Reel Sisters & Brooklyn Academy of Music Honor Trailblazing Harlem Ice Director Samantha Knowles
NEW YORK, NY, October 20, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series, the first Oscar Qualifying film festival devoted to women filmmakers, will showcase a stellar slate of films focusing on themes of healing, love and community activism. The four-week festival will include a special awards ceremony co-presented with the Brooklyn Academy of Music honoring trailblazing documentary filmmaker Samantha Knowles, director of Harlem Ice (Disney +). Reel Sisters features films from all genres from comedy, science fiction, drama and documentary.
Reel Sisters is excited to announce our new partnership with 651 Arts that will offer a full day of cinematic excellence on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. In honor of Reel Sisters 28th Anniversary, cinephiles can purchase All Access Passes and tickets at www.reelsisters.org. Tickets: $12 ($8 for seniors/students). Bring a Pal discounts are $6.50 for 2+ tickets.
"We are proud to join our presenting partners 651 Arts, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Center For Fiction in bringing world class films by women of color to Brooklyn," said Reel Sisters Founder Carolyn A. Butts. "From Harlem to Brooklyn, we're bringing families together to honor our stories during a time when our communities need to unite in power and faith."
Film enthusiasts can enjoy an array of enriching events including an awards ceremony, film premieres, our virtual showcase and a special script reading co-presented with BRIC Media on Oct. 29th.
Reel Sisters Virtual Showcase will stream online from Oct. 25, 2025 through Nov. 10, 2025.
For information on the schedule and tickets, visit reelsisters.org or call 212-865-2982.
Awards ceremony tickets are $25 ($15 Code: REELSIS2025): Reel Awards.
Reel Sisters Festival Highlights
Oct. 8, 2025 @Riverside Theater
• On Wed., Oct. 8, 2025, the festival presented Reel Sisters Remembers Maitefa Angaza. The celebration included a special screening of In Our Heads About Our Hair produced by Anu Prestonia, Maitefa Angaza, Paulette Maat Kesa Tabb, and directed by Hemamset Angaza. The event was held at Riverside Theater, 91 Claremont Ave.
Oct. 22, 2025 @Brooklyn Academy of Music
• On Wed., Oct. 22, 2025 at 7 pm, Reel Sisters and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) will present a trailblazer award to Brooklyn filmmaker Samantha Knowles, director of Harlem Ice (Disney+), for her distinguishing career in documentary filmmaking. Her latest work includes directing an episode of "Katrina: Come Hell and High Water," a highly acclaimed Netflix docuseries.
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Stacey Holman will present the trailblazer award to Samantha. Yoruba Richen, a Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker, will lead a dynamic conversation with Samantha on the power of the female lens in storytelling.
• Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025 | Reel Sisters will offer a day of screenings from 1 PM to 9 PM at 651 Arts, 10 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn. One Day Pass: $25 ($20 for seniors and students with ID).
• Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025 | Reel Sisters 28th Anniversary season continues with a second day of powerful films and community talks from 1 pm to 6 pm at the Center For Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue. One Day Pass: $25 ($20 for seniors and students with ID).
• Wed., Oct. 29, 2025 | Reel Sisters & BRIC will present an exciting staged reading of scripts by filmmakers from our Summer Screenwriting Lab. Join us for an intimate conversation with the writers on their work-in-progress. Featured writers and guests to be announced. The event will be held from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm at BRIC, 647 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Please RSVP, seats are limited.
RSVP via website at www.reelsisters.org or HERE: Staged Reading.
NOTABLE FESTIVAL FILMS
Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps @651 Arts - Section C – Ancestral Rhythms
Directors: Shellée M. Haynesworth, Michelle Parkerson
Producer: Shellée M. Haynesworth
Doc., 15 min.
Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps follows 4-time Tony-nominated choreographer, director, and educator Camille A. Brown (Hell's Kitchen, GYPSY) as she elevates the possible with bold explorations of everyday movement and African Diasporic dance.
Boil the Cabbage @651 Arts - Section C – Ancestral Rhythms
Director: Candace Mae Williamson Producers: Kaylee Hayes, Jemina Garcia
Doc., 24 min.
Candace is a documentary filmmaker and novice banjo player. As she learns her first tune, "Boil That Cabbage Down," she reaches out to historians, activists, and storytellers to uncover the complex history of the banjo. Through her journey, we are transported to the past, where the painting "The Old Plantation" is reimagined, revealing the instrument's origins.
