Kinship Frame
MAY 2026
The Kinship Frame, is a film-based initiative co-curated with Kolby Ari of the lead partner organization Dreamland to amplify the unique intertwined histories and ongoing struggles of Afro-Indigenous, Black, Freedmen of the Five Tribes of Oklahoma, and Native peoples in the Tulsa region. Through regular film screenings, cultural documentation, and community engagement activations, the project addresses issues of land sovereignty, reparations, and intersectional cultural heritage to reclaim narrative sovereignty and catalyze thoughtful dialogue, reflection, acknowledgment, and collective action. Additionally, Thurston will collaborate with community partners to develop a short documentary centered on Freedmen and the Indigenous community in the region. At its core, the project resists erasure by claiming space for cultural abundance, honoring Freedmen narratives, and envisioning a future where film is not only a mirror of the past but a window to a future of sovereign, transformative possibilities.
Dreamland and Tulsa Film Collective welcomed acclaimed filmmaker Boots Riley to Tulsa, launching the Kinship Frame series with Riley’s newest film, I Love Boosters.
In I Love Boosters, a crew of professional shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven. Featuring a dynamic cast including Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield and Demi Moore, the film has already garnered critical attention, with Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com calling it “a wickedly clever skewering of the moral rot at the center of the fashion industry delivered with enough vision to make your eyes hurt.”
Riley was in attendance for the screening and participated in a post-film conversation and Q&A moderated by filmmaker and Tulsa Film Collective co-founder, Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs, The Lowdown).
Earlier in the day, Riley also hosted an open forum geared towards students and emerging filmmakers.