African-American Film Festival Returns for Third Year Across Quad-Cities
The Pulling Focus Film Festival returns for its third year this weekend, kicking off with a Thursday night opening reception at The Last Picture House, downtown Davenport.
In 2023, Azubuike African American Council for the Arts launched the inaugural year of the Pulling Focus Film Festival, an annual celebration of film and culture that focuses on enriching the lives of Quad Cities residents by presenting unique experiences framed through the lens of African-American and Black Diasporic voices. After several years of holding the Urban Exposure Independent Film Project Summer Film Program, which teaches filmmaking to underrepresented and at-risk youth in our community, Azubuike has identified the need for a regional film festival that celebrates and promotes Black filmmakers.
The free festival — founded by Gaye Shannon Burnett and Jonathan Burnett — is committed to empowering and inspiring Black filmmakers. The festival showcases cinematic stories made by and about people of African descent, fostering an appreciation for Black culture and creating awareness of the Black experience.
Moline native Zina Ellis plays Aphrodite in the premiere of her new series “Divine Intervention.”
The festival is held annually during the first (full) weekend in June in honor of the Juneteenth federal holiday to commemorate and celebrate, in our region, the struggles and triumphs of the Black Diaspora.
Moline native Zina Ellis’s film, “Divine.Intervention.Series,” her initial production, is a part of this festival. Ellis (a Moline High and Yale University alum) plans to attend the Thursday opening reception and screening at 6:30 p.m.
“Divine Intervention” is described as “an irreverent half-hour comedy about just that: the highs and lows of modern love, with a lot of help from the ancients.”
After nearly causing an international incident, Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love in her Kardashian-esque modern form) is stripped of her powers and sent to Earth. Once there, she strikes a deal with the other gods: regain her omnipotence by helping super-single Brooklynite Delia find true love, or be banished from the Pantheon forever, a synopsis says.
“I’m so excited for the film to have its first screening at home, with so many people who have loved and supported me over the years,” Ellis wrote on her Facebook page.
“I am so impressed by Zina’s initiative,” “Divine Intervention” director Dominique Nieves said in November 2023. “When I first met her, she had just written her first script and knew that taking it from page to screen would be a huge endeavor, and she is up for the challenge. I have seen her apply advice, take classes, apply for grants, and bring together a phenomenal team of women at the helm of this series. Zina is a powerhouse creative with a kind heart, who wants to bring a hilariously relatable story of love to audiences everywhere. I hope everyone in her community will stand behind her, as she is such an amazing example of the talent that comes out of Zina’s hometown.”
An image from the 2024 film “Color Book,” by David Fortune, about a devoted father adjusting to life after his wife’s passing, while raising his son with Down Syndrome.
The free screenings will be held through Sunday, June 8, at several QC venues – including Last Picture House (325 E. 2nd St., Davenport), TMBC Lincoln Center, Putnam Museum Giant Screen Theater, and Figge Art Museum (all in Davenport), and at Steam on Wheels, 2106 4th Ave., Rock Island.
Among the participating filmmakers is David Fortune, a writer and director based in Atlanta, Georgia. He was named Variety’s 2025 Directors to Watch and is a recipient of the AT&T Untold Stories Award, which provided a $1 million grant to direct his feature film, “Color Book,” which will be shown at Pulling Focus Saturday at 6:45 p.m.
The film premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Festival and has garnered jury and audience awards at festivals, including the Austin Film Festival, Deauville American Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Denver Film Festival, and several others. In addition to these recognitions, Fortune has also been nominated for the 2025 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative.
A new short film, “Rock Island Prison 1864,” is based on true events during the Civil War.
His short film “Us” was selected as a winner of the Netflix Content Creators Program, while his film “Shoebox,” produced through the Indeed-Hillman Grad’s Rising Voices Program, was acquired and distributed by Amazon Studios. Fortune has participated in numerous directing fellowships such as the Netflix – Film Independent Amplifier Fellowship, Village Roadshow Emerging Talent Program, and Paramount ViewFinders Directors Program, where he shadowed two episodes of “13 Reasons Why.”
Fortune is a proud alumnus of Morehouse College’s CTEMS Program (BA) and Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television (MFA). As a writer and director, he seeks to capture universal connections within marginalized communities while shedding light on the intimate human experiences.
Another acclaimed short film to be shown Thursday night is “Rock Island Prison 1864,” based on true events, made by director Joy Shannon (sister of Gaye Shannon Burnett).
Winner of the Best Drama Short in the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, the film is set during the Civil War, when the Union Army hired former slaves to guard Confederate prisoners of war, at the Rock Island Prison at Arsenal Island. It at one time housed over 10,000 Confederate prisoners.
The new film explores the psychological and emotional turmoil these young men faced as they navigated newfound freedom while being placed in a position of authority over those who had once enslaved them, according to a story at No Strings Attached e-news.
Joy Shannon, who grew up in Rock Island, was stunned when she first learned about the prison’s history, the story says, noting she had always known about the Union prison camp that housed Confederate soldiers. Still, the revelation that formerly enslaved Black soldiers were tasked with guarding them was a story that demanded to be told.
“Films on the Black Union soldiers’ participation in the Civil War are few and far between,” Shannon explained. “When I discovered that my quiet Midwestern town had this kind of history, I was astonished. But when I discovered that these men—many of whom had risked everything to escape slavery—were then placed in charge of their former oppressors, I knew I had to make this into a film.”
Now in its third year, the Pulling Focus Film Festival showcases short films by local, regional, national, and international filmmakers representing the Black Diaspora. It features screening events, panel discussions, an “Open Competition” Showcase, and the “Reel Impact” category, highlighting films with a strong social message.
This is the third year of the Pulling Focus African American Film Festival, running June 5-8, 2025.
Pulling Focus will conclude with an awards ceremony honoring the festival’s filmmakers. The films offer a profound glimpse into the diverse Black experience
“Pulling Focus bridges gaps between communities through cinema, emphasizing commonalities and promoting understanding, empathy, and shared aspirations,” says the festival website. “We are thrilled with the overwhelming response and are grateful for the support and participation from funders, community partners, filmmakers, judges, and audiences alike.
“We are excited to build upon this success and improve the Festival in 2025. We remain committed to showcasing compelling films that highlight the diverse tapestry of the Black experience and fostering understanding, empathy, and shared aspirations within our community,” the site says.
For more information and a complete schedule for Pulling Focus, click HERE.
