03/01/2021
In support of Women’s History Month, we are proud to announce that has 92 female directors out of 235 films (39%)
24 are documentaries
68 are narratives
23 are features
69 are shorts
www.PAFF.org
Here is a list of the 2021 Pan African Film Festival selections of films made by women:
21 Days of April (Short Narrative)
Director: Stacey Evans Morgan
What happens when “the one that got away” returns? Courtney LeGarde captures beauty through the camera lens for a living but the former pl***oy is completely blindsided when a vision of loveliness, his old friend April Meyers, makes a surprise visit. Their reunion stirs up emotions neither April or Courtney anticipated.
A Crime on the Bayou (Feature Documentary)
Director: Nancy Buirski
It is Freedom Summer, 1966, on the sweltering Louisiana bayou. In Plaquemines Parish, a young Black fisherman, Gary Duncan, sees some white boys picking on his teenage cousins outside a newly integrated high school. Diffusing the tension, he gently lays his hand on a white boy’s arm. The boy recoils like a snake. That night, police burst into Duncan’s trailer and arrest Gary, changing his life forever. A young Jewish lawyer, Richard Sobol, left an exclusive east coast firm to be mentored by lawyers in the most radical Black law office in New Orleans. Richard agrees to defend Gary, moved by the young man’s bravery. Although it's a minor crime, Plaquemines Parish is controlled by the despotic Leander Perez, the cigar-puffing D.A. who uses the law to run the Parish as his personal fiefdom, upholding segregation and white supremacy. Arresting men like Duncan keeps Blacks in their place and challenging him is very dangerous. Defying numerous arrests and risks to their lives and livelihoods, Gary and Richard keep fighting, appealing the case all the way to the Supreme Court. Duncan v. Louisiana becomes an integral step toward more just trials across the country.
Address Unknown (Short Narrative)
Director: Nadine Cloete
A postman struggles to deliver letters during the brutal destruction of his racially integrated community after it is declared an area for whites only in apartheid South Africa. He then goes on a quest to find a childhood friend and to deliver his letters to him before they are returned to the post office and destroyed. But what the postman finds is not what he expected. Award: Audience Choice Award, Durban International Film Festival 2020
Afro (Short Narrative)
Director: Jenn Shaw
After multiple encounters with her bully and a little academic inspiration, an African-American teen-age girl finally stands up for herself against classmates who question her cultural identity.
Akwaaba: the Awakening (Feature Documentary)
Director: Sybil Harris
A group of African-Americans from Los Angeles, California travel to Africa The Motherland for the first time. This documentary traces the "Trailblazers" journey through many different countries over a four-year span of time. They travel to Ghana, The Gambia, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Mali. Join them on their Sankofa journey of discovery. What happens when you take a group of African-Americans from Los Angeles, California, to visit the Motherland, Africa, for the first time? AKWAABA: The Awakening, is a documentary film that chronicles their journey of discovery as they visit Ghana, The Gambia, Ethiopia, Senegal and Tanzania during the summers of 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. A Champion Club Productions LLC, in association with KJLH, Front Page, African Focus Inc., Bridge to Africa, Khloe Kares.
Antivirus (Short Narrative)
Director: Anastasia Sima
Athens, Greece 2020. Quarantine days. Daphne, a young singer, decides to break down the wall that separates her from her annoying neighbor.
Baladi (My Country) (Short Narrative)
Director: Jenna Bosco
Gamal, a lonely Muslim immigrant, has to find a place to live when his friend asks him to leave. Fritzie, a grieving Jewish widow, is struggling to pay her bills. When the pair meet at the park, an unlikely friendship develops that will change their lives forever.
Barakat (Feature Narrative)
Director: Amy Jephta
How does a family move on after the death of a father? That is the question at the heart of South Africa’s first Muslim film in Afrikaaps.When matriarch Aisha Davids decides to accept a marriage proposal, she devises a plan to break the news to her four sons over Eid. The only problem is that the two eldest sons have been at loggerheads since their father passed away and refuse to be in the same room at the same time. Her big reveal is spoiled when the boys hear via the grapevine about their mother’s pending nuptials and come together to voice their disapproval of the match. Now it’s up to Aisha, her fiancé, and her daughters-in-law to bring the sons around to her way of thinking using the one thing they can all agree on – the barakat, an Arabic word meaning blessings. This is a story about celebrating life, culture, and the importance of family.
