our Mission
The Luminal Theater is a nomadic cinema that brings Black film straight to the people.
We provide fully-curated exhibitions of diverse cinema and media of the Black/African diaspora (African-American, African, Caribbean, Afro-European, etc.), allowing these artists to present their work within our unique brand of shared audience experiences, presented in majority-Black communities across the United States & virtually.
In a rapidly-changing media landscape, we excel at keeping Black art alive through the cinematic arts.
In making these films and filmmakers accessible to the community beyond film festivals and web/streaming services, and viewed in a collective environment — as cinema is best utilized as a shared audience experience — we serve the Black community’s diverse and growing population of filmmakers, film enthusiasts, multiple discipline artists and art-minded people which Black neighborhoods possess and attract in abundance.
The Luminal continues to and is ready to further service these artists and audiences.
The Luminal is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.
The Luminal Theater is supported in part by a grant from Color Congress and from the National Endowment for the Arts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with additional support from a BLBB General Operating Support Grant from Central Carolina Community Foundation. Our work is also funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Luminal receives additional support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Willem de Kooning Foundation, and Teiger Foundation through the Coalition of Small Arts New York.
Our 2022 programming was sponsored in part by South Arts, and in 2021 in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, as well as from private donations; our 2021 marketing efforts were supported in part by Cinereach.
Prior programmatic support was received by The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, South Carolina Humanities, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), Citizens Committee for New York City, the Cultural Immigrant Initiative as administered by 651 Arts, Bridge Street Development Corporation, and the Media Arts Dept. of Long Island University - Brooklyn Campus.
HISTORY
The Luminal began with an initial pop-up theater space, presenting programs throughout the Summer and Fall of 2015, and was supported in part by the Bridge Street Development Corporation and the Media Arts Department of Long Island University - Brooklyn Campus.
We quickly became a staple in Bed-Stuy with film and film-related programs like our local filmmaker interview series Beyond The Cut, our outdoor cinema series the Cinema Garden Party, teen-centered film literacy workshops Midday Ramble, and our experimental & quirky outdoor/public-access film series The Porch.
The Luminal first branched out from Central Brooklyn to host film showcases of different themes at art galleries and spaces, including producing continuous programs like The Caribbean Film Series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAM Film alongside the Caribbean Film Academy/ Third Horizon, and BLK Docs alongside Speller Street Films, in addition to other Black cinema-related film events in South Carolina and North Carolina, and other live one-off events in NYC, Nashville, Atlanta, and other cities.
With our second home of South Carolina, we provide our continuing brand of accessible viewing to the predominantly Black areas of Columbia and nearby cities with programs like Columbia Drive-In Movies and Viewing Reserved, among others.
film Submissions
We are currently accepting submissions (online screeners only!) for films to be shown for select curated Luminal Theater events. All interested parties please contact us at luminaltheater@gmail.com with:
your film title
total running time
short synopsis
screener link or trailer
*We are continuously seeking more volunteers dedicated to film art to support our events.
Please feel free to contact us at luminaltheater@gmail.com with your resume or interest letter.