Netflix Partners With National Museum of African American History and Culture on Inaugural Smithsonian African American Film Festival

Netflix Will Screen New Documentary “QUINCY,” Directed by Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks
September 18, 2018
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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has announced that Netflix will be a partner for the inaugural Smithsonian African American Film Festival this October. Netflix, a global leader in the film industry, is supporting this first-of-its-kind film festival, where cinema, history and culture come together to celebrate African American visual culture and film. As part of the film festival partnership, Netflix will screen their upcoming documentary QUINCY followed by a conversation with Quincy Jones.

QUINCY is an intimate look at the life and work of music icon Quincy Jones. Jones is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted record and film producer who has garnered numerous Grammys and Academy Award nominations. Directed by his daughter Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks, the documentary weaves never-before-seen archival footage and interviews to give a fresh look at the life and 70-year career of one of the world’s most influential musicians, producers and artists. Rashida Jones is an American actress and director. Hicks is an award-winning screenwriter and film director. 

“The museum is pleased to collaborate with Netflix in order to explore important moments in the history of America through the African American lens,” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the museum. “We are pleased this original production by Netflix is a film that honors Quincy Jones whose creativity and commitment to racial justice are an example of the best of America.”

“Netflix congratulates the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture on their inaugural film festival,” said Lisa Nishimura, vice president of Original Documentaries at Netflix. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the museum and to be bringing QUINCY to Washington. Through his unparalleled body of creative work, Quincy Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries and to have him and his story told at the museum are an honor.”

The film festival will expand the understanding of African American cinema by highlighting works that explore the past, the present and the future. Netflix partnership on the film festival aids the museum’s larger mission to go beyond the building’s walls to bring the experience of the National Museum of African American History and Culture to people around the globe.

Taking place Oct. 24–27, the Smithsonian African American Film Festival will offer works by emerging and veteran filmmakers, alongside other historic and lesser-known films that explore and celebrate African American life. The four-day festival is the first of its kind and will feature a juried film competition, film screenings from the museum’s storied collection and national film premieres.

For more information on the films and to purchase tickets, updates on activities and public events, the public may visit the website https://aafilmfest.si.edu. Media can also sign up for updates via this link and join the conversation using #AAFilmFest. Download images here.

The Smithsonian African American Film Festival is generously supported by Toyota, Netflix, Earl W. and Amanda Stafford and AARP.

About the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts

The Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts (CAAMA) showcases the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s dynamic image collection through changing exhibitions of still and moving images, publications and public programs. The CAAMA resource center and digital archive foster and support scholarship on the role, meaning and influence of images by and about African Americans and other people of African descent.

About the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Since opening Sept. 24, 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has welcomed nearly 4.5 million visitors. Occupying a prominent location next to the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the nearly 400,000-square-foot museum is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring, documenting and showcasing the African American story and its impact on American and world history. For more information about the museum, visit nmaahc.si.edu, follow @NMAAHC on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat—or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000.

About Netflix

Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with 130 million memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

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SI-505-2018

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Melissa Wood

202-297-6161

Woodm2@si.edu

Kevin Stuckey
(213) 392-0244 
kstuckey@netflix.com

#AAFilmFest

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