Besop@ (Short Narrative)
Director: Isabel Lola
Francisco Besopo's and Francisco Besopa's cremations are on the same day, in the same funeral parlour and in adjacent rooms. Due to the secretary's poor handwriting and because the relatives are in the same waiting room, the mortuary make a bad mistake and put the same name on both urns. Bisila, Francisco Besopa's wife, wants to know at all costs which urn contains the ashes of her husband, in order to take them home. Gema, Francisco Besopo's daughter, wants to take the ashes of her father to Equatorial Guinea, because she is going to receive an inheritance if she does it. At this point, what to do with the ashes?
Binti (Feature Narrative)
Director: Seko Shamte
A meditation on contemporary African womanhood, “Binti” tells the tale of four contemporay women characters in Dar es Salaam in four chapters. We enter the film through Tumaini, a fledgling small-business owner whose traumatic past collides with her present reality when an ill-advised scheme goes awry. Enter Angel, an alluring beauty with a fairytale existence that is slowly revealed to be rotting at its core. Stella and Rose round out the four chapters as they navigate the complexities of marriage, motherhood and great expectations. Premiering in honor of International Women's Day, March 8.
Black Excellence (Short Narrative)
Director: Javicia Leslie
Each member of what seems to be a picture-perfect family is miserable as each secretly struggles with life’s demons in their attempts to be "excellent" in something. As the youngest daughter watches a happy sitcom family on television, it sparks the idea that maybe if she gets her family to the dinner table they could be happy too.
Black Lady Goddess (Webseries Narrative)
Director: Chelsea Odufu
A satirical Afro-futuristic series set in the year 2040 when humans on earth now have a connection to their creator in outer space. It follows the life of a young activist by the name of Ifeoma Johnson who is coming into her own in a time when humans have not only found out that God is a Black Woman, but after reparations have been issued in the amount of $455,000 to each person of African descent. The first season showcases the chaos that unfolds following this development. Black Lady Goddess emerges as a symbol of the end of White Supremacy and privilege and as a pillar of strength and power to women and people of color around the world.
Celeste’s Dreams (Short Narrative)
Director: Iona Morris
When a creative young woman reaches the same age her mother was when she died, her life stagnates, forcing her to reconcile a longstanding fear and to deal with the grief she’s held for too long, opening up an opportunity for her to pursue their shared dream.
Charlese (Short Narrative)
Director: Summera Howell
Foster care survivor Charlese finally has the family she's always wanted - until she uncovers the tragic truth that threatens to destroy the love she’s waited for her whole life.
Cherry Lemonade (Short Narrative)
Director: Aisha Ford
On a hot summer day in a lower-income neighborhood, a black girl learns to take the lead on her own terms.
Chicago Guy (Short Narrative)
Director: Shahari Moore
What would you do with your last 24 hours of life? Facing death, a man makes a deal with God for 24 hours of life in his favorite city! This darkly comedic, day-in-the-life dance with spirituality unfolds against the backdrop of Chicago's cityscape.
Comin' up Short (Feature Documentary)
Director: Queen Muhammad Ali, Hakeem Khaaliq
The true story of Shorty (Jerome Muhammad) a member of “Da Lench Mob," one of the most controversial platinum and gold rap recording groups of all time led by Ice Cube. At the age of 11, Shorty formed a notorious deadly street gang in South Central and went on to become one of the most feared Gang Bangers in Los Angeles. Upon release from prison, he became Ice Cube's personal security against the threats from Cube's former group N.W.A. Shorty's sole testimony is a colorful monologue that recants verified true stories about criminal activities and imprisonment to finding his purpose through gang intervention all while racing against time to save his own life.
Consumes Me (Short Narrative)
Director: Raphaelle Bardet
A young couple are soon to be married. On a night that was supposed to be a celebration, their future together is seriously threatened when Elle finds out that Michael has reconnected with old demons.
Dawn in the Dark (Short Narrative)
Director: Runyararo Mapfumo
On the eve of her father's birthday, Dawn and her fun uncle Nate struggle over her bedtime routine. A new dynamic to their relationship is explored as they navigate their way through a family crisis.
Day 74 (Short Narrative)
Director: Starr Rivers
An exploration of the impact of COVOD-19 on a couple who grapple with both the disease's devastating impact on the Black community and the murder of George Floyd.
death. everything. nothing. (Short Documentary)
Director: LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant
Separated by distance, time, and a pandemic, a daughter wrestles with her mother's impending death.
