Founded in 2019, by @shakajamal and @wordslanger BAMFF is a multi-day celebration of Black storytelling through film, held each Black August in Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District. BAM Film Fest emerges at the intersection of cultural preservation and radical imagination, using the power of film to spotlight Black life in all its complexity and brilliance. The festival honors the legacy of Black August and the Black Arts Movement, liberatory actions that understood storytelling as a form of liberation.This year’s 2025 Theme is INHERITANCE - The stories we have the right to tell, and the stories we have the responsibility to tell. Dedicated to Nikki Giovanni and Oscar Micheaux.
