About The Hamilton Black Film Festival
Our goal is to give everyone equal opportunity and motivate people in this field to continue doing what they do.
– HAMILTON BLACK FILM FESTIVAL
The City Of Hamilton
The city of Hamilton is a vibrant city full of warm-hearted people, as an artist I find the city fascinating in many ways, the upper and lower Hamilton gives the impression of living in two cities. There are many great artists in Hamilton more than anyone can tell, the most amazing thing about them is that they do it for the love of art.
Our Team
Our Team is made up of dedicated people who work around the clock to make sure our dream of fostering unity through the annual film festival comes to reality. We are all from different background and we do believe that the core of culture is courtesy.
New Generation
Hamilton Black Film Festival’s main goal is to invest in our new generation of people of color to carry on the traditions of their ancestors by way of knowing much about their roots through films. Our Centre will nurture and teach them not only how to make films, but also how to conduct themselves in the film industry. The young generation is our pride who will take our present Barton to other generations.
HBFF Board Members
Paize Usiosefe
Author/Filmmaker
Founder/Chair, Hamilton Black Film Festival
Paize Usiosefe was born in Benin City, Nigeria. He attended Ozolua Grammar School and obtained an advanced degree in English Literature, Africa History, and Religious Knowledge there. While in Canada, he studied Computer Technology at Business College. Paize also studied creative writing at McMaster University. He is the author of Echo from a Valley and the story of Peter Morgan – from Ashes of Flame. Paize won the Editor’s Award in 1995 for his narrative poetry and was nominated by the City of Hamilton Arts Award as an established artist in 2010.
Paize is the producer of a feature film, “YAKUBU”, and the producer of a TV sitcom, Family and Friends, which is on Amazon Prime. He was a member of the industry delegate at the 2019/2020 Toronto International Film Festival and also in 2020 he was the recipient of the Jackie Washington Award for the Arts. In 2023 he was named to the Order of Hamilton. Paize has been featured in films, see his bio on IMDB pro page.
Abdelhamid Mosbah
Artist, Graphic Designer
Today we welcome a genuine artist to our board, Abdelhamid Mosbah. He is an experienced artist having worked in the Visual Arts trade for the last 30 years. He was born in Tunisia, North Africa, where he studied art and design. He also continued studying Arts in France, USA and Canada. Abdelhamid is one of the finest artist today.
Rosemary Casmier
The face of the Hamilton Black Film Festival
Rosemary is a Certified intra – oral dental assistant and an aspiring actress and brand model residing in Hamilton, Ontario for the past 20 years. She is Nigerian born who has had the opportunity to travel and live in several cities in the world namely Jerusalem, yes the same City where Jesus Christ was born. Rosemary has two wonderful and talented children, who attend McMaster University. Rosemarie is a connector of people which was clearly demonstrated via her work with Lady Boss, a monthly networking event in Hamilton which helped emerging entrepreneurs and professionals. Rosemary has participated ongoing as a model for Hamilton Photographers Rock group.
Christal Usiosefe
Event Manager & Programmer
Graduated at McMaster University, bachelor degree – Math Science. She is a compliance officer and a member of management in the field of medical technology in healthcare.
Christal is an editor of the following books: From Ashes of Flames and Echo from a Valley.
She embraces multi-culture.
The Lincoln Alexander Centre
The Lincoln Alexander Centre is an event space venue in the heart of downtown Hamilton. The LAC is named after the Honorable Lincoln MacCauley Alexander 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and a beloved Hamiltonian. The LAC is surrounded by restaurants, hotels, shopping and convenient parking. Inside the LAC we offer a beautiful soft seated theatre seating 360 with excellent visuals and sound. A stunning Ballroom with modern finishes and fixtures suitable for a variety of events, and smaller meeting rooms with full food and beverage services.
Hamilton Black Film Festival is an opportunity for all aspiring or established Filmmakers & Cinematographers across the world, to showcase their work in front of a large audience.
The Westdale Theatre
The Westdale Theatre has been an important part of Westdale (Canada’s first planned neighbourhood) since it opened in 1935. It was the first theatre in Hamilton built expressly to show sound motion pictures. The theatre remained in operation until it was put up for sale in December of 2016. The newly incorporated Westdale Cinema Group (WCG) submitted an offer to purchase the building that was accepted on January 27, 2017.
The full purchase and restoration budget was raised in Hamilton, by Hamiltonians, both residents and the City of Hamilton. After over 18 months of restoration and modernization of services (washrooms, wheelchair access, heating and air conditioning, etc.), the theatre reopened its doors on February 14th, 2019 as a cultural hub showcasing films, talks, music, performance and special events.