Disruptor Conductor (Short Documentary)
Director: Sharon Lewis
Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser is an unlikely hero on a mission to create live orchestral shows that are for everyone.
Dọlápọ̀ Is Fine (Short Narrative)
Director: Ethosheia Hylton
Soon to leave her very British boarding school, Dọlápọ̀ is pressured to conceal her natural hair, and to change her name. Dọlápọ̀ begins to question how the world might see her. She braces for change. Dọlápọ̀ buys a wig, but the hair leaves her questioning its uncertain origins. After a dose of unwanted attention and a strange episode in the woods, Dọlápọ̀ is forced to reconsider her own assumptions about her identity.
Dreamer (Short Narrative)
Director: Vergi Rodriguez, Diana Zollicofer
Lily Cruz, a DACA recipient, travels on a medical volunteer mission and upon returning to the USA, finds a TSA agent isn’t so welcoming.
Dreaming of Jerusalem (Short Documentary)
Director: Peter Decherney, Sosena Solomon
There has been a Jewish community in Ethiopia for 2000 years. The origin of this community is still a matter of speculation and dispute since they were cut off from global Jewish communities until the mid-19th century. An intimate look at the Jewish community in Gondar, Ethiopia, where people have been waiting for 20 years to emigrate to Israel. Today, approximately 14,000 members of this community remain in Gondar and Addis Ababa, awaiting the chance to complete their journey to the Promised Land.
Driving While Black Magic (Short Narrative)
Director: Julia C Liu
In the absurdist world of Providence Plantations, a spiritual woman works to decolonize her thoughts. While driving home from her job at the sleep lab, she tries to block out news of another state-sanctioned killing. After narrowly missing a run-in with police, the line between reality and a waking nightmare begins to blur.
Eavesdropping on the Elders (Short Narrative)
Director: Kiah Clingman, Robinson Vil
Hindered by the severe weakness caused by ALS, activist/author Jim Clingman struggles to continue his fight for Black rights. Miles away at school, his daughter Kiah, isolates herself from the pains of his disease and unconsciously flees from her father’s prolific legacy. With a major paper due sooner than anticipated and a need to go home to take care of her dad, she’s backed into a corner, confronted with lessons from the past.
Elephant (Short Narrative)
Director: Gladys San Juan
Nicole, a woman in her late 30s, appears to have it all -- a caring husband, two children and a good job. But Nicole is suffering from a crippling depression that, due to the stigma attached to mental illness, she is trying to keep secret. Over 24 hours, a series of otherwise minor events, coupled with Nicole’s dissociation from family and friends, lead her to a state of utter desperation.
Finding Sally (Feature Documentary)
Director: Tamara Dawit
The incredible story of a 23-year-old woman from an upper-class family who became a communist rebel with the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party. Idealistic and in love, Sally got caught up in her country’s revolutionary fervor and landed on the military government’s most wanted list. She went underground and her family never saw her again. Four decades after Sally’s disappearance, Tamara Dawit pieces together the mysterious life of her Aunt Sally. She revisits the Ethiopian revolution and the terrible massacre that followed, which resulted in nearly every Ethiopian family losing a loved one. Her quest leads her to question notions of belonging, personal convictions and political ideals at a time when Ethiopia is going through important political changes once again.
Fruitful Emission (Short Narrative)
Director: Mishqah Parthiephal
Nothing Imaan does is good enough her for mother-in-law. Imaan and her husband Rashid are continually pressured by Suraya to have a child. After persuading her child-loathing husband to father her a child, she finds out that he’s been keeping a dark secret.
Graveyard Spiral (Short Narrative)
Director: Evelyn Lee
A hybrid animation and live action short film, where a woman goes on an inner animated journey to find peace by facing her personal demons that surface after she learns that her mother is suffering from a serious illness.
Guillermina (Short Narrative)
Director: Aida Esther Bueno Sarduy
Intertwining animation and archival images, the son of a well-to-do family in Havana in the 1940s remembers his wet-nurse, a Black woman named Guillermina. Based on a true story.
Havana (Short Narrative)
Director: Faith Strongheart
Cuba, 1970s. Antonio, an immigration officer by day, sells exit visas illegally by night at exorbitant prices. Antonio’s secrets go beyond his secret job, though: he is also hiding his homos*xuality, which comes to light when his lover, Jian, comes in looking for an exit visa for himself.
