The San Diego Black Film Festival is an annual film festival held in San Diego, California . The festival recognizes African American movies and production. It was founded in 2002 as the Noir Film Festival . It is one of the largest black film festivals in the United States.
6-657: The San Diego Black Film Festival, originally known as the Noir Film Festival, began in 2003 in a hotel room in the Gaslamp Quarter . Three films were shown, and approximately 20 people attended. In 2006 the name of the festival was changed to the San Diego Black Film Festival because the organizers realized that there was confusion with " film noir ". By 2011, with 120 films scheduled and between 15,000 and 30,000 attendees expected,
12-589: A number of times. Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego The Gaslamp Quarter is a historic neighborhood in downtown San Diego, California . It extends from Broadway to Harbor Drive and from 4th to 6th Avenue. The neighborhood is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places as the Gaslamp Quarter Historic District . It includes over 90 historic buildings, most of which were constructed in
18-639: The Victorian era ; many are in use as restaurants, shops, entertainment venues, and nightclubs. The Gaslamp Quarter is known for its nightlife . It is the site of various events and festivals, including Mardi Gras in the Gaslamp, Taste of Gaslamp, and ShamROCK, a St. Patrick's Day event. Petco Park , home of the San Diego Padres , is one block away in the East Village neighborhood. In
24-815: The Westfield Horton Plaza mall, the Pacific Gaslamp multiplex, the Reading Grossmont Theater in La Mesa , AMC Fashion Valley Theaters, UltraStar Mission Valley and the Theatre Box downtown. In 2017 it expanded to three theaters and began developing a Black Film Centre, which will ultimately host the festival as well as housing an archive. Karen Willis is the director of the festival; Robin Givens has hosted it
30-408: The 1860s, the area was known as New Town, in contrast to Old Town , the original Spanish colonial settlement of San Diego. Intensive development began in 1867, when Alonzo Horton bought the land in hopes of creating a new city center closer to the bay, and chose 5th Avenue as its main street. After a period of urban decay , the neighborhood underwent urban renewal in the 1980s and 1990s. It
36-553: The festival had become one of the largest black film festivals in the United States and one of the most important festivals in San Diego. The festival screens films in the following categories: comedy, drama, documentaries, animation, GLBT, horror, religious, foreign/African Diaspora, shorts, feature films and music videos. The festival also hosts panes and reception banquets. Venues have included United Artists Theatre in
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