https://www.upsidefilmfestival.com/home daily 1.0 2024-03-20 https://www.upsidefilmfestival.com/donate daily 0.75 2020-09-22 https://www.upsidefilmfestival.com/culture daily 0.75 2020-09-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1599173266734-QEFW7F2QJ6S9JDQI4254/IMG_0416.JPG CULTURE - A LOOK UP. Access, community, genre, for the people! We started this festival in 2017 after years of yearning for the gap between ideas and access to be bridged - that’s a celebration in itself. We want blackness in creative positions of power and influence, accessibility of black art to the greater community, more importance given to the community, more discussions, more action. Black spaces, black filmmakers, black storytelling as our structure. We give filmmakers and attendees a chance to break down their work and its social impact in a non-academic setting, providing a space where all of us can feel inspired, supported, and more able as we go off to create our own art! And when that art does get created, you know where to find us. — The Upside Team https://www.upsidefilmfestival.com/team daily 0.75 2026-07-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600288740463-GQ820SVUFLU12OQCQKVQ/Screen+Shot+2020-09-01+at+3.46.35+PM.png TEAM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600288586314-USSP3ZPC225UY5OST971/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-09-01%2Bat%2B3.52.07%2BPM.jpg TEAM https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1614960251026-NU6Y82VT977NULFRZF4C/IMG_0598.jpg TEAM https://www.upsidefilmfestival.com/calendar daily 0.75 2026-07-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600548824599-M6SU5MR4Y257VPTEXPOB/IMG_0432.JPG CALENDAR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600548848613-2S9XX0KHI09KSEDH49U7/IMG_0416.JPG CALENDAR 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CALENDAR - “EVIDENCE OF DEATH AND REVIVAL” - November 3, 2017 Joseph Daniel Wilson Garden, Harlem Films screened - Swimming In Your Skin Again, Everybody Dies, Baldwin’s Nigger, Rest In Power Malik Carmichael, Are You My Mother?, Weight Q + A with filmmakers Andre Daughtry, Nova Scott-James, Terence Nance https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600289978975-SN6E5560RXXPZ58H5D3R/upside%2Bfilm%2Bfeb%2B21.jpg CALENDAR - FUNDRAISER- February 21, 2018 Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, UWS Screening of Cheryl Dunye’s Watermelon Woman preceded by a work in progress screening of Shelby Zoe Coley’s “Talk the Ting” Q + A with “Watermelon Woman” producer Alexandra Juhasz Acquisition of 2k+ in donations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600748725809-II2WI5ZARDLO1VNA5364/Screen+Shot+2020-08-14+at+11.15.40+AM.png CALENDAR - “LOVE AT FIRST FILM” - June 16, 2018 Starr Bar, BK “How we fell for film and why we’re still in love” Interactive storytelling show where filmmakers and creatives shared their most formative, hilarious, and impactful experiences as lovers of cinema Platform for who those may not fit into the mold of what society imagines as ‘film nerds’ Cultivated a safe and inclusive community in the process https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600792166221-E9X3ME5EX7WND22F966R/Screen+Shot+2020-08-13+at+2.48.47+PM.png CALENDAR - “UPSIDE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON” - November 10, 2018 All Souls Church, Harlem Exploring blackness, femininity, horror, and dream-like imagination Post screening talk back dissecting Night of The Living Dead through a black lens Discussion of the new age of afro-supernatural storytelling https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600748967484-R4OFQ82HWNPR5IZKKPH1/Screen+Shot+2020-08-13+at+2.18.48+PM.png CALENDAR - PRODUCTION OF “BLOOM” MUSIC VIDEO - March 2019 “Bloom!” by Ajay Ram x Iblss music video production Directed by Ajay Ram, Suzy Swygert, and Purav Virdi Director of Photography Emir Fils-Aime Producers Tarik Cummings and Ayala Maurice 40+ members of the Upside community behind and in front of the camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600749363939-IQTXYTELGP7KJIYWCLT8/Screen+Shot+2020-08-13+at+1.48.12+PM.png CALENDAR - “SUNDAY FUNDAY” - August 18, 2019 Black Film Festival Panel discussing our experiences with programming and within the community at large Live music performances from Mad Moon (Akai Solo x Iblss), Keiyaa, Ajay Ram Panelists from African Film Festival, Black Film Space, and Ways of Seeing Moderated by Vernon Jordan III https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1600749763801-EWKR0M6ZLNGIJ5W9GZVE/Screen+Shot+2020-07-05+at+6.47.39+PM.png CALENDAR - SIMULATED WRITER’S ROOM - July 2020 Collaboration with Black Film Space Writer’s Room Simulation Crafting a short film based off of a tagline Every Sunday in July from 3-6pm Attendance: 25 allowed within Zoom meeting, over 100 viewers on Youtube https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1613766018227-H6WB2411537Z7NE54U8Z/Screen+Shot+2021-02-19+at+3.20.00+PM.png CALENDAR - New York Film Festival Panel - September 2020 Part of the Talks section of NYFF 2020 Ajay representing in a panel titled “Outside the Canon” - a discussion about and between organizations that practice grassroots methods of film distribution and exhibition Other panelists from No Evil Eye, The DocYard, The Eyeslicer, and Light Industry Watch full talk here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d508a30f965341cdaa2e1/1614960746737-QWMGNMMTWL0YGVFIK7C1/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+11.12.05+AM.png CALENDAR - Upside x Film at Lincoln Center present: “See You At The Séance” - February 2021 Co-created an event for FLC’s Free Talks Closed out February with a virtual party :) “Creators who use the archive to commune with the future come together to discuss how they craft translations of Blackness through the bending, wielding, and visual exploration of time. What are the tangible effects of this holy, intangible ritual?” Panelists included Jourdain Searles (Medium, The New York Times, Variety), Idris Brewster (TRAVELING THE INTERSTITIUM WITH OCTAVIA BUTLER, The Monuments Project), and Vernon Jordan III (See My Dreams Come True, Screencraft 2020) Preceded by set from DJ Highgnx Watch full talk here