Filmteenth Celebrates the Juneteenth National Holiday in the Nation’s Capital

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Washington, DC — On June 19th and 20^th, Filmteenth International Film Festival will launch its inaugural presence at the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema Theater in Bethesda, MD. This groundbreaker was birthed by festival organizer Will Gorham, who reflected, “I felt this was a great way to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday, while also raising STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) awareness and education in communities.”

FILMTEENTH is a jubilee showing the excellence and diversity in film, arts, entrepreneurship, and STEM. The festival will showcase exciting, powerful films, which educate, inspire, and reflect the contributions of a diverse world. Filmteenth endeavors to bring together new and established independent filmmakers with fans who appreciate diverse history and entertainment.

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day or Day of Freedom, shines a light on education and illuminates the path to freedom and the steps still needed to achieve equity in a blind sighted society. Juneteenth, through innovative efforts like Filmteenth, will highlight accomplishments of great forerunners. The festival opens with a film named “The Last to Know,” which documents the eighty-nine-year-old retired educator and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Opal Lee. Ms. Lee is known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.” This documentary chronicles her yearlong campaign to make her vision of Juneteenth become a federally recognized holiday. Award-winning filmmakers will receive the festival “Opal Award” in honor of this great pioneer. The festival will screen “Tell Them We Are Rising”, the award-winning director Stanley Nelson’s film about the history of Black colleges and universities and will host the world film premiere of “Fighting For Respect”, the story of African-American Soldiers in France during World War I. 

Local filmmakers make their presence known also, from the short film “Netfins and Chill” to “Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color.” Alma Thomas was the first fine arts graduate of Howard University and the first Black woman to have her paintings exhibited in the White House, yet she did not receive national attention until she was 80.

To accommodate pandemic concerns, they scaled the overall festival back this year to screenings only. Filmteenth will, however, offer at-home virtual screenings via the Eventive streaming platform. “We wholeheartedly embrace technology and wanted to leverage it to safely reach as many viewers as possible this Juneteenth.” Gorham says.

For the full schedule or more information, please visit www.filmteenth.org or contact info@filmteenth.org Media contact phone: 571-758-3229.

Website: www.filmteenth.org

Email: info@filmteenth.org

Media contact phone: 571-758-3229

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