This September the International Black Film Festival (INFF) returns to Nashville September 30 through October 4, 2026, and they want you to help bring their annual festival to life, as participants or as volunteers. “ROI: Return on Independence” is more than the IBFF festival’s theme. It is the creative framework behind the entire experience: Return on Voice; Return on Community; Return on Ownership; and Return on Impact.
Come out to see Documentary films like “Steadfast & True: The Searcy Story,” “GREAT: The Metropolitan Story,” “No Knock – No Charge? The Amir Locke Story” and others; Narrative Features like “Life, Continued,” “One Woman One Bra” and others; along with various Shorts and Special Features like “The Dark Room” and “Untold Stories, Unending Struggles, and Unlimited Possibilities.”
There will be Panels, Masterclasses & Special Conversations with special guests and industry experts; a Pitch Clinic and Youth Summit; and Mixers, Meet-ups & VIP Events. See you at the Festival! For more about the program and the festival, check out their website: https://www.ibffevents.com/
IBFF presented a special pre-festival event, “RESPECT In Concert,” combining the acclaimed film about Aretha Franklin “RESPECT” chronicling her journey from singing in her father’s church to becoming the Queen of Soul, with a live orchestral performance by the Nashville Symphony, conducted by the incredible Anthony Parnther, transforming an already powerful film into an immersive celebration of music, storytelling, and cultural legacy, Tuesday, September 22, in the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
Anthony Parnther, Music Director of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Cleveland Institute of Music, has forged a conducting career spanning the world’s leading orchestras, Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, and the Hollywood recording stage. He has led many of the world’s foremost orchestras, and served as the lead conductor for Ludwig Göransson’s Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, BAFTA-, and GRAMMY® Award-winning score for Sinners. Recently, Parnther led the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s world premiere performances of James Lee III’s Phenomenal Queen: Coretta Scott King. He also conducted the premieres of two major commissions commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Parnther has collaborated with artists Jon Batiste, Joshua Bell, Julia Bullock, Cynthia Erivo, Randall Goosby, Lynn Harrell, Jennifer Holliday, Wynton Marsalis, Anthony McGill, Jessye Norman, Leslie Odom Jr., Cécile McLorin Salvant, and Frederica von Stade. He has premiered and recorded works by Pulitzer Prize laureates Anthony Davis, Michael Abels, Julia Wolfe, George Walker, and Lewis Spratlan.
Parnther has conducted recording sessions for many of the world’s most iconic entertainment franchises, including Disney, Star Wars, Avatar, Marvel, Ghostbusters, Black Panther, Transformers, Creed, Minions, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Ice Age, PAW Patrol, League of Legends, American Dad!, Looney Tunes, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
His recording credits also include the Academy Award-winning films Oppenheimer and Sinners, the GRAMMY® Award-winning animated musical Encanto, and the Emmy Award-winning series The Mandalorian.
Parnther is also one of Hollywood’s most sought-after recording bassoonists, collaborating with many of the industry’s most celebrated composers, including John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, Thomas Newman, James Newton Howard, Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino, John Powell, and Randy Newman, being featured on hundreds of film, television, and video game scores, including as the featured solo bassoonist on Only Murders in the Building, Looney Tunes, and Animaniacs.
