Gary International Black Film Festival: Where Community and Cinema Thrive

The Gary International Black Film Festival (GIBFF) began in 2011 as a challenge, and today, it stands as a testament to the power of community and storytelling. Founder Karen Toering recalls the festival’s unlikely start. “It’s kind of like a dare,” she says. “It was kind of like a challenge to ourselves to see if we could actually do it.” The dare turned into reality, and despite some significant obstacles, the first festival took place. That year, a snowstorm of “almost biblical proportion” hit the area, and Toering’s father passed away just two weeks before the festival. But the show went on in a reflection of the spirit that defines GIBFF. “The streets got plowed, and the people showed up,” Toering remembers, emphasizing the resilience and determination that has kept the festival alive. “We should do this again,” she recalls thinking after that inaugural event. The festival formally incorporated as a nonprofit the following Monday and has been a fixture in Gary ever since. Though she now lives in Seattle, Toering still considers Gary her home, and many who no longer reside there share her deep connection to the city. “There are a lot of people that don’t live in...