In January 2022, it was announced Kahlil Joseph would direct the film, with Participant and A24 set to produce, with the latter additionally distributing.[1] In June 2023, Shaunette Renée Wilson announced her involvement.[2]
In January 2025, worldwide rights were acquired by James Shani's Rich Spirit.
Release
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions was originally set to premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2025.[3] However, three days prior to its premiere, Participant pulled the film from the festival upon learning of a new cut made without their knowledge by Joseph, allegedly screened for critics at the talent agency CAA on January 17, and supposedly used to gain entry to the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, to be held in February 2025; the film's screening at the latter was also left in question. It was also revealed that A24 had quietly left the project in August 2024 upon Joseph's failure to submit the final film, which was approved by Participant three months later.[4][5][6]
Later that month, Rich Spirit and BN Media bought Participant out of its ownership of the film, planning to sell it to a new distributor with the film back on track for a premiere at Sundance; it was also clarified that Joseph was circulating a polished print, not a secret director's cut, of the film.[7][8]
Screen Daily's Jeremy Kay wrote:
“...Shani's status as someone who is prepared to invest in challenging films that find themselves in challenging situations. Last summer he bought out Kinematic's stake in The Apprentice, enabling Briarcliff Entertainment to come on board as US distributor.”[9]
As formally inventive as it is intellectually exciting, it uses both Joseph's life and the W.E.B. DuBois-inspired encyclopedia “Africana” as jumping-off points in a far-reaching exploration of peoples of African descent. Anchored by that posthumously completed work and by an astonishment of found and original material, the movie playfully, often touchingly surges and leaps across time and borders.”[12]
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 90 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
