Gayle Anderson reports the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF), one of the largest Black History Month events in America and the largest Black film festival, begins its yearlong, 30th anniversary celebration in February with the first of several specially curated blocks of the festival’s most fascinating, complex, and most liked films of the past three decades.

During the festival’s 30-year history, PAFF has celebrated Black filmmakers and actors whose work has pushed the envelope in cinema in the US and abroad in Africa and other parts of the world. The Best of PAFF Retrospective Series kicks off with a Black History Month exhibition featuring nearly two dozen cinematic groundbreaking foreign and domestic films. The inaugural Best of PAFF Retrospective

Series happens virtually from Feb. 15 through Feb. 28, 2022. Film listings, tickets, and passes are available at paff.org.

To celebrate PAFF’s 30-year milestone, the festival will continue its retrospective series in March highlighting Black female filmmakers and their films. In addition, the 30th annual Pan African Film and Arts Festival is slated to happen Tuesday, April 19 through Sunday, May 1, 2022, after being postponed due to the rise of COVID cases in Los Angeles County.

About the Pan African Film Festival: Established in 1992 by Hollywood veterans Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon), the late Ja’Net DuBois (“Good Times”), and Ayuko Babu (Executive Director), the Pan African Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has remained dedicated to the promotion of Black stories and images through the exhibition of film, visual art, and other creative expression. PAFF is one of the largest and most prestigious Black film festivals in the U.S. and attracts local, national, and international audiences. In addition, it is an Oscar-qualifying festival for animation and live-action films, and one of the largest Black History Month events in America.

This aired on the KTLA 5 Morning News on Feb. 7, 2022.