This February 2024, as part of Black Futures Month, the Crenshaw Dairy Mart (CDM) will host its first one-day film festival at The Miracle Theater in Inglewood, CA.

As an organization at the intersection of art and abolition, CDM asks: how does film play a role in the visual interpretation of this intersection? CDM seeks to explore how local filmmakers shift narratives on creativity and representation of our local community and how filmmakers utilize imagination and storytelling to envision new worlds and opportunities outside of systems that were not built to sustain our creativity.

Los Angeles is home to the filmmaking industry, yet there lacks a clear and sustainable pipeline for local filmmakers of color to access opportunities and even fewer opportunities for Black filmmakers specifically to experiment, fail, and grow safely. We understand the lack of resources and the level of risk associated with exploring this field and want to provide a safe space for artists at the margins to explore all realms of their creativity.

The Crenshaw Dairy Mart believes that the marginalization of artists and arts workers of color, particularly Black creatives, combined with the historically undervalued compensation for creative labor to cultural workers, has generated a harmful and unsafe creative environment for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color and arts workers of color.

We believe artists at the intersections of abolition and healing should have abundant resources for experimentation and creation within their community as conduits and conspirators against White Supremacist, capitalist, colonial, and imperialist regimes.

We hope this hyperlocal festival provides Black and brown filmmakers from South Central, Inglewood, and across Los Angeles with the opportunity to feel seen, heard, and celebrated.