Black Harvest Film Festival kicks off at Gene Siskel Film Center

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The annual Black Harvest Film Festival kicks off on Friday, as they enter their 29th year of celebrating the Black diaspora through film.

The Black Harvest Film Festival has been showcasing Black film since the early 1990s. The jam-packed festival always boasts a full calendar of events, including screenings, panels, and discussions with filmmakers. While the festival exists to elevate and celebrate Black film, organizers said there's something there for everyone.

For the next two weeks, the Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street will transform into a showcase of Black cinema.

"Black Harvest is celebrating revolutionary visions, and you can expect to see just that," said festival lead curator Jada-Amina.

"Our goals are to be able to expand and push the boundaries of Black cinema to a new horizon," said festival coordinator Nick Leffal. "And being able to make a safe and visible and accessible space for ourselves in an industry that hasn't traditionally been that way."

Jada-Amina and Leffal developed two weeks of programming dedicated to an exploration of Black film and creating spaces for Black filmmakers who otherwise might not have had someplace to show their work.

"It's quite a rare thing to be able to have that, and historically, it hasn't been something that has been able to be celebrated specifically in the Midwest, specifically in Chicago," Leffal said.

From films like "Boyz n the Hood" to "The Cry of Jazz," festival organizers said their goal is to highlight the multi-faceted Black experience.

"The films really respond to the sort of expanse of revolutionary thought, revolutionary care, revolutionary, you know, love," Jada-Amina said.

"We have so much to offer across a lot of different genres," Leffal said.

Traditionally, film festivals will divvy up the program based on genre, but not at Black Harvest.

"Being able to put that in one big melting pot has been extremely exciting," Leffal said.

"Along with that, we have wonderful workshops and panels with emerging filmmakers, directors, actors – the whole Black cinematic gamut," Jada-Amina said.

But this festival isn't just for Black folks.

"It's a celebration of Black life and culture and artistry. But it's for everybody and anybody," Leffal said.

"So come to the box office, get a ticket, get in those seats, get in the theater, and be changed," Jada-Amina said.

Tickets for Black Harvest are still available at siskelfilmcenter.org, as well as in-person at the box office. The festival funs through Nov. 16.