Newark Black Film Festival

The Newark Black Film Festival Paul Robeson Awards began as a biennial competition in 1985.

[2][3] The festival receives funding in the form of grants from various foundations and corporations and is free of charge to the public.

[4] The concept of the festival was originated by filmmaker Oliver Franklin in 1974 at the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Center.

As quoted in the Newark-based newspaper, The Star-Ledger, Rutgers University professor Clement Price (originally on the selection committee) said "The festival was started in the lean years of Newark history, following the disturbances of the summer of '67, The Newark Black Film Festival was one of the early and more credible efforts to address the trauma and civic dislocation and the concerns about the future of Newark.

The enduring aspiration of the festival has been to show films that give a believable portrait of African-American and African diasporic life.