Celebrating the African Diaspora
in film
The African diaspora
in frame
The African diaspora in
full focus

Mission

Afro Valley Film Festival is a series of educational films highlighting international black stories, art, history, and culture, focusing on thoughtful discussion grounded in current events.

What is the African (or Black) Diaspora?

The African Diaspora, mentioned as Afro Diaspora here, is the voluntary and involuntary movement of Africans and their descendants to various parts of the world during the modern and pre-modern periods.​

The Afro diaspora is one of the most diverse genetic pools on Earth, it is our mission to paint the full picture of its diversity, challenges, and successes.

Vision

We aim to cultivate safe, engaging environments to explore the condition of different African diaspora.

Values 

We are committed to:

  • Fostering dialogue around issues of anti-blackness, human rights, and violence against LGBTqia community.
  • Expose audiences to black stories through thoughtful cinema
  • Facilitating opportunities for cultural education, through film and discussions
  • Nurturing collaborative community Partnerships 
  • Dispelling stereotypes around black stories in cinema by representing different cultures, identities, and histories of the african diaspora

About the Founders

Meet Eva Osirus

Eva Osirus is the co-founder and producer of the Afro Valley Film Festival.

Eva is a Haitian American entrepreneur, born and raised in south Florida, where she lived for decades until she heard the call of her soul for something new in the PNW. Over six years of living in Eugene, Eva has transformed into a pillar of her community as an educator, community advocate, producer, and writer. Her background is in classical music, film, geo-political history, healing arts, and literature. 

Eva works as the producer at Sirius Rising, supporting clients who have proven impact all over the community. Previous productions include Little Block Party: First Friday Artwalk, Stories from the Helix, Diasporic Visions, Black Santa at BCI, and others. 

Meet Angel Blacklake

Angel Blacklake is the co-founder and program director of Afro Valley FIlm Festival. Angel is a Black American student and artist born and primarily raised in Texas. Angel made her travel to the PNW to continue her education and look for new opportunities in a community that nurtures creativity. During her two years living in Eugene, Angel has created connections with the talented and enthusiastic younger generation of adults sprouting throughout the city, with hopes to cultivate a center of expression for her peers. Angel’s background is in current academic studies of philosophy and art history, poetry, film and photography, and sculpture and design. 

Angel is a student at Lane Community College where she studies various artistic fields and aids in creating connections within the community. Angel is currently studying poetry, film, public art design, art history, and american and environmental literature. 

History 

The Afro Valley Film Festival is produced by Sirius Rising. 

Sirius Rising is a multimedia production company that employs a unique social entrepreneurial model. We provide services to nonprofits across arts, education, and wellness industries, and use those funds to develop projects like the Afro Valley Film Festival, Diasporic Visions, etc. 

We’ve worked with Word crafters, Minority Voices Theater, Lane Arts Council, the City of Eugene, the Black Cultural initiative, and the beLonging space to produce community building events and experiences in lane county. Past projects include: Stories from the Helix, Black Santa, Little Block Party at First Art Walk, Rise as Leaders workshop, and others.

Sirius Rising has always had a focus on producing film festivals, journalism, and other intersections of art that enable us to tell human stories. It is our mission to educate Lane County through film, intellectual discourse, and multicultural stories, BIPOC stories. As an afro-indigenous caribbean woman, I am upholding the revolutionary legacy of island nations like Haiti, who are still fighting for liberation and it is my intention to set those stories within the global context.

Scroll to Top