DAVENPORT, Iowa — The second annual Pulling Focus Film Festival wrapped up four days of film screenings on Sunday afternoon. It showed films made by Black artists from around the world.
This is the second year of the festival, where it showed more than 70 films — which is double what it showed last year. It also featured a panel of filmmakers and an artist talk from industry professional Felicia D. Henderson.
Jonathan Burnett co-founded the festival. He said the event doesn't just benefit Black filmmakers.
"I believe that film is a vessel for truth, connection and empathy, so when you’re watching a story that comes from a different perspective, you take that story home with you, or at least you should," Burnett said. "So watching these stories and knowing that, you know, Black people are not a monolith, we are a spectrum, we have all different types of stories, all different kinds of genres."
Dania Green also helped with the festival. She's the executive assistant at Azubuike Council for the Arts, founded by Burnett's mother. Green said it's all possible with the support of venues across Davenport, including the Putnam Museum, the Figge Art Museum, the TBC Lincoln Resource Center and The Last Picture House.
"I think they really see the value in having this film festival here, and especially that they’re able to support us while we’re going through these different venues," Green said.
Next year, Green said she plans on contacting more people and accepting even more films. Burnett said turnout was good this year, but he expects it to get better with time.
"I think it's a thing where every year, more people are gonna come out, especially as more people know about it," Burnett said.
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel