The Harlem-based national media arts nonprofit is featured on CUNY-TV’s Frame by Frame: NYC Filmmakers in Focus
Left to right: Tracii McGregor, Sophia Clark, Divad Durant, Leslie Fields-Cruz. Picture courtesy CUNY TV
Black Public Media is the premier focus of a Friday, March 13, episode at 2 p.m.,running through April 5 (check local listings). The program, which will begin streaming on CUNY’s YouTube Channel on March 13 and run through April 9, will also be available on CUNY TV’s app.
The show comes as the media company continues advancing Black storytelling in the wake of last year’s congressional rescission vote that eliminated $1.8 million of the nonprofit’s funding. In response, BPM launched a grassroots fund drive to benefit its new Black Stories Production Fund, which aims to ensure Black stories are never again subject to political whims.
Frame by Frame: NYC Filmmakers in Focus spotlights filmmakers through in-studio conversations and curated screenings. The March 13 episode centers on BPM, which was founded in 1979 and continues to fund, distribute and produce stories about the global Black experience. Frame by Frame showcases a range of BPM-supported projects and the creators behind them.
The episode features in-studio appearances by three New York City-area filmmakers whose careers BPM has supported: Sophia Clark, who directed and, or produced BPM’s five-time Anthem Award-winning social media series BE HEARD, which has featured viral campaigns about voting, gender identity and sustainable fashion; and Tracii McGregor and Divad Durant, whose films THE FORGOTTEN ONES and SWEET SAMARA are streaming on BPM’s YouTube Channel as part of its AfroPoP Digital Shorts series. The Forgotten Ones follows a man’s four- decade struggle with homelessness. Sweet Samara highlights an upstate New York farm that sees a return to the land as a means of liberation.
“It was an honor to be a guest host for this episode, and to introduce CUNY TV’s audience to the work of incredibly talented filmmakers,” said BPM’s Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz, who moderates the episode.BPM-supported films will be featured in two alternating showcases that follow the episode. The first includes Dressed Like Kings by Stacey Holman, For The Moon by Nile Price, Smile4Kime by Elena Guzman, Spare Me by Wilderley Mauricette and Sweet Samara.
The other is comprised of the feature film Mama Gloria by Luchina Fisher followed by BE HEARD: I Am Who I Say I Am, The Forgotten One, Lakeside’s Treasures by Rasheed Peters and The Aunties by Charlyn Griffith-Oro and Jeannine Kayembe-Oro.
To learn more about Black Public Media, visit blackpublicmedia.org or follow BPM (@blackpublicmedia) on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
About Black Public Media
BPM supports the development of visionary content creators and distributes stories about the global Black experience to inspire a more equitable and inclusive future. For 45+ years, BPM has addressed the needs of unserved and underserved audiences. BPM-supported programs have won five Emmys®,10 Peabodys, five Anthem Awards, 14 Emmy® nominations and an Oscar® nomination. BPM continues to address historical, contemporary and systemic challenges that traditionally impede the development and distribution of Black stories.