To celebrate Black History Month, HISFF announces a competition for college students to create a short film on the first Black athlete at their University.

HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES, February 11, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Houston International Sports Film Festival is excited to launch the college student short film competition. To celebrate Black History Month and add a sports theme, it announces the launch of a competition for college students to create a short film on the first Black athlete from a sport at their University.

While the competition is catered to students who are studying film as a major, it is open to all college students and current student athletes. HISFF also encourages collaborations between film students and collegiate athletes on these short films. One of the Festival's goals with the competition is to help start a conversation between people who may come from diverse backgrounds and are united by a passion for their favorite team. Just like historical athlete activists broke down barriers on the field, HISFF hopes to use the path sports and film can forge as inspiration to come together and discuss difficult subjects.

Advisor to Festival Founder Josh Merwin, BK Fulton is excited to take a roll in developing not only the content but also the importance of this type of competition in the public eye. BK, the founding Chairman & CEO of Soulidifly Productions, a feature film and media investment company designed to promote a more inclusive narrative in contemporary media, will undoubtedly provide a necessary perspective and valuable insight into making this competition impactful for all audiences.

"Too often there are people that get duped by leaders that promote false information and I think it’s up to the creatives and artists from all groups to push decency, to push honor, to push what’s right," says Fulton. "As MLK would say, 'it’s always the right time to do the right thing.'"

In a recent interview on the Festival's interview series page, Josh and BK bond over their love for powerful stories and their mutual interest in bringing the Black and Jewish communities together to fight racism and antisemitism. BK and Josh appreciate the long history these communities have working together towards the common goal of equality for all. Josh and BK discuss the power that sports and athletes have to change the conversation. These athletes who have broken barriers on the field continue paving the way for change off the field as well. Jesse Owens is one of those athletes. By winning four Gold Medals at the 1936 Olympics, Jesse proved false Hitler's theory of Aryan racial superiority.

How does the competition work?

Contestants are encouraged to submit short film(s) via the festival’s FilmFreeway webpage: https://filmfreeway.com/hisff.

HISFF's goal is to screen ALL short films during the festival.

Festival judges will screen each film. "While we anticipate most of these will be documentary style, we are open to all types of short film(s), documentaries, narratives, animated films, multimedia projects, and portrait series -- (or even a new format that no one's ever seen before)," ~ says Merwin, "As long as we can present it in a video or photo format on screen or online, bring it on!"

What is special about winning?

HISFF will select a winner from all entries during the festival and the winner will get to shoot a film with the festival’s RED Komodo camera.

Hopes for the future for the competition?

While HISFF is focusing on the first Black athlete from a University in its first year, this yearly competition will highlight “people on the margins" whose contributions to sports and society deserve to be recognized.

Any colleges already participating?/ Support your Alma Matter

HISFF will be announcing Universities during the next few weeks, and "We are also looking for alumni from Universities to have them be an executive producer for the film on their university’s first Black athlete. This will be a great way for them support a student from their alma mater, support the festival and our racial equality programming." ~ says Merwin.

How can I donate?

Visit https://www.swamp.org/hlsff to donate.

By making a donation to the Festival's racial equality program, in honor of the donor's University, HISFF will pair the donor now titled an 'executive producer' with a college student, and if applicable, a mentor to the student as well.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Taking place on June 3-6, 2021, the Houston International Sports Film Festival (HISFF) – www.hisff.org will feature programming focusing on the historical impact of athlete activists such as Muhammad Ali, Althea Gibson, and Billie Jean King. These films celebrating how athletes have broken down racial and gender barriers on the playing field, ultimately leading to positive change in the world.

As a Houston native, Merwin founded this festival “...to enhance Houston’s influence in the film world and celebrate the impact of sports through film. There is a vast landscape of film festivals in the U.S., but there is no major festival solely dedicated to spotlighting the sports element in the film world. I wanted to start this festival to give independent filmmakers a platform to launch their film careers bringing people together through sports and film with a stand alone festival helping leave a legacy for the City of Houston.”


ABOUT BK FULTON:

BK Fulton is the founding Chairman & CEO of Soulidifly Productions, a feature film and media investment company designed to promote a more inclusive narrative in contemporary media. Soulidifly is the first independent film company to produce four feature films in their first year of business (River Runs Red, Atone, 1 Angry Black Man and Love Dot Com: The Social Experiment). The author of nine books and Executive Producer of nine feature films, BK is also founder of SoulVision Magazine and SoulVision.TV. Prior to becoming a full- time author and media entrepreneur, BK was a successful senior level executive for the likes of Verizon, Time Warner and AOL. He has also held senior leadership, media, and technology posts with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Urban League. BK is a ComputerWorld Smithsonian Laureate Medal recipient and his thought-leading papers on media and technology are permanently archived at the Smithsonian Institute.

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