First Look Teaser for ‘BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions’ Unique Doc Film
by Alex Billington
September 24, 2025
Source: YouTube
“Do I remember the future?” Rich Spirit has just unveiled the first look teaser trailer for an acclaimed new documentary film titled BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, created by filmmaker Kahlil Joseph. This first premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and has been playing everywhere else including Berlinale, NYFF, TIFF, Vanoucver, London, and IDFA. It’s more of a video essay than a doc with a narrative – taking viewers on a profound visual / intellectual journey through Black history and beyond. “A film and filmmaker that refuses to be contained.” Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions rewires history, memory, and sound into a cinematic experience unlike anything else. Adapted from his seminal video art installation, the film interweaves fictional and historical characters in an immersive story that spans 247 years across land and sea – inspired by the entirety of the “Africana” encyclopedia book in this teaser. In its mix of fictional & documentary forms, the film is inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Saidiya Hartman, and others thinkers, juxtaposing their ideas with archive material & images. This film is a must watch for cinema nerds.
Here’s the first look teaser trailer for Kahlil Joseph’s doc BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, on YouTube:
Original intro via TIFF: “Celebrated artist and filmmaker Kahlil Joseph revisits and expands upon his eponymous two-channel ‘fugitive newscast’ installation that was showcased at the 2019 Venice Biennale among other prestigious venues, in this galvanizing, shape-shifting exploration of Black history, identity, and possibility. Joseph enlisted several prominent Black scholars and thinkers to co-write the film in an act of collective fabulation. Formally audacious and conceived as a cinematic experience that mirrors the sonic textures of an album, the film fluidly moves between modes, creating its own free-associative logic that mixes personal memoir, speculative narrative, archival footage, social media samples, and citations of work by other great artists.” BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions is directed by the artist / filmmaker Kahlil Joseph, making his feature directorial debut after many short films & other video projects. It’s produced by Onye Anyanwu, Kahlil Joseph, Amy Greenleaf, Nic Gonda. This initially premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Presented by Rich Spirit. Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions doc film will open in select US theaters this November 2025. Stay tuned for more updates. Anyone intrigued?
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