Yahoo Lifestyle ‘Blknws: Terms & Conditions’ Premieres at Sundance After Getting Canceled; Introduced as a ‘Visionary Feature Film’ From a ‘Tenacious, Unstoppable Artist’
After being pulled from the Sundance lineup and returned within a matter of days, “Blknws: Terms & Conditions” debuted at Park City on Monday morning. Before the film’s introduction, an energetic audience member yelled out “Black News!,” which got a big cheer from the crowd.
Director Kahlil Joseph was on hand to introduce the film, welcomed by Sundance senior programmer Shari Frilot.
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“He was here just as the world was about to change in 2019, to present ‘Blknw’s in various venues as a kind of broadcast TV news intervention project. Now, as the world is about to change again, ‘Blknws’ has manifested as this visionary feature film that is singularly unique and really offers medicine for our times,” Frilot said, describing Joseph as a “tenacious, unstoppable artist.”
Joseph kept his opening remarks brief, thanking the audience for attending the early morning screening at the Egyptian Theatre, which was well-attended given the early start time and late re-addition to the schedule. The filmmaker shouted out his mother and daughter in the audience and encouraged attendees to stick around for the post-screening Q&A.
“Blknws: Terms & Conditions” was pulled from the Sundance lineup on Tuesday after its financier, the now-defunct Participant Media, claimed a new cut was being sent to film festivals. Yet on Saturday the issue was resolved, due to James Shani’s Rich Spirit and BN Media acquiring the film and buying Participant out of its rights. “Blknws: Terms & Conditions” was quickly allowed to screen at Sundance once more, with the hopes of getting a new distributor on board.
After the new deal, Joseph and producer Onye Anyanwu thanked Participant for “their willingness to relinquish ownership of the film, a gesture that allows audiences to finally experience what we’ve spent years crafting alongside so many contributing artists. This moment has been a long time coming, and we are thrilled to finally share this with the world.”
During a post-premiere Q&A, the financier woes were not brought up, but the director did speak about how he hoped people would be able to see the movie.
“Honestly, I want people to watch it for free,” Joseph said. “If Kendrick Lamar comes out with a new album, I can just listen to it. I don’t think my words are more important than his that I am asking people to pay for mine, but that’s maybe me living in the future. I’d like people to see it. I think YouTube allows for that — It’s going to end up on YouTube eventually, right? So, I don’t know … it’d be great if audiences were packed out all over the world in theaters, but who knows.”
Participant was also acknowledged in the film’s opening and end credits.
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