursday, Sept.23, through Sunday, Sept. 26, $10 per event, $20 VIP Red Carpet.