Her & Her (Short Narrative)
Director: Jade Anouka
Different backgrounds, cultures, upbringings, rules. Both British. Both women. One black. One white. We follow them on their journey seeing just how their differences can complement each other, what challenges they will need to overcome and how honest conversation and carefree dancing will always win in the end. Part poetry video. Part music video. This experimental short film is a lyrical and musical story told using poetry and beatboxing.
Hollywood's Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story (Feature Documentary)
Director: Royal Kennedy Rodgers, Kathy McCampbell Vance
Nicknamed “Architect to the Stars,” African American architect Paul R. Williams had a life story that could have been dreamed up by a Hollywood screenwriter. Orphaned at the age of four, Williams grew up to build mansions for movie stars and millionaires in Southern California. From the early 1920s until his retirement 50 years later, Williams was one of the most successful architects in the country. His list of residential clients included Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. And his name is associated with architectural icons like the Beverly Hills Hotel, the original MCA Headquarters Building and LAX Airport. But at the height of his career Paul Williams wasn’t always welcome in the restaurants and hotels he designed or the neighborhoods where he built homes because of his race. “Hollywood’s Architect: The Paul R. Williams Story” tells the compelling, but little known story, of how he used talent and perseverance to beat the odds and create a body of work that can be found from coast to coast. Narrated by Courtney Vance with appearances by Paulette Washington and Karen Hudson, Williams' grandaughter.
Ìfé (Short Narrative)
Director: Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim
Ìfé and Adaora fall in love over a 3-day date, but their love is tested when it comes under pressure by the realities of being in a same-s*x relationship in Nigeria. How much is each of them willing to sacrifice (or not) to sustain their new love?
Junebug (Short Narrative)
Director: Winter Dunn
At 28, Junie is a writer obsessed with capturing the essence of her childhood growing up with her musician father, Davis. Davis, an alcoholic drummer with an infectious charm and an unending tenderness for his daughter is proving difficult to put into words. As Junie struggles to articulate Davis in her writing and to her boyfriend Calvin, she’s transported back in time through her own memories of him. How do you explain someone impossible to love and impossible not to?
Just a Girl (Short Narrative)
Director: Lina Green
After finally coming into her own, Andrea, a young transgender woman, is ready to let her past go and find love.
Kiss From A Rose (Short Narrative)
Director: Shaman Aponte
After betraying her husband, Diana is desperate to repair their broken marriage and plans a romantic evening her husband Michael will never forget.
Looking Glass (Short Narrative)
Director: Joslyn Rose Lyons
A man finds himself in an unusual bar, one which is home to a portal to the past, and thus begins his own interaction with the idea of dreams. The events that follow take on a surreal tone and through an engagement with the concept of time, the past and the present, dreams and fears, there is also a sense of the distinction between being good at your craft and achieving genius stature, as well as your own self-inflicted doubts and inhibitions that keep you away from it.
Maya and Her Lover (Feature Narrative)
Director: Nicole Sylvester
Maya Trudeau, a single woman in her thirties, is in the midst of an emotional crisis. She is educated, financially stable and completely disillusioned with life. An introvert, she lives vicariously through her best friend and wasting time online. That is, until she takes a lover, Kaseem, a 22-year-old pizza deliveryman big on ideas, but short on ex*****on. His game is clumsy but endearing. Maya is flattered that such a young man is into her. He’s edgy and a little bit dangerous, but to Maya’s surprise, she likes it - a lot.
Memoirs of a Black Girl (Feature Narrative)
Director: Thato Rantao Mwosa
In this coming-of-age film, Aisha Johnson, an astute and ambitious student, is one of the finalists for the coveted Conrad Scholarship. Aisha’s goal is to earn the top prize. But one day when Aisha tries to do the right thing, her life is turned upside down, which puts her future in jeopardy. Aisha must learn to navigate life at home, in school, and on the unforgiving streets of Roxbury.
Milestones - Ep. 1 & 2 (Webseries Narrative)
Director: Yakima Rich
A coming-of-age story that follows best friends Jordan Paige and Noah Culver, who meet in their freshman year of college. Their experiences and growth over 12 years, both within themselves and their friendship, are shared over the course of milestone birthdays.
Misfits (Short Narrative)
Director: Ciani Rey Walker
When they learn their friend has kidnapped a cop on the night of MLK Jr.’s assassination, two sisters and leaders of the Black Panther Party must set aside their differences to navigate one of the most turbulent nights in history.
