The African American Film Critics Association has given $25,000 to the Black Film Hall of Fame, a museum and multicultural cultural center dedicated to preserving and celebrating Black cinema, set to open in 2027 inside Kansas City’s historic Boone Theater.
The donation lands as the theater itself is only months into its own second act. The building reopened in May 2026 following an $8.7 million restoration led by the Vine Street Collaborative and local investors, after sitting vacant for years. Built in 1924 as the New Rialto Theater and later renamed for pianist John William “Blind Boone,” the space now also houses the Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City, with the Black Film Hall of Fame’s full museum experience still to come.
AAFCA President Gil Robertson IV framed the donation as consistent with the organization’s broader mission. “Supporting the Black Film Hall of Fame with this modest gift fits perfectly with our organization’s goals to align with institutions that serve to preserve Black storytelling content,” he said.
The museum is led by Executive Director Shawn Edwards, a film critic and AAFCA co-founder, alongside cultural strategist Tucker Lott. Edwards called the partnership a natural one given AAFCA’s history: “AAFCA and its roster of film critics represent one of the least talked about but most important aspects when acknowledging the history of Black cinema. For decades, Black film critics championed Black movies at a time when they were largely overlooked by the mainstream press.”
The gift adds to a list of community-facing initiatives AAFCA runs well outside of its annual awards shows. The organization operates student boot camps on college campuses with large Black student populations to introduce young people to entertainment journalism, runs a “Road to the AAFCA TV Honors” mentorship track now in its sixth year with partners including the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, and maintains a regular presence at festivals like Sundance, Toronto and the Pan African Film Festival.
For Kansas City, the Boone Theater’s revival is part of a larger push to rebuild the 18th and Vine corridor, once described by Missouri state Sen. Barbara Anne Washington as the city’s own “Black Wall Street” for its historical role as a hub of Black business, medicine and civic life. The theater’s reopening marks the first phase of a broader redevelopment plan for the district, and its role as future home to the Black Film Hall of Fame gives the neighborhood a direct link between that history and Black cinema specifically, with Kansas City natives Don Cheadle, Janelle Monáe and Oscar winning filmmaker Kevin Willmott among the figures the institution is expected to honor.