The Creatively Speaking Film Series in partnership with the ​​Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy present #BlackFilmsMatter, a webinar exploring how the Black film industry has impacted the US and world economy while also raising awareness around the economic setbacks that Black filmmakers face.

African American and Caribbean American films are often criticized and marginalized for not being appealing nor relatable enough to a broader audience to deserve funding/support while those same stories and ideas are often then taken forward with a white narrative as successful business models. But with an annual output of nearly 2,500 films, Nigeria's “Nollywood” has surpassed Hollywood as the world's second-largest film industry in the world, second only to India's “Bollywood.” In the 1970’s according to Ed Guerrero’s work on Blaxploitation films, the profits from Blaxploitation films, “literally saved Hollywood from total bankruptcy.”

From the Oscar Micheaux era to Gordon Parks’ films, “The Learning Tree,” and “Superfly” to Marvel’s Black Panther – which smashed box office records with its release – to Nollywood, this panel looks at how Black Diaspora films continue to rewrite the rules about what sells in the movie marketplace and their amazing economic impact worldwide.