The award-winning documentary “Descendant,” which tells the story of the Africatown community founded by survivors of the slave ship Clotilda, will get a gala premiere Saturday at Mobile’s Saenger Theatre.

Attendance is free for the event, which will include a Q&A with filmmakers, but online registration is required.

The release of “Descendant” stands to be a momentous occasion for supporters of Africatown and for the Mobile area in general. The documentary was directed by Mobile native Margaret Brown and co-written by Brown and University of South Alabama folklorist Kern Jackson. It retells the story of the Clotilda’s final voyage but puts more focus on Africatown as a community of Africans freed after only a few years of slavery.

“Descendant” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2022 and won a Special Jury Award for Creative Vision. It won a distribution deal with Netflix and Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama.

Review: ‘Descendant:’ A film of many voices, telling the story of Africatown

Netflix will begin streaming the film on Friday, Oct. 21, and its limited theatrical release will include screenings at Mobile’s Crescent Theater starting Oct. 23, according to www.crescenttheater.com. The gala opening at the Saenger follows similar events for Brown’s 2008 Mardi Gras film “The Order of Myths” and her 2014 work on the Deepwater Horizon disaster, “The Great Invisible.”

According to information released on behalf of Participant Films, the Saenger screening will begin with check-in at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. The screening will begin at 7:30 and will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers starting at 9:30.

A free RSVP is required. Anyone wishing to attend the event can request up to four tickets at events.participant.com/descendantmobile. Participant says that the RSVP system does not guarantee entry because the event will be overbooked “to ensure capacity.” Attendees are encouraged to arrive early.

The confirmation in 2019 that the Clotilda’s wreckage had been found spurred worldwide interest in the story, and the ship is the subject of ongoing archaeological efforts.