Tag: Cree Ray

As the third-generation director of the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Cree Ray is carrying more than a family legacy — she is helping preserve a vital piece of Black Bay Area culture in a region where Black communities continue to be displaced and diminished. In this conversation, Ray reflects on inheriting the vision of her grandmother, Ave Montague, and her father, Kali O’Ray, while charting a future that embraces new filmmakers, emerging technologies and the next generation of storytellers. More than a film festival, she argues, SFBFF remains a gathering place where culture, community and ownership of Black stories can be protected, nurtured and passed forward.

SFBFF 2025 runs from June 19 to June 22 at venues across San Francisco and promises a dynamic lineup ranging from gripping documentaries to laugh-out-loud comedies.

A scintillating array of fascinating films awaits film lovers at the 23rd annual San Francisco Black Film Festival, June 17-20. Meet SFBFF’s new millennial leaders, daughter Cree Ray and son Kali Ray Jr., of director Kali O’Ray, who died unexpectedly last year in August 2020. For tickets and details, visit www.sfbff.org.