Event

About Keynote: "'Say His Name:' Blackbusters in a Post-DEI World"

For the closing keynote of our Blockbuster Futures conference, learn about the intersections of race, genre filmmaking, and blockbuster resistance with a fascinating talk from Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman and Dr. Novotny Lawrence, co-editors of the forthcoming The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Film (2024).

"Say His Name:" Blackbusters in a Post-DEI World

This keynote focuses on blockbusters that uphold the principles of DEI and how Nia DaCosta's horror Blackbuster Candyman directly challenges discrimination against historically marginalized populations. After the keynote, be sure to stick around for our 7pm screening of 2021's Candyman.

Robin R. Means Coleman, PhD is a professor of Media Studies and of African American and African Studies at the University of Virginia and director of the Black Fantastic Media Research Lab. An award-winning scholar-teacher, her research focuses on media studies and the cultural politics of Blackness. Dr. Coleman is the author of Horror Noire: A History of Black American Horror from the 1890s to Present and African American Viewers and the Black Situation Comedy: Situating Racial Humor; co-author of The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror from Fodder to Oscar and Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life; editor of Say It Loud! African American Audiences, Media, and Identity; and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Film and Fight the Power! The Spike Lee Reader. Dr. Coleman is also the author of many other academic and popular publications.

Novotny Lawrence is the director of the Black Film Center & Archive and an associate professor of Cinema and Media Studies at Indiana University. He is the author of Blaxploitation Films of the 1970s: Blackness and Genre, the editor of Documenting the Black Experience: Essays on African-American History, Culture, and Identity in Non-Fiction Films, the co-editor of Beyond Blaxploitation, and the editor-in-chief of The Journal of Popular Culture.

Parking, map, and more

Plan your visit