Brooke Obie Wins Sandor Prize Honorable Mention for Debut Film ‘Abanitu’ at the Black Harvest Film Festival
Chicago, IL —
Last night, at the opening ceremony of the 32nd annual Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago, Brooke Obie’s debut documentary feature film, Abanitu: A Family Documentary was awarded the Sandor Prize Honorable Mention for Feature Film. An award-winning author of Book of Addis: Cradled Embers, and an award-winning journalist, this is Brooke’s first award for filmmaking.
Abanitu: A Family Documentary follows five generations of the Obie family over their 120-year-history of Black-owned organic farming in Person County, NC, and chronicles their use of farming as a healing agent as generational forces try to separate them from their land. Abanitu has screened across the country, premiering at the Essence Film Festival in 2024 and internationally at the Coal City Film Festival in Lagos, Nigeria in early 2026. Abanitu will screen twice at the Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago on Sunday, November 8 at 3:00 PM and Monday, November 9, at 8:30 PM. Both screenings will follow a Q&A with the filmmaker.
