TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — African American filmmakers from all over the country are getting a chance to showcase their work during the first Greenwood Film Festival.

The events are happening at the Greenwood Cultural Center and the Circle Cinema.

One of the filmmakers traveled all the way from Brooklyn and says he’s honored to be a part of the festival.

“Never in a million years would I have thought I would have made it to Tulsa, Oklahoma so it’s really a blessing,” said Dominick Bedasse.

Bedasse is the storyboard artist behind the animated short “Run Little Boy.”

“It details police brutality, but from a bit of a child-like perspective. Something that is more palatable for children to ingest,” Bedasse said.

He says after the deaths of Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and Sandra Bland, he wanted to create something that would spark change.

“While I do enjoy dialogue against race relations, I’m also interested in seeing action. So, if anything I do expect that it does cause people to move,” said Bedasse.

The sense of action and storytelling is all a part of the goal of the Greenwood Film Festival.

“I am an aspiring writer. I write very little and I was hoping this would be an inspiration which it has, ” said Amorita Christian, attending the festival.

Christian says as a new Tulsan it’s also giving her a chance to learn the history.

“It’s hard to articulate. I’m from Mississippi and I learned at 43 years old that it was named Greenwood because a lot of the people came from Greenwood, Mississippi and that touched me,” said Christian.

Christian’s newfound knowledge of Black Wall Street and the films highlighting how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.

“I want greenwood to go back to where it belongs. To the people, it belongs to. I want the businesses to thrive. I want the people to thrive,” Christian said.

Video Here