A Conversation with Cranstan Cumberbatch: Local Filmmaker and Director of Tampa’s Juneteenth Film Festival

by Jana Henson

Let’s play a game. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Florida? Is it:
A. Sunny beaches
B. Disney World
C. I-4 traffic
D. The indie film industry

For anyone who didn’t pick option “D,” Cranstan Cumberbatch is on a mission to change that.

Cumberbatch, a longtime filmmaker and arts educator in the Bay Area, is the director of Tampa Bay’s Juneteenth Film Festival—a one-day event at Tampa Theatre that showcases the region’s independent Black filmmakers.

The festival features a short film program, a feature film block, and a preview segment highlighting upcoming work from local creators. There’s even a locally shot TV pilot in the mix: Gloria 19.

The sci-fi romp, written and directed by Sarasota-based filmmaker Michael Kinsey, explores the rise of A.I. The limited series recently won “Best Web Series” at the Sunshine City Film Festival.

“These people are right here,” Cumberbatch says. “To know that we have this level of talent here is truly amazing and remarkable, and a great thing to see.”

Gloria 19 is part of the short film program, which also includes the romantic thriller The Vixen (dir. Toneice Evans), sci-fi anthology Ethereal (dir. Blake Emory), family drama ATONE (dir. Erica Sutherlin), and Riding Hood (dir. Dwight Mathis), a modern take on the classic fairytale Little Red Riding Hood.

The marquee screening is Is That Black Enough for You?!?, a new documentary from film historian Elvis Mitchell. The film is a soul-stirring exploration of Black cinema in the 1970s—part documentary, part personal essay—featuring insights from Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Zendaya, and more.

“I think that representation looks great in this year’s programming—we get a mixture of everything,” Cumberbatch adds.

The Juneteenth Film Festival is part of Cumberbatch’s broader push to build Tampa Bay’s reputation as a destination for independent filmmakers. With year-round venues like Greenlight Cinema, the upcoming reopening of the Beach Theatre, and annual festivals like Sunscreen and Juneteenth, the area is quickly becoming a hidden hub.

“We have a really unique situation here in the Tampa Bay Area, where anybody can be a part of this industry,” Cumberbatch says. “This industry is about telling stories. No matter what you do, you can contribute.”

Stories—and the freedom to tell them—are at the heart of the Juneteenth Film Festival, named for the holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans on June 19, 1865.

“Everyone’s coming in with the same mindframe—of seeing indie cinema and embracing what Juneteenth represents,” Cumberbatch says.

And, like Juneteenth, the journey doesn’t stop there.