My Father The Mover (Short Documentary)
Director: Julia Jansch
Alatha’s father calls himself a Mover. Using African dance moves, he helps kids in Khayelitsha township transcend hardship and “find their superpowers.” The Mover is also a single father and, while he has helped many kids, he still has difficulty getting his daughter to find her own powers. But in a tender moment together this is all about to change.
Omi (Short Narrative)
Director: Vatora Godwin
Omi, a middle-aged wife and mother, grows more distant in her marriage after having spent months wrestling in her sleep about a provocative tape of her husband Kenneth. After one evening away from home, she receives a proposition that helps her to make a long awaited and much needed revelation about what to do with her marriage.
One Life To Blossom (Feature Documentary)
Director: Alexandrina Andre
Meet Black transgender activist and entertainer Blossom C. Brown. Raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Blossom struggled with her identity and her health after being infected with H.I.V. at the age of seventeen. Although life looked dark, Blossom refused to give up on her dreams. Her unlikely journey from grocery store clerk in Jackson to Los Angeles where she becomes a public figure and a voice for Black transgender women is chronicled, proving that dreams do come true.
Out of Many (Short Narrative)
Director: Rebecca Williams
Jamaica is a place like many others in contemporary society: divided. The social disparity is pervasive; a strong source of bitter conflict. Asha, a teenage girl from a politically involved and influential family within Jamaica, enjoys a life far removed from any harsh reality. Asha’s privileged bubble pops however, when she and her driver come across the dead body of a local street cleaner. To her, the body represents a side of Jamaica that she only sees through the skewed lens of media. Slowly but surely, Asha’s world view begins to unwind as she is thrust into deep introspection.
Patriot Day (Short Narrative)
Director: Nailah Robinson
As tragedy strikes in Washington DC on 9/11/2001, 11-year-old Jamila navigates her stoic pre-teen life and waits for her mom to come home from work at the Pentagon so they can celebrate her birthday.
Pharmacopeia (Short Narrative)
Director: Tania Taiwo
A quirky Black pharmacist drowning in student loan debt rebels against the system.
PreGame (Short Narrative)
Director: Dana Silverman
A former athlete and his talented younger brother work to resolve their differences during a practice for a championship game.
Prepared (Short Narrative)
Director: Erika Kelley, Shandrea Evans
A young woman struggling with low confidence decides to follow the guidance of a popular self-help book and makes a bold decision towards manifesting her dreams.
Pretty's Daughter (Short Narrative)
Director: Siphokazi Mtila
When she is unable to move overseas with the wealthy woman who raised her, Busi is forced to move back to the township to live with her mother, a domestic worker. Although she has a difficult time accepting her changed circumstances, she is able to navigate a new world of living in the township, a new school, friendship and love interest until those worlds collide.
Project H (Short Narrative)
Director: Maharaki
To rebuild Haiti, three soldiers put together a plan of crazy audacity.
Quarantine Quarrels - Dating in Quarantine! (Webseries Narrative)
Director: Sophia Stephens
A single woman struggles to maintain her sanity and dating life in the midst of the 2020 quarantine.
Queen (Feature Documentary)
Director: TaNisha Fordham
An uplifting documentary about the largely unacknowledged world of minority women in pageantry. Follow TaNisha Fordham in her pursuit of the Mrs. New Jersey United States title set against the backdrop and climate of our current culture. Ultimately, an examination of beauty standards, self- acceptance and self-love, "Queen" is sure to leave audiences enlightened, challenged and in the end, inspired.
Red Pill (Feature Narrative)
Director: Tonya Pinkins
Set over Halloween weekend 2020, this political thriller follows six friends as they head into “red” country to canvas white women to vote. They are armed with idealism and determination, but they should have brought heavy artillery. As they explore the creepy house they booked for the weekend distressing clues indicate that they should get out of there, but they decide to stay. They should have brought heavy artillery.
Reopening (Short Narrative)
Director: Caralene Robinson
After recently moving to a new city, Layla is shocked when the country goes into shutdown. Isolated and lonely, she slips into a deep depression. Months later, Layla apprehensively heads outside to Shakespeare Gardens. During random conversations, she realizes that she's been lonely, but not alone.
Rizo (Short Narrative)
Director: Jeanette Dilone
Afro-Latina actress Cristina struggles with her natural hair during a busy day of auditions. She spends the day trying to fit into a Hollywood-esque “Latina” beauty standard in hopes of booking a role, while her best friend encourages her to write and produce her own material. Cristina refuses to do so, instead focusing her attention on an upcoming “big break” audition. Her hopes are disrupted, however, when the audition takes a turn for the worse.
