BGDM Takes the Stage at Sundance 2025

In our 8th year of Brown Girls Doc Mafia’s presence at Sundance Film Festival, the vibes were flowing like never before! As BGDM’s co-executive directors, we braved the altitude and snow storms to spread the good word about BGDM, uplift the 50+ members in attendance, and celebrate the 20 projects members worked so hard on in various roles. The buzz about member films could be heard in every room, especially Brittany Shyne’s Seeds, Geeta Gandbhir’s The Perfect Neighbor, and Isabel Castro Selena Y Los Dinos, who all took home major festival awards, amongst many others.

Hot spots for rubbing elbows with Mafiosxs on the mountain included the Impact Lounge, Muslim House, Handle, the ever elusive HBO and Catalyst parties, various theaters, shuttle buses, and of course Main Street itself.

Stayin’ Fly: BGDM at the United Airlines Lodge

We were stoked to partner with the United Lodge to host Every Frame, A Story: Tales from Top Sundance Documentaries, a panel which highlighted four members who directed some of the most exciting documentaries roleplaying the festival: Amber Fares (Coexistence My Ass!), Jennifer Tiexiera (SPEAK.), Maia Lekow (How to Build a Library), and Violet du Feng (The Dating Game), moderated by Iyabo Boyd, BGDM’s founder. One of our favorite moments is when we asked the panelists to share a single image from each of their films. Our spirited conversation shared the humor and challenges experienced when making nonfiction films around the world, and followed the filmmakers' exploration of place with stories set in Kenya, China, Israel, and across the United States along with our innate curiosity about the human spirit.

Making an Impact: The Impact Lounge & Pull Focus

Folks who hung out in the Impact Lounge had the opportunity to catch Iyabo on two more panels. The first, “Current Challenges for Filmmakers from Funding to Distribution,” looked at just that, and featured Iyabo alongside Amy Hobby (Distribution Advocates), Elizabeth Woodward (WILLA), and Jenni Wolfson (Chicken & Egg Pictures) and moderator Leslie Klainberg (previously at Film Society of Lincoln Center). The second panel, “Pop Culture, Film & Creators: Making the Most of the Zeitgeist,” explored the tools and strategies of pop culture that could be applied to social change. Iyabo was in conversation with Carolina Jayaram (Elevate Prize), Daniel Forkkio (Represent Justice), Nicholai Joaquin (Pop Culture Collaborative) and moderator Aniyia Williams (Omidiyar Network).

Other standout moments included celebrating Working Films’ 25 year anniversary at the festival;, handing out BGDM pins to celebs like Boots Riley, Daniel Kaluya, Questlove, and W. Kamau Bell and shaking our groove thangs at the SLY LIVES! and Move Ya Body afterparties. Special thanks also to new BGDM member Sophia Hawkins, who helped beautifully capture our panel, and to all the members who shared their photos.

It’s hard to imagine Sundance packing in any more fun than this year, but heads up that BGDM will be celebrating our own 10 year anniversary at next year’s fest, so it’s only going up from here. Until then!