Star-Studded Red Carpet Opening Night Gala to be Held at the Directors Guild of America
Los Angeles MAYOR KAREN BASS will open the 31ST ANNUAL PAN AFRICAN FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL (PAFF), the city’s largest Black History Month (BHM) event.
PAFF’s red-carpet star-studded OPENING NIGHT GALA is to be hosted by Academy Award-winning actor and activist DANNY GLOVER and NLF-pro turned actor THOMAS Q. JONES (“P-Valley”).
Actor JONATHAN MAJORS (Creed 3, and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania) will receive PAFF’s Canada Lee Award. The award will be presented by actor MORRIS CHESTNUT (The Best Man Trilogy, Rosewood, The Brothers, and Boyz n the Hood).
The evening will also include a screening of the highly anticipated feature, CHEVALIER, inspired by the incredible story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The son of an enslaved African woman and a French plantation owner, Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a tour de force performance) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) herself and her court.
CHEVALIER director STEPHEN WILLIAMS, writer and producer STEFANI ROBINSON, the composer of the original score KRIS BOWERS, and musical performances producer and arranger MICHAEL ABELS to attend.
Taking place February 9-20, 2023, in Los Angeles at both the Cinemark Baldwin Hills & XD and Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, PAFF presents and showcases a broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes of Africans and African-Americans.
This year’s Pan African Film & Arts Festival features over 150 films from 40 countries, in 19 languages, including 50 World and 22 North American premieres. Of the films selected for the Festival, 39% are helmed by female, queer, or non-binary filmmakers. The fine arts exhibition will feature over 100 established and emerging fine artists and quality craftspeople from all over the Black Diaspora.
Confirmed guests include: Mayor Karen Bass, Danny Glover, Thomas Q. Jones, Jonathan Majors, Angela Lewis, Stefani Robinson, Nicki Micheaux, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Rama Montakhabi, Marcus Brandon, Allen Maldonado, Tantoo Cardinal, Vanessa E. Williams, Cocoa Brown, Morris Chestnut, and more.
The red carpet for L.A’s largest BHM event, the Pan African Film & Arts Festival, will open at 5:30 p.m. on Thu., Feb. 9, at the Directors Guild of America (7920 Sunset Blvd.)
About the Pan African Film & Arts Festival
Taking place February 9-20, 2023, in Los Angeles, the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) presents and showcases a broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes of Africans and African-Americans. Since 1992, PAFF has remained dedicated to the promotion of Black stories and images through the exhibition of film, visual art, and other creative expression. Today, PAFF is one of the largest and most prestigious Black film festivals in the U.S. and attracts local, national, and international audiences. In addition, it is an Oscar-qualifying festival for animation and live-action films, and one of the largest Black History Month events in America.
The Pan African Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
PAFF is sponsored in part by the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell through the Department of Arts and Culture, LA Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, LA Councilmember Curren Price, LA Councilmember Heather Hutt, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, LA Arts COVID-19 Relief Fund with the California Community Foundation, and the LA County COVID-19 Arts Relief Fund administered by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture.
This year’s PAFF is presented by Stocker Street Creative, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, and FX Networks
For more information, please visit paff.org.