Shaina (Feature Narrative)
Director: Beautie Masvaure Alt
Shaina (Shine) is a teenager who has a knack for making something out of nothing and could have a promising future as an engineer, except for the fact that she doesn’t believe in herself. When she and her best friends are faced with a host of grown-up problems – loss of loved ones, unpaid exam fees and the curse of “blessers” – they come close to giving up. Their story is one of forgiveness and friendship, of creating a new family from the people who love you, and of the very real girl power.
Stateless (Apátrida) (Feature Documentary)
Director: Michèle Stephenson
In 2013, the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929. The ruling rendered more than 200,000 people stateless, without nationality, identity or a homeland. STATELESS traces the complex tributaries of history and present-day politics, as state-sanctioned racism seeps into mundane offices, living room meetings, and street protests. Anyone defending marginalized groups faces threats of violence. In this dangerous climate, a young attorney named Rosa Iris mounts a grassroots campaign, challenging electoral corruption and advocating for social justice. As Rosa balances her congressional run with her dedication to her family and community, the full scope of her fight is revealed. Filmed in chiaroscuro colors, and shot through with elements of magical realism, STATELESS combines gritty hidden-camera footage with the legend of a young woman fleeing brutal violence to flip the narrative axis, revealing the depths of institutionalized oppression.
Stop Killing Us (Short Narrative)
Director: Kiana Woodson
What starts out as an ordinary day for two young Black people in love finds itself upended by police brutality.
Sundays at The Triple Nickel (Short Documentary)
Director: Jessica Colquhoun
On Edgecombe Avenue in Sugar Hill, Harlem, Marjorie Eliot is making sure her apartment building’s iconic jazz legacy lives on. Marjorie and her son have been hosting jazz concerts in her apartment every Sunday for the past 26 years, a pursuit of overcoming grief through music. The story of the women behind the piano and how Marjorie’s generous vision came to be and the life it has taken on since, as she leaves behind her own legacy.
Take My Heart (Short Narrative)
Director: Anna Simone Scott
Mackenzie, a talented singer, seeks redemption from her troubled past through songwriting and a twelve step program. When her estranged father suddenly shows up, she's faced with the decision to allow him back into her life.
The Bronze Men of Cameroon (Les Hommes de Bronze du Cameroun) (Feature Documentary)
Director: Florence Ayisi
A portrait of bronze casting as a valued traditional practice that defines the identity of the Bamum People in the Western Region of Cameroon. Bronze Men of Cameroon presents bronze craftsmen at work and rare insights into their expertise in producing unique bronze sculptures that are inscribed with symbolic images and narratives of collective memory, identity and the Bamum character. It is also about threats to cultural continuity as global trends negatively impact on indigenous practices. The bronze craftsmen are facing challenges in sustaining and safeguarding their unique cultural heritage that has formed their collective social memory. Bronze casting activities are slowly declining. The foundries are closing down. Some bronze artists are turning to farming and other trades. The artisans are fearful that bronze art craft could disappear and, with it, their tradition and their sense of belonging that has defined their identity, culture, and history for many generations.
The Cuddler (Short Narrative)
Director: Lurdes Maswanganye
A light-hearted dramedy follows Dikeledi, a young woman who finds purpose and happiness as a cuddle partner to the lonely and misunderstood but she has to lie about her career to her father to keep him “happy.” When he discovers the truth, he gives her an ultimatum to either quit this “disgraceful” vocation, which has given her more happiness and purpose than she has ever known, or leave her father’s house and risk the end of their relationship. Her decision only becomes more complicated with the arrival of a highly “problematic” client.
The Cypher (Short Narrative)
Director: Letia Solomon
A young Black freestyle rapper in Philadelphia must confront his s*xuality when he finally gets the chance to perform on the big stage.
The Deadliest Disease In America (Feature Documentary)
Director: Crystal R Emery
The COVID-19 pandemic is an exclamation point calling attention to the disparities in the American healthcare system as we have witnessed communities of color experience disproportionately high rates of infection, staggering losses of life, and increased economic hardship. At this point there’s no secret that there is a history of racism in American healthcare that revealed itself with the brutal medical experimentations on enslaved people and continues through today. Based upon race, U.S. healthcare is riddled with disparities and inequities in the quality of care that Black and Brown people are afforded. This is an examination of American healthcare utilizing historical footage interwoven with the testimonies of experts and medical practitioners, as well as the personal stories of patients who have been victimized by healthcare inequities, including the filmmaker’s own experiences as a quadriplegic African American woman.
