30th Annual S.E. Manly African American Film Festival

The S.E. Manly African American Film Festival arrived in Oakland on July 12, 2024, for a two-day film festival event presented by Oakland-based Tech Exchange (formerly OTXWest) and the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC), based in Los Angeles, CA. BHERC presented some of its outstanding and award-winning film shorts by several Bay Area filmmakers to Oakland.

The 2-Day event began July 12, from 6-9 pm, at Oakstop, a 100% Black Owned Business that is a place-based enterprise offering affordable workspace, event space, and arts programming to catalyze collaboration, professional development, and economic sustainability for creative entrepreneurs and small local businesses for an unforgettable evening celebrating Black excellence. The event included an opportunity to meet the filmmakers and host a discussion on streaming’s impact on Black and diverse filmmakers.

On July 13, the Oakland community experienced an exciting lineup of inspiring short films from talented Black filmmakers ready to share their stories. The film festival featured 17 films screened from 10 am – 8 pm at the Regal Theatre in Jack London Square, 100 Washington Street in Oakland. The films covered animation, comedy, and drama, including a dedicated youth block of movies.

ReelTV was represented by filmmakers Veston Smith and his short film, LUCILE, a powerful documentary that follows a dyslexic teenager navigating family dysfunction, tragedy, and self-acceptance, along with Leslie Alarcon and ReelTV founder Nicholas Da Silva, for their films, STONEFRENGE: The Fourth Kind, a sci-fi short film, and The Last Man Standing, a documentary on the life of Abstract Expressionist Painter, Arthur Monroe.

About BHERC

Founded by Sandra Evers-Manly, from Pittsburg, CA, BHERC is a nonprofit, public benefit organization designed to advocate, educate, research, develop, and preserve the history and future of Black images in film and television.

About Tech Exchange

Tech Exchange was founded by Bruce Buckelew, a pioneer in addressing the digital divide through green technology solutions. After retiring from IBM as a Systems Engineer and Manager, Bruce completed his Masters coursework in Educational Technology at San Francisco State University and began volunteering at Oakland Technical High School. With the help of students, Bruce began refurbishing computers to provide to families in need. For nearly 29 years, we have provided free refurbished computers and digital literacy training to low-income families and supported schools’ and community centers’ technology needs.