In 1978, Hudlin, professor George Cunningham, and businessman Alric Nembhard founded the Black Filmmaker Foundation (BFF), a non-profit media arts organization that supports Black filmmaking. Hudlin has a long-standing interest in martial arts, having received a black belt in jiu-jitsu in 1974 from Soke L'il John Davis. His 1980 documentary short, Capoeira of Brazil,[5] was awarded the Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival. For several years, Hudlin has curated a series of contemporary and classic martial arts and action movies called Fist and Sword at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.