Established in 1997, Reel Sisters is dedicated to providing opportunities for women of color filmmakers to advance their careers in the film industry.

Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series was founded in 1997 by African Voices magazine publisher Carolyn A. Butts and Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus.

Butts came up with the idea in 1996, when she experienced push-back when shopping a short film she produced, in the hope of turning it into a feature-length documentary on the Brooklyn poetry movement.

[5] In 2021, Spelman College acquired the archives of African Voices Communications, Inc., the nonprofit organization that runs Reel Sisters.

Awards are provided in the following categories:{{cite web |title=Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series.