In 2001, Adrienne M. Anderson established the International Black Women’s Film Festival in the City and County of San Francisco, California. She established the festival as an educational and charitable nonprofit and it was originally fiscally-sponsored by the (now defunct) Blue Nile Lotuses, Incorporated, a San Francisco fraternal organization and charity.
The first festival was presented November 8 to November 24, 2002, in San Francisco, CA, at the Delancey Street screening room at 600 Embarcadero Street in San Francisco's South Beach area. The first festival was founded and organized by Adrienne M. Anderson and co-organized with entrepreneur Robin Bates who is the founder and CEO of Café de la Soul and La Jolie Noire Media, and co-founder of Black Paris Divas. George Lucas donated to the inaugural festival in 2002. The opening films of the inaugural festival were a short called FUNERAL AT THE SAMBA SCHOOL (Gurufim Na Mangueira) (2002) by director Dandara and the feature-length documentary NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME (1999) by filmmaker Rachel Raimist.
The International Black Women’s Film Festival screens media by and/or about Black women from around the world in non-stereotypical, non-pornographic roles. IBWFF combats negative stereotyping of Black women in film, television and media. To date, the festival has screened over 400 films from five continents, including films from the following countries: United States, Brazil, Canada, France, South Africa, United Kingdom, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe. Accepted films genres are: Short films, documentaries, feature films, animation, and experimental films.
In 2009, the festival was featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and in 2012 the San Francisco Examiner, Oakland Post and interview with radio host Wanda Saabir on Wanda's Picks.
The International Black Women's Film Festival includes Filmmaker Q&A sessions, special appearances, gala openings, and premiere screenings.
Meetup and screening of BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, opening night, July 2012
“Flip the Script: How to Define & Control the Black Image Through Casting” – Western Addition Branch, Panelists: Velina Brown and Kathleen Antonia (San Francisco Public Library)
“Can Hip-Hop be an Agent for Positive Change?” – San Francisco Main Library, Panelists: Sonia McDaniel, Tossie Long, Jason “Trackademics” Valerio, & Naru Kwina
“Filtered Lens: Art as Film and the Black Image” - San Francisco Main Library, Panelists: Carolina Moraes-Liu & Shy Pacheco Hamilton
THE NEXT DAY, Filmmaker Q&A, Panelists: Al Robbins & DeAnna Dawn
THE UNFORGIVING MINUTE, Filmmaker Q&A, Panelists: Octavia Spencer, Kelly Shipe-Vasconcelos & Devin Badgett
SOLILOQUY, Panelists: Jacques Zanetti & Lillian Benson
LOVE TAKES TIME, Panelists: Melvina & Jaylani Roberts
Josh Penn, Producer (Beasts of the Southern Wild - USA, dir. Benh Zeitlin)
Al Robbins, Actor & Director (The Next Day - USA, dir. Al Robbins)],
Carolina Moraes Liu(Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ilê Aiyê & Festive Land - Brazil, dir. Carolina Moraes-Liu)
Deanna Dawn, Actor (The Next Day - USA, dir. Al Robbins)
Devin Badgett, Actor (The Unforgiving Minute - USA, dir. Octavia Spencer)
Jacques Zanetti, Director (New York 45 & Soliloquy - USA, dir. Jacques Zanetti)
Jaylani Roberts, Actor (Love Takes Time - USA, dir. Melvina)
Jason “Trackademicks” Valerio, Musician, Rapper & Producer (Panelist: "Can Hip-Hop Serve as an Agent for Positive Change?")
Kathleen Antonia, Actor & Director (Getting Played - USA, dir. Kathleen Antonia)
Kelly Shipe Vasconcelos (The Unforgiving Minute - USA, dir. Octavia Spencer)
Lillian Benson, Director & Editor (Soliloquy & All Our Sons - USA, dir. Lillian Benson)
Melvina, Director (Love Takes Time - USA, dir. Melvina)
Naru Kwina, Musician & Rapper (Panelist: "Can Hip-Hop Serve as an Agent for Positive Change?")
Octavia Spencer, Actor & Director (The Unforgiving Minute - USA, dir. Octavia Spencer)
Shy Pacheco Hamilton, Director (A Little Bit Colored a Little Bit White & Irony of a Negro Policeman - USA, dir. Shy Pacheco Hamilton)
Sonia McDaniel, Educator (Panelist: "Can Hip-Hop Serve as an Agent for Positive Change?")
Stacey Larkins, Director (In Search of Consonance - USA, dir. Stacey Larkins)
Sylvia D. Hamilton, Director (Portia White: Think on Me - Canada, dir. Sylvia Hamilton)
Tossie Long, Singer, Dancer & Actress (Panelist: "Can Hip-Hop Serve as an Agent for Positive Change?")
