The second annual Gary Indiana International Black Film Festival is set to kick off on Friday October 5 and will continue through October 7.

One of major events for this years festival will be an appearence by filmmaker Robert Townsend (Five Heartbeats, The Meteor Man, Hollywood Shuffle, The Parent Hood, etc) who will screen and discuss his latest film project In The Hive ststarring the late Michael Clarke Duncan (in one of his last screen appearences), Loretta Devine, Vivica A. Fox and Roger Guenveur Smith

Among the other films that will be screened are Byron Hurt's Soul Food Junkies, Steve James' The Interrupters and Rashad Ernesto Green's Gun Hill Road.

Along, with these features, four locally made films will be shown at the festival Goners, The Package, What We Sow and The Drepression of Detective Downs 2: On Depression's Edge.

The festival sees itself as an important catalyst for the development of the city. As Walter N. Jones, the festival board chairman, says: "Film can unite us in provocative dialogue about ourselves and our culture. Gary deserves to be seen as a home for culturally rich, independent cinema that reflects our community"

The films will be screened at the Bergland Auditorium at Indiana University Northwest and to find out more about the festival and where to get tickets go HERE