Brother to screen at the Denton Black Film Festival

The films in this collection tackle some of society’s most difficult topics – adding light and transparency to subjects we talk about a lot but still don’t quite understand.

Denton Black Film Festival

01.07.21

The Pandemic Chronicles to screen at the Denton Black Film Festival

The world may have stopped in 2020 but these filmmakers didn't stay idle. Their creativity adapted to new ways of working to share challenging, yet familiar stories.

Denton Black Film Festival

01.07.21

The Pandemic Chronicles win an Audience Choice Award at the Capital City Black Film Festival

Capital City Black Film Festival

01.06.21

The Pandemic Chronicles win the Audience Choice Award at the Centre Film Festival

A film for our times

Centre Film Festival

01.06.21

Ya’Ke is awarded the Oscar Micheax Award from the Bare Bones Film Festival

Awarded to a Filmmaker that exudes the legacy left by early film pioneer Oscar Micheaux.

Bare Bones Film Festival

01.06.21

Ya’Ke is awarded Best Director at the Victoria Texas Indie Film Festival

Brother which examines racism as the friendship between two teenagers is put to the test once a prejudiced older sibling returns home from prison.

The Victoria Texas Indie Film Festival

01.06.21

Brother wins an award at the Bare Bones Film Festival

Brother won 2nd place in the Drama Shorts Category

The Bare Bones Film Festival

10.06.20

Brother wins Best Texas Short Film at the Deep in The Heart Film Festival

Brother wins Best Texas Short Film

Deep in The Heart Film Festival

10.06.20

The Pandemic Chronicles Screening as part of the Austin Film Festival

The Pandemic Chronicles will screen at this year's virtual film festival from October 22-29

The Austin Film Festival

10.06.20

Brother Screening at The International Black Film Festival

Brother will screen virtually from September 30th-October 4th

International Black Film Festival

09.29.20

Dear Bruh and Brother win the Curator’s Choice Award at the Walla Walla Movie Crush.

I found myself astonished by a moviemaker who contributed both a fictional short and a documentary that demand we witness America’s ugly truths.

Walla Walla Movie Crush Virtual Edition

09.26.20

Brother Screening at the Deep in The Heart Film Festival

Brother racks up four nominations at this year's Deep in The Heart Film Festival.

Deep in The Heart Film Festival Virtual Edition

09.26.20

AFS Announces 2020 Feature Grant Recipients

Fifteen films. Sixteen filmmakers. That's the roster of titles that will receive a total of $111,000 in cash and $15,000 in goods and services under the Austin Film Society's AFS Grants for 2020.

The Austin Chronicle

09.01.20

We finally found a preschool that embraced and challenged our Black toddler, and COVID hit.

Timeout was their punishment. The threat of expulsion was his.

The Dallas Morning News

09.01.20

Taft’s 2019 Artist-in-Residence: Independent Filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith

His residency at The Taft provides a unique opportunity to bring his vision to our region and respond to his newly branded artistic landscape — both physical and human.

Soapbox Cincinnati

08.14.20

Creating Art From the Soul | Ya’Ke Smith | TEDxUTA

Ya’Ke speaks on the inspirations for his films as well as the impact he hopes they will have on the viewer.

TED x UTA

08.16.20

Filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith weighs in on the times with ‘Pandemic Chronicles’ series

The shorts will serve to document a time when the world was askew.

The Dallas Morning News

08.16.20

Texas Filmmaker’s Short ‘Dear Bruh’ Aims To Give Voice To Murdered Black Men

Lays bare the way society places Black men and women in a box that’s all too often labeled “threat” rather than “opportunity.”

Texas Public Radio

08.16.20

Austin Filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith’s New Short, “Dear Bruh,” Honors Lives Lost to Police Violence

In a pleading voice-over, actors read a poem Smith wrote during the first wave of Black Lives Matter protests. “I ached, because I realized that when they killed you, they killed a piece of me too."

The Texas Monthly

08.16.20

Texas Filmmaker, Professor Discusses Racial Injustice, Being an Ally

Protests across the country over the death of George Floyd have sparked a call to action for reforms, but it’s also triggered a conversation about how white and non-black people can be better allies.

Spectrum News

08.16.20