On The Scene: 10th Annual Bushwick Film Festival

Last weekend, we took in the festivities for the 10th Annual Bushwick Film Festival. The four-day festival kicked off with an opening night red carpet event setting the stage for three days of screenings, panels, workshops, networking events, and an awards ceremony.

One of our favorite events at the festival was the ‘Women In Film’ panel moderated by BFF creator Kweighbaye Kotee. The panelists for this event were Caroline Waterlow, producer and Academy Award winner for ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary ‘O.J.: Made in America’, Diarra Killpatrick, creator and star of ABC’s American KOKO, and Kuye Youngblood, Head of Development & Production at BRIC TV. The women shared stories of their experience on how they made it in the business as females and the challenges they currently face. One similarity between the panelists was their path as they all took on small jobs in the industry, networked, worked hard, and made the most of every opportunity that presented itself. This all came with the pressure of pursuing dreams and purpose over the stability of a 9 to 5 and the benefits that come along with it.

“You have to prioritize your dreams.” – @DiarraOni at the #womeninfilm panel @BushwickFilm. 🙏🏼 💛 #Bushwick10 pic.twitter.com/q1UAZuD0BB

— Lillian Isabella (@LillianIsabela) October 14, 2017


Our host Damian Emile had a chance to catch up with Caroline Waterlow after the event. Caroline, who is currently developing four projects, talks about the reception of the Academy Award winning documentary and how it relates to our world today.