Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and Lecture Series celebrated its 21st year Saturday and Sunday at the Alamo Draft Ale House Theater.

The festival started in 1997, Reel Sisters is the first Brooklyn-based film festival for women of African, Caribbean, Latino, Asian and Native American descent.

Carolyn Butts, the film festival founder, started Reel Sisters after she had made a short film herself, and discovered the difficulties of promoting and getting visibility for a film after it has been made.  This year, for the first time ever, Reel Sisters received the status to submit a film in the category of Short Documentary to the Oscars.