DENTON, Texas — The Denton Black Film Festival will return as an in-person experience in 2023, just before the start of Black History Month. The festival will be from Jan. 25-29 and have a virtual session from Jan. 29 - Feb. 2. 

Black History month begins on Feb. 1. The festival will showcase Black culture through a variety of storytelling mediums just before the start of Black History Month.

This is the festival’s ninth year showcasing an inclusive Black cultural experience through film, spoken word, art, music, comedy and dance. The DBFF Institute also highlights social justice issues through films and panel discussions. The festival was completely virtual in 2021 and 2022. 

The festival will share stories of the Black community with programming dedicated to educating and inspiring while elevating Black creators. The festival will have many components over its five-day period for everyone to enjoy. 

The DBFF will showcase films that highlight Black diaspora, music, spoken word, and education seminars for filmmakers and creatives. People will have the opportunity to attend film screenings and ask questions of the film creators. People will also be able to go to feature concerts and slam poetry competitions. 

For all the creators attending the festival, there will be several opportunities to sit in on panel discussions and make workshop sessions with professionals and industry experts.

Besides the film festival, the Institute will also hold a Technology Education and culture expo. The two-and-a-half-day expo will be full of educational conversations and workshops that are built around technology for Black culture. The TEC expo will kick off with award-winning engineer David C. Williams as the keynote speaker. Technology companies will showcase their work and products across all fields, including e-learning, gaming and virtual reality.

In between feature films and the technology expo, there will be feature concerts and comedy acts. Texas native Angelia Walker will have comedy session through the festival and will headline the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Night. Walker will be joined by other comedians that include Derrick Cakley, Mary Boyce and Payton Payne.

You can find more information on the DBFF and tickets for events here