(For Film Descriptions: N - Z) (click here)
A Letter To You by Kawana Bullock, (documentary short, 26 mins)
A Letter to You is a non-fiction autobiographical short that explores the methods a young Black woman uses to try to define and connect to her identity and cultural roots after the death of a negligent parent. The video confronts the question how does one know who they are if they do not know where they come from, especially if one was abandoned by immediate kin?
A Meditation: Lotus of a Thousand Petals by Kenshasa Shabaka, (documentary short, 28 mins)
A healing documentary that looks at the ways we can take stress out of our lives.
A Mother to Hold by LaToya Ruby Frazier, (documentary short, 22 mins)
A Mother to Hold is a documentary which reveals the intensely difficult relationship the flimmaker has with her drug-addicted mother.
A Period Piece by Camille Holder-Brown, (narrative short, 20 mins)
There’s a fine line between imagination and naiveté and SIONNE has just crossed it. This young, black sixth grader, at Maxiville Middle School, has just watched a dated film on menstruation, which for her is scarier than any horror movie she’s ever seen. Still pre-pubescent, and grossed out by the whole idea, Sionne seems to be unable to avoid her peer’s fascination with the topic. Confused and frightened, Sionne heads home and retreats into a world of make believe.
All Our Sons-Fallen Heroes of 9/11 by Lillkian Benson and Shannon Gee, (documentary short, 28 mins)
This documentary honors the memory of African Americans Fire Fighters in 9/11.
Amadou Diallo by Jenelle Jackson, (documentary short, 18 mins)
This moving documentary is about a neighbor’s quest to get justice for the murder of Amadou Diallo.
Bad Flirting 101 by Jenelle Jackson, (comedy documentary short, 12 mins)
Bad Flirting 101 is a documentary on just how badly men flirt with women. Both get a chance to voice their opinions on the subject with hilarious results.
B.E.S. (Bangla East Side) by Sarita Khuranq and Fariba, (documentary short, 45 mins)
This is a documentary portrait of four Bangladeshi teenagers growing up in the Lower East Side of New York City. The film follows the students as they travel between home and school, and as they negotiate their lives as young immigrant teens in post 9-11 America.
Burnt Sienna by Jeanine Hunter, (narrative short, 25 mins)
This film is a thriller about three teenage girls who are involved in things they have no business in. See what happens.
Certain Women by Sally Grizzell Larson, (narrative short, 3 mins, 35 sec)
The film is about unspoken conversation between two distinct histories, one that is fefined by tis staus of openness and the other by its confining properties, represented here by two women who meet clandestinely outside of the comfort of middle-class rationale.
Cindy's Day by Joey Tomocik, (narrative short, 15 mins)
This moving narrative is about a woman who has to make a choice between the demands of medical school or having her baby.
Desperate For Love by Angle L. Brown, (narrative short, 22 mins)
A Black lesbian woman who's been out of the dating scene for quite some time explores ways to find love in all the wrong places. Desperate for love, she goes through all the drama that comes along with finding true love only to realize she needs to love herself first.
Dirty Clothes, by Faythallegra Coleman, (narrative short, 8 mins)
Dirty Clothes follows Tiffany on her way to the laundry mat. Before she arrives, Tiffany looses her entire roll of quarters. Now with machines full of dirty clothes, she has to figure out where to get more money.
Finding My Precious Basquat by Johnalynn Holland, (narrative short, 30 mins)
Meli Jones is a young artist who bares the pain of success. Secluded in the world of drugs, insecurity of art her only escape is conversations with her idol the late artist Basquiat.
From Asia with Love by Sari Dalena, (documentary short, 12 mins)
A critical look at the mail-order bride industry in Asia and its representation of Asian women in the West.
Gentrification El Barrio by Jacqueline Wade, (documentary short, 14 mins)
This documentary explores gentrification in El Barrio and how it has affected her
neighbors.
In the Penal Colony by Sibel Guvenc, Kybele Films (narrative short,
13 mins, 14 sec)
This is a mystical realist film based on the short story by Franz Kafka through the eyes of a Turkish-Canadian filmmaker. A woman explorer is invited to a penal colony to investigate its justice system, where the condemned is executed without any defense.
In Whose Name? By Nandini Sikand (experimental short, 11 mins)
In Whose Name? Is a film essay which explores the co-opting of icons by political agendas. This experimental short is told through personal narrative, Super 8mm home movies, Bollywood film and comic book art.
Middle Passage N’ Roots by Ada Babino (documentary short, 30 mins)
This short documentary takes a passionate look at hair care and the ordeal that Black hair undergoes based on society’s definition of beauty. This project was conceived as a result of the age-old notion in the Black community of “good hair” and “bad hair”. The process of hair-straightening becomes a metaphor for enslaved Africans who endured The Middle Passage and rebelled against the yoke of slavery. This symbolism is ironically used to illustrate the more recent revolutionary movement back to natural hair in the African American community.
“…Babino’s film is a subtle and amusing elegy to natural black hair.” (Esther Iverem, The Washington Post)
Moving in a Mirror, Out Rage to Activism in West Jerusalem by Kohler Productions (documentary, short 35 mins)
This film is a powerful story of activist connecting with the world one relationship at a time. Go behind the headlines of CNN and BBC. Ronni Shendar is an activist from West Jerusalem since the rise of the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation) in October of 2000. The grand-daughter of a German Zionist and fresh out of the Israeli Military she meets a Palestinian photojournalist from the West Bank town, Jenin. During her journey, Ronnie struggles with overwhelming lose and defeated efforts to create change. Ronni is confronted with how to keep her activism alive one person at a time.
For Film Descriptions: N - Z (click here)
