KOO TALKS: Animation, Community Healing, and Ending Violence
By Theo Hollingsworth
This fall, Kingmakers of Oakland is proud to partner with the 23rd Annual Oakland International Film Festival to present KOO TALKS, a powerful evening of dialogue, culture, and community healing.
📍September 16, 2025
📍KOOLabs – 1035 7th Street, Oakland, CA
📍5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
As part of the festival week and the opening of our new KOOLabs Academy session, this event brings together filmmakers, health leaders, and changemakers for a two-part panel discussion titled: “Black People in Animation – Ending Violence.”
The night kicks off with a vibrant community mixer in the back parking lot featuring food and music (5–6 PM). Inside the KOOLabs studio, we’ll showcase animated works created by our students, followed by rich discussions exploring the role of storytelling and animation in disrupting cycles of violence and reimagining futures.
Panel 1 will center Black creatives in animation, including voices from KOOLabs’ own animation director, Theo Hollingsworth, alongside renowned filmmaker David Roach. Panel 2 will feature public health professionals and filmmakers whose work confronts violence and promotes healing, including Carolyn Russell and Yoav Potash.
Through youth-produced animation, community engagement, and deep discussion, KOO TALKS is more than a panel—it’s a call to action.
Join us as we lift up narratives that matter and explore how media can be a tool for transformation.
👉 Free and open to the public. Come through.
