The 2025 Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) celebrates its 20th Anniversary milestone edition from September 17-21, 2025.
Harlem International Film Festival
Celebrating the art of cinema in the home of the Harlem Renaissance, The Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) inspires and entertains by honoring films that offer honest, thought-provoking portrayals of our world. Conceived from the belief that we all have unique experiences and perspectives to share, Hi actively seeks and exhibits fresh and dynamic works that possess a universal appeal. Hi is committed to exemplifying the eminence that Harlem represents and is dedicated to bringing attention to the best filmmakers from around the world.
Harlem International Film Festival started in 2005 and takes place in Harlem, New York
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Harlem International Film Festival Reveals 20th Anniversary Lineup
The Long Game by Jace Anderson
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Ana Fahr’s ‘Valley of Exile’ and Asley Malcolm Morrison’s ‘Back To Your Corner’ Win 19th Harlem International Film Festival Top Awards
Valley of Exile directed (Morning Bird Pictures) Ana Fahr’s Valley of Exile was named Best Film (Narrative Feature), and Asley Malcolm Morrison’s Back To Your Corner won the award for Best Documentary Feature at the 19th Harlem International Film Festival (Hi).
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19th Harlem Intl Film Festival Unveils Lineup, Opens with Nana Ghana’s ‘You Are Always Right Here’
You Are Always Right Here by Nana Ghana (via Nana Ghana insta) Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) returns fully in-person for its 19th edition from May 16-26, 2024, opening with the world premiere of Nana Ghana’s You Are Always Right Here, preceded by Gabri Christa’s short film Kankantri (the Silk Cotton Tree), and a special premiere curation of Uptown Shorts.
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Blow Up My Life + Paris Is In Harlem to Kickoff Harlem International Film Festival 2023 Music Themed Lineup
Blow Up My Life directed by Ryan Dickie and Abigail Horton The 2023 Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) unveiled a music themed lineup of 64 films, including 35 features (14 narrative, 21 documentary), 29 shorts (20 narrative, 9 documentary), 2 television episodes, and 2 VR projects for its 18th edition – a hybrid event taking place in-person May 18-28.
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17th Harlem Intl Film Festival Announces Lineup with 3 World Premieres on Opening Night
Blurring the Color Line: Chinese in the Segregated South directed by Crystal Lee Kwok The 2022 Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) announced official selections for its 17th edition – a hybrid event taking place May 5-15. The film festival will open with a gala presentation of three films making world premieres at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd.). The films include Jamal Joseph’s A Gorgeous Mosaic, Ano Okero’s An American Street Mural in Harlem, and Myra Lewis’ Love is in the Legend.
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Harlem International Film Festival 2021 Announces Line-up of 71 Films
100 Years from Mississippi The 2021 Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) announced the official selections for its 16th edition – a hybrid event taking place May 6-9, 2021.
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Harlem International Film Festival Announces 2020 Filmmaker Awards, HAINGOSOA Wins Best Film
HAINGOSOA directed by Edouard Joubeaud Edouard Joubeaud’s Haingosoa was named Best Narrative Feature, with George King’s Thumbs Up for Mother Universe: Stories from the Life of Lonnie Holley taking the award for Best Documentary Feature at the virtual edition of the 2020 Harlem International Film Festival (Hi). Maryna Er Gorbach and Mehmet Bahadir Er’s Omar and Us was cited as Best World Film (Narrative) and Cam Cowan’s Opeka took the prize for Best World Documentary.
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THE RAINBOW EXPERIMENT to Open + MANDELA’S GUN! to Close 2018 Harlem Intl Film Festival [Trailer]
[caption id="attachment_28612" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
The Rainbow Experiment[/caption]
Award-winning Harlem International Film Festival Alum Christina Kallas returns to kick off the 2018 Festival with the New York Premiere of her latest film, The Rainbow Experiment, a critically-acclaimed, timely, multi-character drama set in a NYC high school after a terrible accident on school grounds. British filmmaker John Irvin closes the Festival with the World Premiere of his revelatory biopic thriller Mandela’s Gun! – the startling true story of the last 6 months of Nelson Mandela’s freedom before his arrest and life sentence in 1962. Five years in the making, it follows his epic journey as he illegally left South Africa.
In The Rainbow Experiment, things spiral out of control in a Manhattan high school when a terrible accident involving a science experiment injures a kid for life. A who-dun-it with a how-they-saw-it leads to an explosion of emotions touching the teachers, the parents, the school authorities and ultimately, the students.
The evening will be presented by one of the world’s most revered filmmakers, Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay, Vanity Fair, Queen of Katwe) — the festival’s annual Mira Nair Award for Rising Female Filmmaker is named in honor of her. The Rainbow Experiment is a contender for this award. It will be introduced and followed by a Director Q&A with celebrated film historian and author Annette Insdorf, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University whose books include Francois Truffaut; Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski and Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening Scenes.
