Newark International Film Festival Selects 1872 Forward: Foreword for Screening

Kerri Moseley-Hobbs

*The documentary 1872 Forward: Foreword, produced and directed by John Wesby of Wesby One Productions and executive produced by the More Than a Fraction Foundation, follows the memorialization of the “special places” of once enslaved people on the grounds now known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. It has been announced by the 8^th annual Newark International Film Festival that it will be screened there. The NewarkIFF is to be held in various places in Newark, New Jersey from June 21 – 25, 2023. The five-day event showcases the innovation and breadth of the film industry of independent films, screenplays, series, and more.

The Newark International Film Festival, aside from the screening of indie films, offers workshops, exhibits, open-call auditions, panels, pitch opportunities, after-parties, and concerts. Its staple award is the Hannibal Goodwin Award for Innovation in Filmmaking. This award is named after Episcopal Priest Hannibal Goodwin who invented celluloid film in 1887.

The Newark International Film Festival was founded by actor Kenneth Gifford (MTV’s “The Grind”), who left the front of the camera for the back of the camera working for MTV. His credits behind the camera include such projects as Hancock, Cadillac Records, and Motherhood. He also served as Director of the Newark Office of Film and Television making opportunities and resources available to inner-city filmmakers.

The 1872 Forward: Foreword documentary, produced by Wesby One Production, is hosted by Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs, executive director of the More Than a Fraction Foundation. John Wesby is president of Wesby One Productions and filmed and directed the project. It documents 1872 Forward: Celebrating Virginia Tech and its 250-year history held March 24 – 26, 2022 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). The More Than a Fraction Foundation sponsored the Virginia Tech event with grants from the Virginia Humanities and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

The history behind the memorialization began when Historian Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs discovered that her ancestors were enslaved on the grounds that is now Virginia Tech. She went on to publish a creative non-fiction account of the data she discovered titled “More Than a Fraction: Based on a True Story” (Amazon Books). The Virginia Tech grounds were once called the Smithfield and Solitude Plantations and were owned by the Preston family. She later joined the Board of Directors of the Smithfield-Preston Foundation in 2015 and began helping the institution highlight the lives of enslaved Africans and the displaced Indigenous peoples of the area. The More Than A Fraction Foundation’s Merry Tree Memorial project highlights the tree that was the center point for the enslaved community to meet, worship, marry, and more for over 300 years.