The Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival is moving online in its ninth year, while continuing to support public health initiatives in West Alabama and West Africa alike.
Proceeds from the festival go to benefit the Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation, and Afram South. Inc, two non-profits support education and public health programs in West Africa and West Alabama.
Thad Ulzen, co-founder of the Tuscaloosa Africana Film Festival, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has made supporting public health in communities even more critical.
“It’s an additional dimension of our health care challenges, right? Now, Covid-19 is everywhere, and just the demands for supporting communities is greater now,” Ulzen said.
With the festival taking place completely virtually this year, Ulzen said moving the festival online was a challenge, but it may allow it to reach an even wider audience.
“At first we even wondered if we’d be able to do it, but then we figured out that well it might be even more accessible to people compared to when you had it in a physical space and people had to get there," Ulzen said. “Because if it's virtual then the festival is available to the whole world, so to speak.”
The Africana Film Festival is offering three films in this year’s slate, which will be available for 24 hours on February 27, starting at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.
