Celebrating Emerging Black Storytellers
Black Light: A Howard Short Film Showcase
Black Light is a recurring two-night film showcase that brings together Howard University’s emerging filmmakers, alumni, and invited artists. Founded in Fall 2025 at the historic Miracle Theatre, the showcase presents undergraduate and MFA films in a public theatrical program that celebrates student filmmaking in Washington, D.C.
December 1-2, 2026
Founder & Artistic Director
Akosua Adoma Owusu
Akosua Adoma Owusu is an award-winning filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Film at Howard University. Her work explores identity, memory, and the global Black diaspora, and has screened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Berlin International Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center.
She is the founder and artistic director of Black Light: A Howard Short Film Showcase, an independently produced, faculty-led program presented through Obibini Pictures. Held at the Miracle Theatre, Black Light presents undergraduate and MFA alumni films in a theatrical setting, placing student work in dialogue with invited guest artists and industry professionals.
Owusu is also the founder of Save the Rex, an initiative to revive Ghana’s historic Rex Cinema in Accra as a space for film, culture, and public dialogue.
Founding Associate Programmer
Zion Murphy (2025-2026)
Zion Binet Murphy is a filmmaker and culture worker and a recent graduate of the MFA Film program at Howard University. His cinematic practice is poetic and experimental, situated within the Black Fantastic and Third Cinema tradition. Driven by a deep commitment to the intersection of art and activism, his work explores social change through film.
Black Light: A Howard Short Film Showcase is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Featured Publications
The Dig
Published November 25th, 2025
From classroom to big screen, Black Light: A Howard Short Film Showcase gives emerging filmmakers the opportunity to share their work with public audiences. Each edition creates opportunities for conversation and connection through film.
Black Light: A Howard Short Film Showcase is presented by Obibini Pictures, LLC in collaboration with Howard University student filmmakers. Student films remain the intellectual property of their creators.
