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When people arrive and are taking their seats they listen to music by artists of color while challenging themselves to identify a particular filmmaker based on the clues given in a fun-spirited quiz. This component is called “Who's Who,” and it “pays tribute to pioneers and great leaders that made a great impact in the Black/LGBTQ Community.” In a sense it reintroduces early groundbreakers and celebrates their accomplishments.

Once the lights go down viewers are treated to sneak peeks at upcoming screenings, updates on current filmmaking projects, and trailers for other indie films made by people of color. After the screenings guests can linger, mingle and purchase some of the films.

Brown makes the most of having her audience's attention by presenting health-related public servic e announcements (PSAs). “We have a large number of black folks there and there are a lot of different health issues in the community,” she says. “Why not take advantage of it and enlighten them a little, get them to take better care of themselves.”

The market isn't exactly flooded with PSAs so they haven't been easy to come by, but Brown has been actively seeking them out and soliciting new submissions. Her own contribution is Remember Me?, which promotes safer sex for women who have sex with women.

In her research Brown has been surprised at how many U.S. women don't recognize the need, let alone know the methods, for safer sex between women. But she says she was happy to learn that People of Color in Crisis has a program specifically for lesbians with HIV/AIDS.

In general Brown wants Queer Black Cinema to highlight health issues in the black LGBTQ community. She hopes to screen more films like Night, straight ally Marlon Reid's feature about a man with HIV who practices unsafe sex with multiple male partners unbeknownst to his fiancée before coming to terms with his own denial.

One film Brown is making, under the working title Sex: The Talk, is a documentary on four women in four countries offering perspectives on being in a relationship with someone living with HIV and other STDs. One of the subjects lives in New York City and Brown went to London, Johannesburg, and Rio de Janeiro in order to shoot the additional footage. Regarding South Africa she says “I don't know if you've seen Tsotsi and where [the main character] lives, but those townships really exist. It's crazy.” She says the trip was empowering and gave her a new appreciation for her own living circumstances.

Brown has also written a screenplay with the Harlem Screenwriters Workshop about women and hip hop. Currently she's in production for a similarly themed project: Ready Set Flow, a documentary mini-series about NY promotional party Lovergirl and women MCs in the competitive freestyle hip-hop scene. “It's about these women grinding in the underground hip-hop community and trying to get out there—the different issues they deal with behind the scenes, trying to get their name out there, win these contests.”

Brown produces her films under the moniker Our Stories Productions, which she started in 2002 after an inspiring trip to Tanzania . Now Our Stories Productions is a full-service film/video production company, also offering rentals and workshops.

The next Queer Black Cinema screening will be on March 23 at the Audre Lorde Center in Brooklyn, and in keeping with National Women's History Month, the theme will be “ celebrating the beauty, love and strength of Black women.” Three short films will be shown: Tina Mabrey's Brooklyn Bridge to Jordan, Brown's own film, Desperate for Love, and Dani and Alice by Sundance programmer Roberta Munroe. Those early in attendance can look forward to gift bags and everyone can remain after the screening for a question-and-answer session with the filmmakers.

Learn more about the series at QueerBlackCinema.com

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