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KPBS Midday Edition

Film 'By Blood' To Open San Diego Black Film Festival

Film 'By Blood' To Open San Diego Black Film Festival
Film 'By Blood' To Open San Diego Black Film Festival
Film 'By Blood' To Open San Diego Black Film Festival GUESTSKaren Willis, director, San Diego Black Film Festival Marcos Barbery, director, "By Blood"

One of the films being screened at the San Diego Black Film Festival this week tells one of the virtually unknown aspects of the black experience in America.

It's the battle of the descendants of black Freedmen to retain their century-long status as part of American Indian tribes.

The film is called "By Blood" and it kicks off the 13th annual San Diego Black Film Festival on Thursday.

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"“By Blood” is a documentary about American Indians of African descent. Karen Willis, the director of the San Diego Black Film Festival, said it can relate to San Diegans because of the number of Native American tribes locally.

"We decided to open with it because it seemed it was a subject matter that would appeal to San Diego," Willis told KPBS Midday Edition on Wednesday. "Many African American families have talked about it."

San Diego Black Film Festival

When: Thursday, Jan. 29 to Sunday, Feb. 1

Where: Reading Cinemas Gaslamp at 701 5th Ave.

For more information, visit sdbff.com

After the Civil War, tribes granted tribal citizenship to their freed slaves under an agreement with the federal government. They are known as the Freedmen.

Fast forward 150 years, the Cherokee Nation and other tribes have stripped descendents of the Freedmen of their membership prompting a legal battle that's still working it's way through the courts.

Film director Marcos Barbery said the controversy has manifested into a broader conflict about race, identity and the sovereign rights of indigenous people.

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"It's one of the untold narratives," Barbery said. "In there sort of lies this debate over rights of the Freeman, and self determination and tribal sovereignty."