The Deliberate Death of My Father (Short Narrative)
Director: Rose Katché Duez
Zoey enters a hair salon to dye her hair for the first time. As she questions her decision she replays her recent graduation dinner where an explosive fight becomes a chance to settle an old score. Will changing her hair be a final defiance or the first act of something more meaningful?
The Endless Cycle (Feature Documentary)
Director: Wanjing Huang
A look at a Black man’s life in China, which includes financial success and discrimination due to COVID-19 and being Black. A really interesting look behind the wall of Chinese society and attitudes of everyday Chinese people to African Immigrants.
The Girl Who Dreamt Instead (Short Narrative)
Director: Annie Feldsott, David B. Berget
A magical realism story about a young immigrant girl in Norway who, upon learning her family is being deported, finds herself trapped in a fantastical wilderness.
The Hyers Sisters' Dream & Legacy (Short Documentary)
Director: Susheel Bibbs
TIn the 1870s, when minstrels in black-face ridiculed African-Americans across the land, the Hyers Sisters, products of California civil-rights communities, were the first female African-American touring-opera stars. At the height of their operatic acclaim, The Hyers decided to stand up for the dignity of their people, left their dream of operatic stardom and created the American musical theater. With their musicals focused on Black dignity and quests for freedom, they toured to audiences across the country. The Hyers Sisters have remained unsung -- until now.
The Island (Short Narrative)
Director: Aimée Schaefer
When his friend goes missing in the summer of 1989, Jimmy learns that the Island isn't the only thing that's changing. "The Island," based on a true story from the enigmatic community of Roosevelt Island, NYC, takes its viewers on a journey through time.
The Letter (Feature Documentary)
Director: Maia Lekow, Christopher King
Filmed with a gentle pace and incredible closeness, The Letter is an intimate family portrait that ascends into a dramatic climax of Shakespearean proportions. Karisa’s city-life is interrupted when his 95-year old Grandmother back home is called a witch. Returning to his rural village to investigate, he finds a frenzied mixture of consumerism and Christianity is turning hundreds of families against their elders, branding them as witches as a means to steal their ancestral land. As Karisa balances delicately between his disputing aunties and uncles, the love for his Grandmother and her fearless spirit must overcome the imminent danger of the accusations against her. With an original score composed by director Maia Lekow, the inevitable universal theme of how land is divided when an elder dies is entangled by the chaotic mixture of traditions of the past with the newly imposed influence of western religions. The understated power of women and resilience of family and community shines above all else, despite the growing threat of greed and inter-generational alienation. Kenya’s submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar 2021
The Lost Land Girl (Short Narrative)
Director: Shakira Francis
Fulfilling their patriotic duty in the north of England on a beautiful farm, Helena tries to convince her sister Lillian, that they should leave the Women’s Land Army for a better assignment elsewhere. Lillian, however, remains stubborn and refuses to go despite the racism and discrimination they have had to endure. Meanwhile fellow Land Girl Elizabeth is becoming increasingly resentful at the sisters’ presence on the farm. She enlists help from Sarah to devise a plan that will get the sisters to leave. Sarah has her reservations but still helps Elizabeth. The tension between the four women begins to grow until Elizabeth makes a decision that changes everything.
The Power Of Hope (Short Narrative)
Director: Kalia Love Jones
When her mother falls ill, an aspiring architect grapples with feelings of helplessness, but moved by the words of Michelle Obama, she finds the will to persevere and bring her dreams to life.
The Snakes (Short Narrative)
Director: Michelle Beck
In an alternate future, surrounded by a culture of fear, a young Black woman channels her rage through violent fantasies.
Through the Night (Feature Documentary)
Director: Loira Limbal
To make ends meet, Americans are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. This verité documentary explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a childcare provider - whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center.
Till Death Do Us Part (Póki śmierć nas nie rozłączy) (Short Narrative)
Director: Dolores Vunda
A Ugandan woman fights against her husband’s desire to marry a second woman. Her journey gets harder when she figures that she is the only one in the family standing against the law that the culture still holds.
Tobi and the Turbo Bus (Tobi und der Turbobus) (Short Narrative)
Director: Verena Fels, Marc Angele
You fly with no seat! That's the rule in the Turbobus. To get one is a hard day job for a young wolf on his turbo-journey to find real friendship.
