This year at Sundance, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences brought Will Packer to the Festival for the first time along with an Oscar trophy and a session on getting into the Academy. Ava DuVernay and Sal Masekela were honored at The Blackhouse’s Dinner with television host Bevy Smith.

During Tribeca, industry professionals engaged in a dynamic debate on race, authorship and authenticity in today’s filmmaking scene. Panelists included:

• Author, film critic and filmmaker, Nelson George;
• Indiewire’s Shadow & Act Chief Editor, Tambay Obenson;
• Producer and Brave Films President and CEO, Frida Torresblanco;
• Filmmaker, Terence Nance; and
• Tribeca Film Institute Executive Director Beth Janson, moderator.

For the first time, The Blackhouse hosted activations at the Montclair Film Festival including a panel discussion covering “What do the movies tell us about race in America?” In addition, three esteemed film critics – Pulitzer Prize-winner Wesley Morris (Grantland; Boston Globe), David Edelstein (New York magazine) and Scott Foundas (Variety) – discussed with Adoara Udoji (former host of The Takeaway on NPR) how they approach race when writing about film.