Sundance “Deeply Disappointed” That Kahlil Joseph’s ‘BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions’ Pulled From Fest By Participant​on January 22, 2025 at 8:17 am

The movie BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions from Beyoncé Lemonade filmmaker Kahlil Joseph has been pulled from the Sundance Film Festival by its financier Participant, Deadline has confirmed.

The pic was making its world premiere in the Next section at the Park City, UT fest.

“We are deeply disappointed to have been informed this on Tuesday evening, January 21, by Participant Media that they have pulled BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. We were looking forward to premiering the film for our audiences and will be in touch with all customers who purchased tickets,” read a statement from a Sundance rep.

According to Variety who first had the story, the brouhaha has to do with the pic’s financier Participant Media legally accusing the filmmaker of a second cut of the movie which is being submitted to film festivals, including Berlin. We’ve reached out to reps for Participant and Joseph for their official responses. We’ll update the report when we hear back.

The pic’s logline reads “Preeminent West African curator and scholar Funmilayo Akechukwu’s magnum opus, The Resonance Field, Ieads her to the heart of the Atlantic Ocean, drawing a journalist into a journey that shatters her understanding of consciousness and time.”

What’s odd in all of this is that the award winning socially conscious production company and film financier Participant shut its doors last April after 20 years in business. At the time, one of the dangling titles to be released was BLKNWS, in conjunction with A24. Variety reports that A24 is no longer attached to the experimental film which blurs the lines between journalism, art and etc. When the Jeff Skoll-founded Participant shut down, it let go of its 100-person staff except for a core staff who were settling out their remaining productions.

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions is produced by Onye Anyanwu, Amy Greenleaf and Nic Gonda. Joseph is director, writer and producer. The movie was also written by Saidiya Hartman and Irvin Hunt.

The Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 23-Feb. 2.