Trust Issues (Short Narrative)
Director: Reva Santo
When we meet Aliya she is vibrant, carefree, charismatic. An exciting performer projecting full s*x appeal. After an experience with s*xual assault, she becomes protective of her true self. She struggles to get back to the person she used to be, worried that her career will fail if she can’t get back to her former self. Flash forward and we find Aliya at a low point and falling deeply into flashbacks of her s*xual trauma. All is further complicated by her intimacy with love interest Dre who is kind and genuinely cares about Aliya, checking on her even when Aliya tries to ghost her. But Aliya doesn’t know how she can trust anyone and isn’t ready for a relationship. She must learn how to heal from the past and find her own authentic path.
Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me (Feature Documentary)
Director: Abby Ginzberg
Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me tells the complex story of Representative Barbara Lee, a steadfast voice for human rights, peace and equality in the U.S. Congress who cut her teeth as a volunteer for the Black Panther Party and was the lone voice in opposition to the broad authorization of military force after the September 11th attacks. In 2001, she issued a prescient warning in the House of Representatives: “Let us not become the evil we deplore,” and today she continues that clarion call. An all-star cast including Senator Cory Booker, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, commentator Van Jones, actor Danny Glover, and author Alice Walker all share insights about what makes Barbara Lee unique as a public servant and as a truth-telling African American woman.
Uprooted - The Journey of Jazz Dance (Feature Documentary)
Director: Khadifa Wong
Jazz in movement and music is ever-evolving. As jazz dance celebrates its many interpretations, it pays homage to its lineage. Its history and artistic roots in the expression of enslaved peoples strengthen the art form, turning its practice into a metaphor for resistance and a struggle for acceptance. The rapid kaleidoscope of movement and music in Uprooted speaks more clearly than any artificial narrative, setting testimonials from dedicated practitioners of jazz dance against a linear examination of American history.
uXolile (Short Narrative)
Director: Portia Hlubi
A concerned Xolile returns to her township to ask her sick mother to return to the city with her. With a troubled relationship and a booming career, Xolile needs to confront issues of bitterness and resentment from her childhood in order to rebuild their relationship. Faced with hard truths that may change her life forever, will Xolile choose her new life over her own mother?
Velvet (Short Narrative)
Director: Victoria DeBlauss
Set in 1965, outlaw lovers Eve and Austin await their getaway driver in the Mojave Desert after committing a bank heist. Austin's racial prejudice threatens to tear them apart when he finds out that Eve has a Black mother. Meanwhile, a famous Italian director watches their every move.
We (Short Narrative)
Director: Jody Sabral
An accidental conversation between three old friends reveals differences that run deep.
When The Sun Sets (Lakutshon' Ilanga) (Short Narrative)
Director: Phumi Morare
A young Black nurse living in 1985 apartheid South Africa must face her worst fears when she learns that her activist, younger brother may be in danger when he doesn't return after school.
When the Waters Get Deep (Short Documentary)
Director: Kelly Whalen
The Oakland musicians of SOL Development use hip-hop, jazz and soul to tell stories about the effects of policing, mass incarceration and gun violence, and the band members work to create spaces for healing in Black and brown communities. But when they’re shaken by unspeakable losses of their own, they must look inward and lean on each other to navigate circumstances that alter their lives forever.
Who is Sheila S? (Feature Documentary)
Director: Cathleen Trigg-Jones
Not knowing where you came from can leave a big dark hole in the hearts of those put up for closed adoption. But what if, one day, that closed door opens? Are you ready for what's on the other side? Emmy Award-winning Journalist Cathleen Trigg-Jones has teamed up with Academy and Emmy Award-winning director, producer and editor Geeta Gandbhir to co-direct and produce a powerful documentary that cracks open the urgent debate over whether or not a child put up for adoption has the right know where they came from. Based on Cathleen’s own heart-wrenching journey to meet the birth family she’s never known, the film explores the complex question: Is denying an adoptee access to their original birth certificate a gross violation of their civil and human rights or is it a necessary legality to protect the lives and identities of parents who choose adoption?
The Water Man is a fantasy-adventure film about a young boy named Gunner (Lonnie Chavis) who sets out on a quest to save his ill mother (Rosario Dawson) by searching for a mythic figure who knows the secret to immortality. Gunner enlists the help of a mysterious local girl (Amiah Miller) who has her...
