Boots Riley Live in Tulsa!
Dreamland and Tulsa Film Collective Welcome Acclaimed Filmmaker Boots Riley to Tulsa, Launching Kinship Frame Film Series Showcasing Work by Black and Indigenous Filmmakers
Tulsa, OK — April 15, 2026
Dreamland and Tulsa Film Collective are proud to co-host acclaimed filmmaker Boots Riley for the Oklahoma premiere of his newest feature film I LOVE BOOSTERS as well as a student film forum on May 9, 2026. The heist-comedy premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival and marks Riley’s highly anticipated follow-up to his breakout debut Sorry to Bother You.
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 will be in attendance for the screening and will participate 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 will host an open forum geared towards students and emerging filmmakers. The Student Filmmaker Forum will be at OSU-Tulsa at 2 p.m., and students from all area schools are invited to attend.
The events also serve as the launch for Kinship Frame, a new project led by Tulsa film curators Colleen Thurston and Kolby Ari. Kinship Frame is an intersectional third space centered on moving image and storytelling, rooted in Black and Indigenous community in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In partnership with Dreamland, the initiative seeks to amplify and foreground the deep histories and contemporary connections of Afro-Indigenous, Black, Freedmen of the Five Tribes, and Native peoples living at the intersections of the Osage, Muscogee and Cherokee Nations and Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District.
Through film programming, community engagement activations, and cultural documentation, Kinship Frame explores themes of land sovereignty, reparations, and intersectional cultural heritage—platforming these conversations to catalyze dialogue, reflection, acknowledgment, and action across Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. Kinship Frame is made possible through The Native Arts + Cultures Foundation’s SHIFT – Transformative Change + Indigenous Arts program.
Kinship Frame Co-Curator Colleen Thurston says “Having a visionary like Boots Riley in conversation with Sterlin Harjo is an absolutely ideal way to launch Kinship Frame’s programming here in Tulsa. Both of these artists ground their storytelling in culture and forward-thinking world building. As we look to the future, Kinship Frame envisions a space where film becomes not only a mirror reflecting our past but a lens through which we imagine new possibilities for our communities.”
Dreamland itself takes its name from the historic Black-owned theater established in 1914 in Tulsa’s Greenwood District. Built by John and Loula Williams, the original Dreamland Theater was a vital community institution before its destruction during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Today, Dreamland operates as an exhibition platform led by Tulsa curator Kolby Ari in collaboration with descendants of the Williams family, centering Black and Indigenous perspectives in joy, healing, liberation, and transformation. Through screenings and programming across various venues, Dreamland invites audiences to imagine new possibilities for community and shared futures.
Weekend Event Details:
From Oakland to Greenwood: Radical Cinema and Black Cultural Imagination
7:00 p.m., Friday, May 8, 2026
Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness
1162 E 49th St
Tulsa, OK 74105Limited Capacity. Moderated by Tulsan now based in Oakland, Dr. Tiffany Barber, the panel features filmmaker and musician Boots Riley, Dreamland Theater founder Kolby Ari, and artist and filmmaker Adrian Burrell. Together, they
will discuss how artists, filmmakers, and cultural spaces help shape new narratives about community, history, and collective possibility.I LOVE BOOSTERS Screening and conversation with Boots Riley and Sterlin Harjo
7:00 p.m., Saturday, May 9, 2026
Eton Square Cinema
8421 E 61st St
Tulsa, OK 74133Tickets are free with RSVP, with a suggested donation of $19.21 or more, with proceeds supporting the future programming, development and sustainability of Dreamland, a Black legacy arts institution.
Student Filmmaking Forum with Boots Riley
2:00 p.m., Saturday, May 9, 2026
OSU-Tulsa Helmerich Research Center Room 157
700 N Greenwood Ave, Tulsa, OK 74106Learn more about Boots Riley’s creative process, values, and more with like minded local filmmakers.
The screening of I LOVE BOOSTERS is generously supported by Native Arts and Culture Foundation, Tulsa Film Collective, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, and Tulsa Film Music Arts and Culture Office.
About Tulsa Film Collective:
Tulsa Film Collective (TFC) is dedicated to nurturing Tulsa’s filmmaker community through dynamic community events and skill-enhancing workshops. Founded in 2018, TFC is committed to sharing the love and appreciation of film, strengthening connections, and sustaining the magic of movie-making in Tulsa.
About Dreamland:
Dreamland takes its name from the historic Black-owned theater established in 1914 in Tulsa’s Greenwood District. Built by John and Loula Williams, the original Dreamland Theater was a vital community institution before its destruction during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Today, Dreamland operates as an exhibition platform led by Tulsa curator Kolby Ari in collaboration with descendants of the Williams family, centering Black and Indigenous perspectives in joy, healing, liberation, and transformation. Through screenings and programming across various venues, Dreamland invites audiences to imagine new possibilities for community and shared futures.