Firelight Films

🌟 Marcia Smith 🌟 🎤 Her view on Black Public Media and her 2026 Trailblazers Award 👀 Watch the whole interview on the Eirini Mo Asks YouTube channel and subscribe for free to the channel ➡️ Link in bio. #bipoc #bipocfilmmakers #blackcreators #pitchblack26 #blackpublicmedia

Celebrate Sun Ra's Arrival Day with three special screenings of Sun Ra: Do The Impossible directed by Christine Turner. MAY 20 · Birmingham, AL - Sidewalk Cinema MAY 21 · London, UK - ICA MAY 23 · San Francisco, CA - 4 Star Theatre A chance to gather, remember, and feel what he left behind. 🪐 🎟️ For more information + tickets visit link in bio.

Thank you to Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky for presenting the Austrian premiere of ‘Sun Ra: Do the Impossible’ last night at the Austrian Film Museum! Photo Credits: Austrian Film Museum © Eszter Kondor & Michaela Hatzenbichler

“San Juan Hill: Manhattan's Lost Neighborhood" is now available to stream for FREE from the Lincoln Center YouTube channel! Directed by Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson, and narrated by Oscar-Award-winning actress @arianadebose , the documentary traces the history of San Juan Hill, the area where Lincoln Center now stands, and celebrates the cultural and artistic legacy of those who called it home. 🎞️ Watch it now at the link in our bio!

Congratulations to the Firelight Family honored at Black Public Media’s PitchBlack Awards last week! Firelight-supported filmmaker Luchina Fisher’s ‘Hiding in Plain Sight’ (PBS/Firelight William Greaves Production Fund) took home the top prize of $150k through the PitchBlack Competition. Meanwhile, Firelight Media Co-Founders Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith were honored with the 2026 BPM Trailblazer Award. Photo credits: @blackpublicmedia & Ximena Amescua.

WE WANT THE FUNK! Directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London is available to stream now through June 11. Watch the film on the PBS App & PBS.org & PBS YouTube channel. To watch WE WANT THE FUNK! on your computer, go to / and search the title. To watch the film on a TV, phone, or tablet, you'll need to download the PBS App. On a TV, download the PBS app on Roku, Apple TV, or your smart TV interface. Once you're in the PBS App, look for the Independent Lens title or search for WE WANT THE FUNK!

Black Public Media @blackpublicmedia is proud to honor 2026 BPM Trailblazers Stanley Nelson & Marcia Smith @marciasmith58 with a special retrospective screening ✨ Join us for an encore presentation of We Want the Funk! + a live Q&A with the filmmakers. 📍 City College of New York 📅 April 27 | 6–9 PM ET 🎟️ Free + open to the public (limited seating) Reserve your spot now! Link in bio. Co-presented by Third World Newsreel, the Documentary Forum and MCA at CCNY and Firelight Media @firelight_media . #WeWanttheFunkFilm #StanleyNelson #MarciaSmith #BlackPublicMedia #2026BPMTrailblazer #FirelightMedia

✨ In the Peabody-nominated documentary Critical Condition: Health in Black America, filmmaker Stanley Nelson examines the historical and environmental factors driving significant health disparities among Black Americans, while also promoting dialogue and advocating for solutions through a comprehensive outreach campaign designed to educate communities and healthcare institutions about these urgent challenges. #PeabodyNominee #StoriesThatMatter

The Billie Holiday Theatre, in partnership with the Office of Council Member Chi Ossé and Field Meridians, presented a community screening of Firelight Films' "Sun Ra: Do the Impossible," directed by @christineturner . A conversation with Ahmed Abdullah and Timhotep Aku followed the screening. Visit www.firelightfilms.tv to learn about a screening happening near you! Photo Credit: Jordan Macy, Office of Council Member Chi Ossé. Thank you @fieldmeredians - partner @timmhotep - journalist/moderator @ahmed_abdullahs_diaspora - trumpeter/former arkestra member @billieholidaytheatre @cmchiosse

Join Firelight Media and Firelight Films in celebrating our founders, Stanley Nelson, and producer Marcia Smith as 2026 BPM Trailblazers. We’re co-presenting a special screening of We Want the Funk! —co-directed by Stanley Nelson and Nicole London —followed by a live Q&A with Stanley Nelson. 📅 April 27 📍 City College of New York 🎟️ Free tickets available now RSVP: Link in Bio 💫 Come be part of the celebration.

We are so proud. ✨ Critical Condition: Health in Black America has been nominated for a Peabody Award and a News and Doc Emmy. Directed by Stanley Nelson, this film examines the historical, environmental, and systemic roots of the health disparities Black Americans face and challenges the myths in medical science that have gone unquestioned for too long. Thank you to our partners at @novapbs for bringing this story to audiences who need it most. This recognition belongs to everyone who has watched, shared, and kept this conversation alive. ❤️ 💫

Congratulations to Stanley Nelson and Firelight Films as two of his films, WE WANT THE FUNK! and CRITICAL CONDITION: HEALTH IN BLACK AMERICA, are nominated for 2026 News & Documentary Emmy Awards!🔥🍾👏🏼🎉🎊 . . . WE WANT THE FUNK! is a syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, spanning from African, soul, and early jazz roots, to its rise into the public consciousness. Featuring James Brown's dynamism, the extraterrestrial funk of George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic, transformed girl group Labelle, and Fela Kuti's Afrobeat, the story also traces funk's influences on both new wave and hip-hop. . . . From the deep history of pseudoscientific beliefs about race that still permeate modern medicine, to the latest research on how experiencing discrimination can directly damage human cells, CRITICAL CONDITION: HEALTH IN BLACK AMERICA explores the factors behind the health crisis facing Black Americans. . . . Thank you Stanley and team for the opportunity to Color Grade & Finish your ground breaking films here at @hellscolorkitchen . It is always an incredible pleasure collaborating with you! . . . WE WANT THE FUNK! now streaming on PBS Independent Lens. CRITICAL CONDITION: HEALTH IN BLACK AMERICA now streaming on NOVA. . . . Color Grading/Online Facility @HellsColorKitchen WE WANT THE FUNK! Colorist/Online Editor Don Wyllie @dwyllie2015 Online Editor Ian Heifetz CRITICAL CONDITION: HEALTH IN BLACK AMERICA Colorist Ian Heifetz DI Producer Sheila Lynch @saoirse2f Senior Conform Editor Bahron Thomas @the_bpt_renaissance Post Production Coordinator Karla Rodriguez @karlacristina02 Assistant Online Editor Javier Chorrillos @xjstrider18x