Overview:
The Hip Hop Caucus is set to premiere the documentary #WhileBlack at the 2026 SXSW Film and TV Festival. The film explores the human cost of viral footage and raises urgent questions about race, technology, and accountability. It follows the witnesses, activists, tech workers, and citizen journalists trying to make a change in an exploitative system turning Black pain into profit. The documentary centers on one of the most viral videos of our time: George Floyd's murder, seen 1.4 billion times in 12 days, sparking protests in over 2,000 cities worldwide.
PRESS RELEASE | WASHINGTON, DC — Hip Hop Caucus announces the expansion of its film slate with the world premiere of #WhileBlack at the 2026 SXSW Film and TV Festival in Austin, Texas.
Premiering on March 13 at SXSW, #WhileBlack is a powerful meditation on modern witnessing, exposing the human cost of viral footage while asking urgent questions about race, technology, and accountability. More than a documentary about viral videos, #WhileBlack examines racial justice in the age of social media and explores the intricacies within and around witnessing and reporting on these moments for journalists and citizens.
Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. serves as co-executive producer on #WhileBlack. At a time when so many underserved communities are under attack and AI is on the rise, this documentary serves as an urgent call to action to dive deeper into the questions around race, technology and accountability.
“#WhileBlack isn’t just a documentary; it’s a story that serves as a vehicle for change at the intersection of racial and environmental justice. This film will challenge us to look closer at the world around us, while empowering us to take action to drive and create systemic change,” said Rev Yearwood.
About #WhileBlack
Videos of injustice against Black Americans have sparked global movements, endangered the lives of activists and protestors, and fed corporate greed.#WhileBlackdelves into the effects of these viral videos by following the witnesses, activists, tech workers, and citizen journalists trying to make a change in an exploitative system turning Black pain into profit.
Directed by WIRED journalist Sidney Fussell in his longform directorial debut, and co-directed by Jennifer Holness, #WhileBlack is an urgent documentary that centers on one of the most viral videos of our time: George Floyd’s murder, seen 1.4 billion times in 12 days, sparking protests in over 2,000 cities worldwide. With exclusive access to Darnella Frazier and others like Diamond Reynolds, who livestreamed Philando Castile’s killing, the film reveals how social platforms and corporations profit from viral Black trauma, while survivors endure lasting psychological and physical danger.
#WhileBlack will have its world premiere at SXSW in Austin on March 13.