SAN ANTONIO — For Ada Babineaux, something was missing.
Three years after scraping together the first edition of the San Antonio Black International Film Festival – an event to spotlight Black Texas storytellers and honor industry icons while providing how-to for the next generation – the South Texas native figured it was time to incorporate a new element. Something that would bring SABIFF just a little bit closer to the prestige of Hollywood’s biggest night.
“This is gonna be our Oscar,” Babineaux said, referring to the ankh-shaped statuette that, starting this year, will be given to esteemed festival honorees. “I just have to find someone local who can make it, ‘cause I had to get that made in Pakistan. Just the shipping alone was a killer.”
Babineaux wore a much smaller ankh around her neck when she spoke to KENS 5 about ongoing preparations for SABIFF 2022, which kicks off Thursday and lasts through Sunday. It’s a traditional Egyptian symbol for life, but in the context of SABIFF it also represents growth.
Since its first edition in 2019, Babineaux, herself a San Antonio native and filmmaker, has worked to expand the San Antonio Black International Film Festival’s footprint. A wide-ranging artistic showcase, SABIFF has since emerged as one of the most vital cultural celebrations headquartered on the east side.
The metrics bear it out: The number of movie submissions has gone up every year; the budgetary burden of organizing a days-long festival has eased with the securing of new grants; and while the first edition of SABIFF in 2019 featured five panels and workshops, this year’s will have more than a dozen talks on topics ranging from anime production and illustration to inclusivity and the potential of virtual reality.
And because this is the first time the festival will be entirely in-person since 2019, Babineaux says she didn’t see any reason to limit accessibility. Screenings of the in-competition films are the only events where you'll have to get a ticket.
“I was like, ‘OK, we can charge $50 for opening night and probably get a few people here and there. Or we can just let it be free and let people really see and experience all that we’re offering,’” she said. “So that’s what we decided to do: We just opened it up. We wanted to come back with a bang.”
For a festival as much about empowering young filmmakers as it is showing off today’s talents, the festival’s founder wants it to be as much of a community experience as possible—in order to fully share what’s possible in filmmaking.
“The whole animation industry is taking off in leaps and bounds,” Babineaux says. “I want to relay the message: If you don’t see it, create it yourself.”
‘Things are changing slowly’
Brian Holder knows all about creating it yourself. As a young Black actor, he observed firsthand the relative lack of access afforded to POC performers, particularly when it comes to voice acting.
So he did something about it.
“People should be based solely on their acting abilities (during casting),” Holder said. “I want to make this company more geared towards helping POCs get into the industry, and prepare them.”
Holder created LazuArts Entertainment, an Addison-based company that provides audio and talent coordination services while also helping actors perfect their demo reels.
But the mission for the company, touting itself as the first Black-owned dubbing studio (referring to the process of providing dialogue in a new language), revolves around “raising the bar for diversity and inclusion both in front of and behind the mic,” to chip away at lingering practices of tokenism that only create the illusion of diversity.
“I experienced that while working in my day job in marketing, where they only hire one Black person or have one Black person do all the roles," Holder said. "That's also why I decided to create my company.”
LazuArts may not be based out of LA or New York City, but it’s already creating international partnerships; Holder says his company is on track to securing the dubbing job for a movie which premiered at Fantastic Fest last month and is expected to open huge in Japan.
Meanwhile, Holder will be at SABIFF this weekend, where he’ll help lead a panel on developing animated stories. Teaming up with him is Austin-based Samantha Inoue-Harte, an industry veteran; since the late-’90s she’s dabbled in every aspect of production, from consulting for Nickelodeon to overseeing anime character design (and doing some acting of her own).
“When people ask, ‘What do you do?’ I’m like, ‘I’ll do whatever pays the bills,’” says Inoue-Harte, who these days mostly works with the award-winning Japanese studio Gonzo, and makes sure to emphasize how anime is far more than the misconceptions tend to suggest (just like animation is more than just family-friendly cartoons).
More and more people from different cultural backgrounds are continuing to see themselves represented in animation compared to when she started out, she says, while women are increasingly visible in behind-the-scenes roles. The anime industry found a treasure trove of opportunity when it recognized it had fans of all skin colors, and all over the world.
But that’s created its own new challenges, Inoue-Harte says, such as when white voice performers are hired to perform as Black or Asian characters. And she’s found her own experience varies depending on who she’s working with.
“It’s interesting seeing how in Japan I’m considered equal to everyone there. Nobody questions my authority when I say, ‘Hey, we need to make changes to this character design,’” she says. “Whereas here, I immediately get pushback. I’m hoping that one day things will be a little bit more even. Things are changing slowly.”
The festival’s other panels – all of them free to attend – are a mixture of pre-taped and live in-person conversations held at St. Philip’s College, Carver Library or Magik Theatre, depending on the day. Find daily schedules here.
A range of storytelling
And then there are the movies themselves.
SABIFF 2022 (cosponsored by the San Antonio Film Commission) has 58 movies on the docket, though the term “movie” is a loose one: there are shorts and features, documentaries and music videos, experimental works from U.S. creators and offerings from as far away as India and Trinidad. They’re sorted into blocks, grouped around uniting ideas of family, community or justice, for example.
The breadth is meant to reflect a range of experience, Babineaux says, as well as the potential waiting to be ignited as Black filmmakers are given a chance to tell their stories.
Her long-term hope is that she’s helping pave the way for an east-side café where Black films can be screened and talked about.
“Where we can have dialogue and intellectual discussions,” she says. “I’m craving it. That’s the goal.”
But for the SABIFF founder and director, spotlighting the past is just as important as raising the curtain on the present and future. That’s why the festival will kick off with an evening devoted to contemporary animator Bruce Smith, a cocreator of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder,” before culminating in an under-the stars screening of a documentary centered on the life of Floyd Norman, complete with vendors, food truck and a DJ.
You might not know the name Floyd Norman. But given how closely he worked with Walt Disney in producing some of the most beloved animated movies of all time, Babineaux believes you should.
“You feel like you’re cheated, like, ‘I didn’t learn that part of history, why didn’t I know this?’” she said. “He had an amazing life. All those classics we grew up with, I didn’t know a Black man was behind the scenes. So I’m hoping our audience appreciates that.”
The 2022 San Antonio Black International Film Festival runs Thursday through Sunday. The opening and closing night ceremonies, along with all panels and Sunday's awards ceremony, are free to attend. Tickets for virtual screenings of all in-competition films cost $40, while in-person day passes cost $30. Buy tickets here.
