Oscar Micheaux Film And Media Institute To Launch Theatrical Roadshow Program For Independent Filmmakers

EXCLUSIVE: Noel Braham, founder of the Oscar Micheaux Film and Media Institute, has set plans to launch The Micheaux Roadshow 2027, a touring theatrical program for independent features and short films.

The Roadshow will take indie filmmakers across the country for screenings of their work. The Roadshow will begin in Los Angeles in April 2027 before expanding throughout California and to cities across the country and into select international markets.

The Roadshow takes its blueprint from Micheaux’s own independent distribution network. Between 1919 and 1948, Micheaux wrote, produced, directed, and distributed more than 40 films entirely outside the studio system, carrying his prints by train, pitching theater owners in person and putting his work in front of audiences himself. In a still segregated country, he persuaded white theater owners, even in the South, to run his films, arranging special matinees and midnight showings for Black audiences.

“Oscar Micheaux wasn’t only a filmmaker. He was a founder and an entrepreneur who understood the power of taking his work directly to the people,” Braham said in a statement. “The Roadshow gives filmmakers something an algorithm can’t: a room full of people watching their work together.”

The Roadshow marks the soft launch of the Micheaux Institute, which will open officially in 2028. The Institute is also the home of the Micheaux Film Festival, established in 2018.

The Institute is seeking both independent feature films and short films for The Micheaux Roadshow 2027. No prior festival selection is required. Like a band on tour, the Roadshow will bring a lineup to each stop, with features and shorts screening in curated evening programs alongside filmmaker Q&As and introductions to press and industry.

“A screening is one night. Proof that an audience showed up for your work is something you carry into every room after that,” Braham added.