Palace Theatre to co-host Albany’s Renaissance Black Film Festival in June

ALBANY – The inaugural Renaissance Black Film Festival (RBFF) is coming to New York’s Capital Region for a four-day run shared between the historic Palace Theatre and the opulent Renaissance Hotel starting Thursday, June 22. 

Tickets go on sale Friday, May 26, via Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available at the Palace Theatre Box Office (located at 19 Clinton Ave). Box Office hours are Monday – Friday, Noon to 5 p.m. as well as select days and hours for events and on sales.

The festival, anticipated to be an annual event, is helmed by serial entrepreneur and Palace Theatre’s Executive Director Kevin Johnson, filmmaker Micah Khan, and premier creative agency Collectiveffort. 

“Over the last decade, we’ve seen about 20 productions come to the area, each growing larger and larger. The secret of the flexibility, affordability, and overall beauty of our area has gotten out and folks that are here should be ready to join the industry as it lays roots,” said Collectiveffort Co-founder Patrick Harris.

NAACP Image Award recipient Morris Chestnut is supporting the festival as the event’s ambassador, as are panelists and honorary board members Gail Bean of FX’s Snowfall and Starz’s P-Valley and acclaimed screenwriter and director Jamal Hill, among many others. 

RBFF was developed with two goals in mind: to spotlight Black artists and creatives within the film industry and to recognize New York’s Capital Region as a budding filmmaking epicenter. 

RBFF will show films from a plethora of Black filmmakers across the country, with awards and cash prizes going to Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best First Project. 

The festival’s curators are accepting submissions up until Wednesday, June 7.