The Fourth Annual Pulling Focus African American Film Festival kicks off on June 4th

The fourth-annual Pulling Focus African American Film Festival of the Quad Cities opens June 4th and will again bring together filmmakers, artists, educators, and audiences for independent film screenings, filmmaker conversations, cultural dialogue, and community celebration throughout the Quad Cities region. The film festival runs through June 7th.

Launched in 2023 by the Azubuike African American Council for the Arts, Pulling Focus continues to grow into a vibrant regional platform dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of Black filmmakers worldwide while fostering meaningful conversations through cinema. 

“This festival was created to provide space for Black filmmakers and storytellers to be seen, heard, and celebrated,” said Gaye Shannon Burnett, co-founder of Azubuike African American Council for the Arts and festival director. “Pulling Focus is about more than film. It’s about connection, representation, dialogue, and creating opportunities for our community to experience powerful stories together.”

The festival’s 2026 lineup will feature narrative films, documentaries, student work, experimental cinema, animation, and the festival’s Sunday Matinee documentary selections – films curated to spark conversation about social justice, healing, identity, history, and community transformation. 

On the evening of Saturday, June 6th at The Last Picture House, the featured presentation will be the powerful film "The Kahiki 3 & Me" from award-winning director Amber Monet, award-winning producer Safiya Songhai, Esq., and producer Nikki Johnson-Alfano. Set in 1970s Columbus, the film begins with what should have been a joyful family celebration at the famed Kahiki Supper Club before a police confrontation turns the evening into tragedy. Decades later, the infant at the center of that night’s trauma – now a lawyer – confronts the hidden scars, family secrets, and generational wounds that shaped both her family and her own journey toward resilience. The screening will include an in-person and virtual Q&A with the filmmakers following the film.

Pulling Focus African American Film Festival Schedule:

Thursday, June 4 – Matinee Screening

TMBC Lincoln Resource Center (318 East Seventh Street, Davenport IA)

11:30 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.


Thursday, June 4 – Opening Night Premiere

The Last Picture House (325 East Second Street, Davenport IA)

Opening Reception: 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Screenings begin immediately afterward, followed by a short Q&A with available filmmakers.


Friday, June 5 – Matinee Screening

STEa.m. on Wheels (2106 Fourth Avenue, Rock Island IL)

11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.


Friday, June 5 – Evening Screenings (Section One)

Putnam Museum & Science Center (1717 West 12th Street, Davenport IA)

5 – 7 p.m.


Friday, June 5 – Evening Screenings (Section Two)

Putnam Museum & Science Center

7:30 – 9:30 p.m.


Saturday, June 6 – Matinee Screenings

 Figge Art Museum (225 West Second Street, Davenport IA)

11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.


Saturday, June 6 – Filmmakers Mixer & Reception

Figge Art Museum

2:30 – 4:30 p.m.


Saturday, June 6 – The Kahiki 3 & Me  Screening & Filmmaker Q&A

The Last Picture House

6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.


Sunday, June 7 – Matinee Screenings

Figge Art Museum

noon – 2:30 p.m.


Sunday, June 7 – Awards Ceremony

The Last Picture House

3 – 5 p.m.

Pulling Focus African American Film Festival is made possible through the generous support of Hubble Waterman Foundation, Regional Development Authority, Humanities Iowa, Gma Jackson Howze Charitable Foundation, and Azubuike African American Council for the Arts.

Founded in 2014, Azubuike African American Council for the Arts is a Quad Cities-based nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting underserved youth and communities through arts, culture, film, education, and Black-history programming. Through initiatives such as the Urban Exposure Independent Film Project, community screenings, youth arts education, and the Pulling Focus African American Film Festival, Azubuike creates platforms for expression, cultural preservation, healing, and creative opportunity through the arts.



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