Nannies of New York (Invited) @651 Arts - Section D – Rooted in Resistance
Director/Writer: April Guscott
Documentary, 9:51 min.
Nannies of New York provides uncensored, first-hand accounts of three Afro-Caribbean women's perspectives working as nannies to wealthy white families in NYC, the stigma associated with the work, and the fight for their rights as domestic workers.
Plenum (Invited) @651 Arts – Section B - Transitions
Producers: Ahasha Davis, Charlene A. Carruthers
Director: Charlene A. Carruthers
Narrative, 25:50 min.
An experimental reconstruction of the 1995 Black Nations/Queer Nations Conference, PLENUM follows the experience of siblings Ajani and Tracy, as they make their way from Chicago to New York City. Tracy worries Ajani's recent HIV positive diagnosis will drive him into isolation while Ajani fears the consequences of telling their father as he enters a new stage of life and community.
You Are Not Alone @Center For Fiction - Section F – Body & Birthrights
Producer: Deem Banton
Director: Brittney M Russell
doc., 52 min.
In the United States, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, a disparity that rises sharply in the Bronx, one of New York State's most impacted communities, where Black mothers face a maternal mortality rate nine times higher than their counterparts. You Are Not Alone captures the powerful stories of women in the Bronx navigating pregnancy and advocating for change.
Men of Courage @Center for Fiction - Courage to Heal
Director: Byron P. Hurt Producer: Natalie Bullock Brown
Doc., 40 min.
Men of Courage takes the viewer on a journey inside the Garden State of New Jersey for a fly-on-the-wall experience as five black and Latino men engage in compelling conversations with other boys and men about the role they play in ending violence against women.
REEL SISTERS VIRTUAL SHOWCASE
117 Years of Movie Bullsh*t
Director: Candice Vernon
Writer: Candice Vernon, Frank Adkinson
Producer: Frank Adkinson, Blue Kimble
narrative, 30 min.
Frank and Candice, two aspiring Hollywood stars are sent back in time, during the Gone With the Wind Era, by the evil Dick Whitman, an old school studio exec. As Frank and Candice try to get back to the present time, they keep getting stuck in movies of the past as token Black characters.
Dark Skin Bruises Differently
Director/Writer: Susan Wokoma
Producer: Susan Wokoma, Maëva Demurger
narrative, 11 min.
Children lie. But when one lie threatens Ms Lawson's integrity as a teacher, can she keep on defending a student as peculiar as Maria Obasi?
Shallow End
Director/Writer: Maria de la Cruz Rudloff
Producer: Maria de la Cruz Rudloff, Janet Valentina Manina, Anne Leigh Cooper
narrative, 11 min.
Twenty-something year old Agatha comes home after a lengthy stay in rehab, a shattered person. In her small town, everything seems to remind her of the life she once had and the people she held dear before it all went wrong.
Barrel Children: The Families Windrush Left Behind
Director: Nadine White
Writer: Nadine White
Producer: Nadine White, John Johnston, Jordan Walters
documentary, 55 min.
A stellar debut film from award-winning journalist Nadine White, Barrel Children: The Families Windrush Left Behind peels back the layered tales of Caribbean youngsters who grew up away from their parents before migrating to join them in Britain.
FESTIVAL TICKETS & PASSES
Reel Sisters Film Festival offers affordable ticket prices.
All Access Passes are $75 (includes the Awards Ceremony). A one-day pass is $25 ($20 for seniors/students) and a section pass is $12 ($8 for seniors/students).
Virtual Showcase Tickets: $5 a block or $20 for entire showcase!
Reel Sisters All Access Passes includes:
• Access to 50+ films by women of color from across the world
• Opportunities to network with filmmakers and professionals in the film industry
• Access to panels, special screenings & awards ceremony on Oct. 22, 2025.
To view the schedule and purchase tickets at the website www.reelsisters.org.
Founded in 1997 by African Voices magazine and LIU Brooklyn Campus, Reel Sisters is among the first film festivals dedicated to supporting women of color filmmakers. Known for celebrating both veterans and rising stars alike, Reel Sisters has honored everyone from Radio One founder Cathy Huges to HBO's Insecure writer and director Issa Rae.
Reel Sisters is supported, in part, by Councilmembers Crystal Hudson, Farah Louis and Yusef Salaam, West Harlem Development Corp., New York State Council on the Arts, the Brooklyn Arts Council and private donors. Special thanks to our venue partners 651 Arts, BAM, Center for Fiction and BRIC.
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