Indianapolis Black Documentary Film Festival Opening-Night Celebration

Event Details

The Indianapolis Black Documentary Film Festival launches its fourth-annual festival weekend with an opening celebration and screening of the film Olympic Pride, American Prejudice.

Olympic Pride, American Prejudice is a documentary film written and directed by Deborah Riley Draper that tells the story of Black athletes at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. While the story of Jesse Owens and his medal-winning performances at the games is well known, the film focuses on 17 other Black athletes from the United States who also participated. Most of these other athletes did not receive significant attention at the time and are still relatively unknown. None were alive at the time of the film’s production, so Draper used interviews with family members, audio footage from historical interviews, newsreels and newspaper coverage to tell their stories.

After the screening, Draper will take part in a discussion and question-and-answer session, and the festival will honor Draper with its second-annual Spotlight Award, which recognizes filmmakers who shine a positive light on the Black experience.

Opening-night activities begin at 6 p.m. with refreshments and a cash bar. Welcoming remarks start at 6:30 p.m. followed by the screening at 7 p.m. and the discussion/Q&A at 8:30 p.m.

The festival continues throughout the weekend with screenings at the Indianapolis Art Center and Kan-Kan Cinema and Brasserie.

For more information about the festival, including a full schedule of events, visit its website. To purchase tickets to the opening-night celebration ($25) and the weekend screenings ($10–$45), visit the IBDFF’s Eventbrite page.

This program received support from an Indiana Humanities Action Grant.