SFMOMA and SFFILM Present Modern Cinema – Black Powers: Reframing Hollywood
If you live in or near the San Francisco Bay Area this month is going to be a real cinephiles dream.
Modern Cinema, with the help of SFMOMA and SFFILM, will be presenting Black Powers: Reframing Hollywood July 12–29 with seminal works of black cinema including Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman, Leslie Harris’s Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. and Theodore Witcher’s Love Jones. All three directors will also introduce their films.
Modern Cinema is an ongoing film series exploring the dynamic forces interacting between cinema’s past and present. All screenings will take place at the Phyllis Wattis Theater.
For tickets and information visit sffilm.org. Through July 11, SFFILM and SFMOMA members get get access to a special early-bird price of just $5 per ticket.
Here is the list of special guests and films this season.
- Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky) will introduce Body and Soul on July 12
- Ryanaustin Dennis, founding member of The Black Aesthetic in Oakland, will introduce Chameleon Street on July 13, and Ganja and Hess on July 27
- Director Theodore Witcher will introduce his film Love Jones on July 15
- Performer Honey Mahogany will introduce Mahogany on July 19
- Director Cheryl Dunye will introduce her film The Watermelon Woman on July 20
- Performer, writer, and musician Brontez Purnell will introduce House Party on July 20
- Director Leslie Harris, will introduce her film Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. on July 21
- Director Michael Schultz will introduce his films Car Wash on July 21, and Krush Groove on July 22 (plus, following Krush Groove, Schultz will be in conversation with DJ Spooky)
- Filmmaker Peter Nicks will introduce Fruitvale Station on July 26
- Filmmaker Mohammad Gorjestani will introduce Middle of Nowhere on July 28
- Cornelius Moore, co-director of the distribution and projection company California Newsreel, will introduce Love & Basketball on July 29
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2026 Tribeca Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary with World Premieres of ‘Hadestown: The Musical,’ ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ Doc - April 16, 2026
- ‘Beef’ Season 2 Review: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton Sink Their Teeth Into Lee Sung Jin’s Meaty Morality Tale [A-] - April 16, 2026
- George Clooney to be Honored at 51st Chaplin Award Gala by Stephen Colbert, Sam Rockwell and More - April 15, 2026
2026 Tonys: Laurie Metcalf (‘Little Bear Ridge Road,’ ‘Death of a Salesman’) May Join Elite Group of Double-Nominated Performers 
2026 Tribeca Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary with World Premieres of ‘Hadestown: The Musical,’ ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ Doc 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 149 – ‘Killer of Sheep’ (Charles Burnett, 1978) 
‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ Review: Careful the Spell You Cast, Children Will Listen (and Sometimes Kill) [C]