Velina Brown, Actor (Milk - USA, dir. Gus Van Sant and Bee Season - USA, dirs. Scott McGehee, David Siegel )
Venus de Milo Thomas(Did I Wake You? - USA, dir. Venus de Milo Thomas)
An asterisk "*" denotes a premiere
*A Conversation with Mrs. Carter (USA) – Documentary, Short, dir. Lillian Anderson
*A Funeral at the Samba School (Brazil) – Short, dir. Dandara
*A Touch of Tutelage (USA) – Short, dir. Thea St. Omer
*Bessie’s Blues (USA) – Short
*Calypso Rose: Lioness of the Jungle (Trinidad/France/USA) – Documentary, Feature, dir. Pascale Obolo
*Can’t Let Go (USA) – Short
*Cruzeiro (Brazil) – Documentary, Feature, dir. Patricia Maresch
*Daughter of Fortune (USA) - Short, dir. Dawn Kamoche
*Dreams of a Life (U.K./Ireland) - Feature, dir. Carol Morley
*Duka’s Dilemma (Ethiopia) – Documentary, Feature, dir. Jean Lydall and Kaira Strecker
*Echo at 11 Oak Drive (USA) - Feature, dir. Crystle Waters
*Houna & Manny (USA) – Short, dir. Jared Katsiane
*In Search of Consonance (USA) – Comedy, Feature, Stacey Larkins
*Jackie (USA) – Short,
*Kuvuka Daraja (Crossing the Bridge) (Tanzania/USA) – Short, dir. Violet Senderai
*Love Takes Time (USA) – Feature, dir. Melvina
*Mind Wars (USA) – Short
*Of Mary (U.K.) – Short, dir. Adrian Lester
*Portia White: Think on Me (Canada) – Feature, Documentary, dir. Sylvia Hamilton
*Preying on the Hunter (USA) – Feature, dir. Andrea J. Smith
*Skeleton (USA) – Short, dir. Kortney Ryan
*The Hands (USA) – Short, dir. Charise Studesville
*The Happiest Day (USA) – Short, Horror, dir. Kimberly Holt
*The Meeting (Greenland) – Feature, Documentary, dir. Ruth Montgomery
*The Next Day (USA) – Feature, dir. Al Robbins
*Women Surviving the System (USA) – Short
A Single Rose (USA) – Short
A Testament of Karma (USA) – Short, Horror, dir. Alessandra Pinkston
Birth of Bardo (USA) – Short, Experimental, dir. Adia Millet
Black Orpheus (Brazil) – Feature, dir. Marcel Camus
Blue Covers (USA) – Short, dir. Indira Allegra
Call for Back-Up (USA) – Short, Comedy, dir. Tiffany Black
Carmin’s Choice (USA) – Short, dir. Monice Mitchell
Chrysalis (USA) – Short
Claudia Makes a Difference (USA) – Short
Critter Island (USA) – Short, Animation
Def Dance Jam (USA) – Short, Documentary, dir. Sy J. Abudu
Destiny (Canada) – Short
Did I Wake You? (USA) – Short
Ebony Goddess: Queen of Ile Aiye (Brazil) – Feature, Documentary, dir. Carolina Moraes-Liu
First Cut (USA) – Short
Ganja & Hess (USA) - Feature, dir. Bill Gunn
Get Down (USA) – Short
Good Hair (USA) – Short
Hair Daze (USA) – Short
Hair Stories (USA) – Short
Half of a Yellow Sun (Nigeria/U.K.) - Feature
Harriet Returns (USA) – Short
Holiday (USA) – Short
Hollywood Shuffle (USA) – Short, dir. Robert Townsend
Illuminations, Vol. 2 (USA) – Short
In Our Heads About Our Hair (USA) – Feature, Documentary
In Search of Consonance (USA) – Feature, dir. Stacey Larkins
Irony of a Negro Policeman AKA Roll Call (USA) – Short, ExperimentalJacob’s Sound (USA) – Short, dir. Shy Pacheco Hamilton
Karmen Gei (Senegal) – Feature, Musical, dir. Joseph Gai Ramaka
Kissed by the Devil (USA) – Short
Knock, Knock; Who’s There? (USA) – Short
Lipology (USA) – Short
Mama Africa (Burkina Faso, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe) – Shorts
Man Made (USA) – Short
Maple (Canada) – Short
Memoirs of a Black Latina (USA) – Feature, Experimental, dir. Crystal S. Roman
Mother & Daughter (USA) – Short
My Escape with BIKO the Balloon Deity (USA) – Short, dir. Devin Cain
Nappy (USA) – Short
New York 45 (USA) – Feature, Documentary, Experimental, dir. Jacques Zanetti
Nobody Knows My Name (USA) – Feature, Documentary, dir. Rachel Raimist
Portrait of a Film Extra (United Kingdom) – Short
Promised Land (South Africa) – Feature, Documentary, dir. Yoruba Richen
Quase Todo Dia/Almost Everyday (Brazil) – Short
Rain (USA) – Short
Ravishing Raspberry (USA) – Short, Animation
Rebel in the Soul (USA) – Short
Rendez-vous (Canada) – Short
Rize (USA) – Documentary
Say My Name (USA) – Feature, Documentary
Secrets (USA) – Short
Severed Souls (USA) – Short
Silence (USA) – Short
Skin Quilt Project (USA) – Feature, Documentary
Soliloquy (USA/France) – Feature
Special Day (USA) – Short
Stomping on the Devil’s Head (Dominican Republic/USA) – Feature, Documentary
Strike! (USA) – Short
Sushi (USA) – Short
Tears of a Swamp Fox (USA) – Short
The Actual Importance (of Being Somewhat Earnest) (USA) – Short
The Becoming Box (USA) – Short
The Letter (USA) – Short
The Unforgiving Minute (USA) – Short
The Vineyard (USA) – Short
The Wiz (USA) – Feature, Musical
Traces (Canada) – Short
Two Bodies (USA) – Short
Vivian (USA) – Short
When Spirits Dance Mambo (Puerto Rico/USA) – Short, Documentary, dir. Dr. Marta Moreno Vega
White Sugar in a Black Pot (USA) – Short
