Ashley O’Shay’s UNAPOLOGETIC at Film Festival Alliance will wrap up FilmEx with Film Festival Day bow on Saturday, January 16

Ashley O’Shay’s UNAPOLOGETIC at Film Festival Alliance will wrap up FilmEx with Film Festival Day bow on Saturday, January 16

The Film Festival Alliance and Theatrical-At-Home presents its first Film Festival Day virtual screening event of 2021 following the culmination of the hugely successful FilmEx gathering event including 850 participating film festivals and film organizations with Ashley O’Shay’s inspiring documentary UNAPOLOGETIC with a special Filmmaker Q&A on Saturday, January 16.

FFA’s Film Festival Day screenings, which were launched last year to great effect, benefit both the filmmakers and each of the participating film festivals across the country with a share of the evening’s proceeds.

Support for the event also comes from Firelight Films and Kartemquin Films.

2020’s trio of Film Festival Day screenings brought in more than $30,000 in total revenues and saw more than 700 people tune into each of the post-screening virtual Q&As.

The participating film festivals and film organizations for Saturday’s Film Festival Day include; Alexander Valley Film Society, Arlington International Film Festival, aGLIFF, Boston Latino International Film Festival, Buffalo International Film Festival, CASCADIA International Women’s Film Festival, Charlotte Film Festival, COVEN Film Festival, Cucalorus, deadCenter Film, Film Pittsburgh, Freep Film Festival, Heartland International Film Festival, Indy Film Fest, The Nelson Civic Theatre, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA), OxFilm on Demand, Phoenix Film Festival, Port Townsend Film Festival, Portland Film Festival, RiverRun International Film Festival, San Francisco IndieFest, Sidewalk Film Festival, The Sixth Festival, Tallgrass Film Association, Video Association of Dallas, Women Sports Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival, and YoFiFest.

“Last year, our series of Film Festival Days really demonstrated to us, our member festivals, and filmmakers alike, another way and approach to shaking up what traditional film distribution looks like,” said FFA Executive Director Lela Meadow-Conner. “Ashley’s film is important, timely and the perfect culmination to a week of honest conversations with over 800 independent film exhibitors at FIlmEx. We’re thrilled to support the filmmakers in presenting UNAPOLOGETIC to audiences across North America, in this new model of distribution, and look forward to hearing her talk about the experience of making the film and how it reflects on what we just saw take place in Georgia and the rest of the country.”

UNAPOLOGETIC captures a tense and polarizing moment in Chicago’s fight for the livelihood of its Black residents. The film follows Janaé and Bella, two young abolitionist organizers, as they work within the Movement for Black Lives to seek justice for Rekia Boyd and Laquan McDonald, two young Black people killed by Chicago police. They aim to elevate a progressive platform for criminal justice to a police board led by Lori Lightfoot and a complicit city administration, while also elevating leadership by women and femmes.

All ticket purchases for the Film Festival Day presentation of UNAPOLOGETIC will receive a one-time link to watch the movie at home.

To purchase a ticket, please go to filmfestivalday.com.

Ashley O’Shay’s UNAPOLOGETIC at Film Festival Alliance will wrap up FilmEx with Film Festival Day bow on Saturday, January 16