The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series, marking its 28th anniversary, presents a comprehensive program featuring films by women of color that explore themes of healing, love, and community activism. As the first Oscar-qualifying film festival devoted to women filmmakers, Reel Sisters offers a four-week celebration including an awards ceremony co-presented with the Brooklyn Academy of Music honoring documentary filmmaker Samantha Knowles, director of Harlem Ice on Disney+.
The festival's new partnership with 651 Arts brings a full day of cinematic excellence on October 25, 2025, while the virtual showcase streams online from October 25 through November 10, 2025. Festival founder Carolyn A. Butts emphasized the importance of bringing world-class films by women of color to Brooklyn during a time when communities need to unite in power and faith. The festival represents a significant platform for amplifying underrepresented voices in the film industry and providing essential visibility for women filmmakers of color.
Notable festival highlights include the October 22 trailblazer award presentation to Samantha Knowles at Brooklyn Academy of Music, where Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen will lead a conversation about the power of the female lens in storytelling. The festival continues with screenings at 651 Arts on October 25 and at the Center For Fiction on October 26, followed by a staged reading of scripts from the Summer Screenwriting Lab co-presented with BRIC Media on October 29.
The festival program features diverse films across multiple sections, including Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps, a documentary following the four-time Tony-nominated choreographer's exploration of African Diasporic dance. Boil the Cabbage examines the complex history of the banjo through a filmmaker's journey of learning the instrument. Nannies of New York provides firsthand accounts of Afro-Caribbean women working as domestic workers in New York City, addressing stigma and labor rights.
Other significant films include Plenum, an experimental reconstruction of the 1995 Black Nations/Queer Nations Conference, and You Are Not Alone, which documents the maternal health crisis affecting Black women in the Bronx, where Black mothers face a maternal mortality rate nine times higher than their white counterparts. Men of Courage explores conversations among Black and Latino men about ending violence against women.
The virtual showcase includes films like 117 Years of Movie Bullsh*t, a narrative exploring Black representation in Hollywood, and Barrel Children: The Families Windrush Left Behind, a documentary debut from award-winning journalist Nadine White examining Caribbean children who grew up separated from parents before migrating to Britain. Festival tickets remain accessible with All Access Passes priced at $75, one-day passes at $25, and virtual showcase tickets starting at $5 per block. Tickets and schedule information are available at https://www.reelsisters.org.
Founded in 1997 by African Voices magazine and LIU Brooklyn Campus, Reel Sisters has established itself as a vital institution for supporting women of color filmmakers, having honored industry leaders from Radio One founder Cathy Hughes to HBO's Insecure writer and director Issa Rae. The festival's continued growth and partnerships demonstrate the increasing recognition of the importance of diverse storytelling in cinema and the need for platforms that specifically support women filmmakers of color.
