DANY LAFERRIÈRE – HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE 21ST MIBFF – TO RECEIVE THE 2025 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 

 

The Montreal International Black Film Festival – MIBFF (September 24–28, 2025) celebrates 40 years of literary career, 10 years at the Académie française, and Laferrière’s imprint on cinema

 

Montreal, August 26, 2025 — The Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF), whose 21st edition will take place from September 24 to 28, 2025, is proud to announce that writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker Dany Laferrière will be the Honorary President of its 21st edition, where he will also receive the MIBFF 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award for his exceptional body of work and decisive contribution to the arts and society. Dany Laferrière succeeds Spike Lee, who served as the honorary President of the 20th edition of the Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) in 2024.

This recognition coincides with three major milestones: the 40th anniversary of the release of the emblematic book How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (1985), a work that shook the literary scene before shining on the big screen with Isaach de Bankolé and Maka Kotto in the lead roles; the 10th anniversary of his induction into the Académie française (2015); and the 21st anniversary of his directorial debut with his first feature film based on an original screenplay, How to Conquer America in One Night (2004).

“Celebrating Dany Laferrière at the 21st Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) will be a historic and deeply moving moment. For 40 years, Laferrière has challenged conventions and embodied freedom, audacity, and the power of imagination. His work transcends borders and connects people. Honoring him at the 21st MIBFF is to celebrate literature that becomes cinema, and cinema that brings words back to life. His novel How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired remains, 40 years later, just as powerful. This book paved the way for a new generation of Black artists by giving a free, bold, and uncompromising voice to a reality too often marginalized. Its film adaptation marked the history of Quebec cinema, breaking taboos and imposing new representations of diversity.” — Fabienne Colas, Founder and President of MIBFF

A member of the Académie française since 2015, Dany Laferrière is one of the most widely read francophone writers of his generation. A Quebec writer of Haitian origin, Laferrière is the first Quebecer and the second Black man admitted to the Académie française. Born in Petit-Goâve (Haiti), Dany Laferrière is a major figure of francophone, Quebec, and Haitian literature. His body of work (nearly 40 books), translated worldwide, explores memory, identity, exile, desire, and freedom, and has had a lasting impact on literature and cinema in the francophone world, from Quebec to Haiti and far beyond.

Laferrière has also made profound contributions to cinema: several of his works have been adapted for the screen — On the Verge of a Fever (Le goût des jeunes filles) directed by John L’Ecuyer, Heading South (Vers le Sud) directed by Laurent Cantet, How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l’amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer) directed by Jacques W. Benoit — and he has inspired numerous documentaries (A Gentle Drifting of a Haitian Child – La dérive douce d’un enfant de Petit-Goâve, directed by Pedro Ruiz). He directed How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l’Amérique en une nuit), his first feature film based on an original screenplay. Through his words and images, Dany Laferrière has helped redefine Black narratives, creating a bridge between Haiti, Quebec, and the world.

2025: THE YEAR OF ADAPTATIONS – LITERATURE & CINEMA

MIBFF 2025 highlights the adaptation of novels into films and the intimate relationship between literature and the seventh art: cinema extends literature into images and sounds, making it tangible, audible, and shareable. Through tributes, screenings, discussions, and masterclasses, the Festival explores how literary works are transformed into collective sensory experiences.

NOT TO BE MISSED WITH DANY LAFERRIÈRE – HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE 21ST MIBFF

• Opening Night & Lifetime Achievement Award to Dany Laferrière

  Wednesday, September 24, 2025, 7:00 p.m. — Théâtre Outremont (1248 Bernard Avenue West, Montreal) — $25* (Tribute followed by the opening film)

• Masterclass
  I Am a Camera: From Novel to Screen with Dany Laferrière (French only)

  Friday, September 26, 2025, 7:00 p.m. — Cinéma du Musée — $25*

• Film Retrospective around the Works of Dany Laferrière – Online

  September 24–28, 2025 — Link via Festival website — All-access pass $79*

• Book Signing of All Works by Dany Laferrière

  At the MIBFF POP-UP Market – Spotlight on Other Black Artforms – Free Admission

  Saturday, September 27, 2025, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Théâtre Colas (formerly Théâtre Cartier: 3990 Notre-Dame Street West, Montreal)

All prices are subject to taxes and fees.

Tickets, passes, full schedule, and media accreditation: www.MontrealBlackFilm.com

21st Montreal International Black Film Festival – Created by the Fabienne Colas Foundation
 September 24 to 28, 2025 – www.MontrealBlackFilm.com

ABOUT THE MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL BLACK FILM FESTIVAL (MIBFF)

Created in 2005 by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, the Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) is currently the largest Canadian film festival entirely dedicated to Black realities from all four corners of the world. It aims to offer the public the most spectacular productions in Black cinema and debate the great cultural, social, and socio-economic issues facing society. The MIBFF goal is to promote the development of the independent film industry and showcase more films depicting Black realities around the world. The festival seeks to prioritize local and international films that do not necessarily come under the spotlight, a new cinema that moves its audience and raises awareness – and a few eyebrows. In so doing, the MIBFF addresses issues and showcases art that makes you think and smile, provokes, bewilders, and shocks you – a new, fresh look at Black cinema from all parts of the globe!

Interviews and information:

Marilyne Levesque, Marelle Communications

mlevesque@marellecommunications.com – 514-884-6351