Christina Kallas’ tense ensemble drama 42 Seconds of Happiness received a number of awards in international festivals in the U.S. and abroad–including Best Ensemble at Harlem International in 2016. The Rainbow Experiment is her sophomore feature film as a director, and one of five works-in-progress selected last year for the prestigious U.S. in Progress Paris program. The film debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival in January, followed by screenings at Cinequest, the DC IndependentFilm Fest and the Garden State Film Fest where it won the Best Alternative Feature Award. It is now nominated for a number of awards at both the Cleveland International Film Fest, and the Ashland Independent Film Fest, and will have its international premiere at the Moscow International Film Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJmkG2LLFuU
Mandela’s Gun! was shot in 6 countries – and is the first ever British, South African and Algerian co-production. Oddly enough, this is somehow the first time a South African actor has ever been filmed playing the role of this iconic figure. Tumisho Masha gives an uncanny performance at the hands of John Irvin, who is no stranger to working with talent, having directed everyone from Ben Kingsley to Christopher Walken and credited for discovering a young Don Cheadle. The film has been endorsed by The Mandela Foundation and is up for several awards at this year’s Harlem International Film Festival.
The film reveals extraordinary new evidence about not only the man himself and the brave individuals & nations who risked their lives to struggle alongside him, but also marks the first onscreen confession by one of the CIA agents who orchestrated Mandela’s final betrayal and capture at the hands of the Apartheid regime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5lv8YiD-cY
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Inspirational Documentary ZEMENE to Close 2015 Harlem International Film Festival | TRAILER
The Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) celebrating its 10th Anniversary, will take place September 9-13 featuring MIST Harlem as its primary 2015 theatrical venue.
Wednesday, September 9 at 7 PM Hi kicks off its lineup with award-winning Stories of Our Lives chronicling the hidden struggles of lovers, fighters and rebels that characterize the criminalized LGBT community in Kenya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxDr1ue-lHc
Other highlights include the East Coast Premiere of the award-winning America is Still the Place, based on the unbelievable true story of Charlie Walker, the black man behind the clean up of one of the biggest oil spills in US history. The film features the unforgettable performance of Mike Colter, star of Marvel’s brand new Netflix series, Luke Cage, who will join director Patrick Gilles for Q&A.
https://vimeo.com/116602949
Closing Night Film is Melissa Donovan’s “must-see inspirational” documentary Zemene about a young Ethiopian girl’s bravery in the face of enormous odds. Living in a remote village with a rare curvature of the spine, she struggles with poverty, poor education, and potentially life-threatening illnesses. But a chance encounter in the streets of Gondar with Dr. Rick Hodes sets in motion a series of events that will change Zemene and the future of her village forever. Shot throughout the beautiful countryside, the film is a poetic testament to the power of compassion and the potential within us all. Zemene screened at the Library of Congress on August 12, 2015 and will be catalogued and become part of the official collection of the world’s largest library.
https://vimeo.com/97292617
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Kenyan LGBT Award-winning Film STORIES OF OUR LIVES to Open 2015 Harlem International Film Festival
Award-winning film STORIES OF OUR LIVES that documents the hidden personal stories of lovers, fighters, rebels and the community histories that characterize the criminalized queer experience in Kenya, will open the 2015 Harlem International Film Festival on September 9.
The filmmakers and cast risked their very lives to bring to life this insightful series of vignettes based on true stories collected for the STORIES OF OUR LIVES project.
STORIES OF OUR LIVES, Nairobi-based visual artist Jim Chuchu‘s first ever feature film, premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival, and also screened at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Teddy Special Jury Award, and 2nd Place Panorama Audience Award, Fiction Film.
The stories in this extraordinary film anthology are united by a commitment to telling the truth about the lives and love of gay and lesbian people in Kenya. In Ask Me Nicely, a pair of schoolgirls, much to their own surprise, fall passionately in love. In Athman, two men working on a tea plantation address the fact that one man’s feelings for his friend have evolved. A young woman dreams of transforming genders, and living openly with her girlfriend. Filmed in chiaroscuro shades of black and white, each story unfolds with an honesty that is heartbreaking in its simplicity. Based on real life experiences that were collected by an artists’ collective in Kenya, the material proved so revelatory that a decision was made to adapt it to the screen. With little more than a couple of lights and a small camera, the crew of actors and technicians made this anthology over the course of eight months. Underneath every story depicted on camera is the reality that even to speak the truth out loud is a dangerous and subversive act. Members of the Collective are still forced to remain anonymous in order to protect themselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaDs333V-vo The 2015 Harlem International Film Festival runs September 9-13, 2015.
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Harlem Film Festival to Screen Film 9 Lives About Victims of Puff Daddy City College Concert
The Harlem International Film Festival will screen Jason Swain’s documentary 9 LIVES on Wednesday, December 7, 2011.
The screening is timed to coincide with the death of rapper Heavy D last week, as well as to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the tragic night involving him that resulted in 9 people killed and 29 injured. 9 LIVES, is billed as director Jason Swain’s tribute to the nine victims including his brother Dirk, who died that night. The director will participate in a discussion after the screening.[caption id="attachment_1861" align="alignnone" width="549"]
director Jason Swain (via MySpace)[/caption]In December 1991, Heavy D and Puff Daddy unravels the moments in the countdown to disaster and the circumstances that needlessly took nine youngsters from their loved ones. With Rodney King’s video-taped brutal beating making headlines in the Spring of 1991 and the Crown Heights riot spinning New York City into turmoil that August, this examination of the City College 9 disaster seeks peaceful reconciliation, artfully avoiding finger-pointing to let us witness first-hand how institutionalized prejudices combined to allow something as simple as a charity basketball game in Harlem to spiral out of control. Out of the devastating melee of lives lost a seed of hope emerged through the formation of the Dirk Swain Foundation to forever remember and combat the senselessness of December 28, 1991.
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