Official Selections: 2nd-8th LA Black Film Festivals
Congratulations to our accepted filmmakers!
Films are listed in alphabetical order, index to the left.
Scroll Down to learn more about each film.
Catch the Bus
Short Film
Remember you are never too old to obtain your dreams!
James, an older gentleman, has an opportunity to audition as a sports anchor. However he's initially sized up to be a no by the producer. Yet it took James two buses to get to the audition, so he presses forward. Will he win over the irritable Marlene?
Director: Chloe Owens
Producer: Chloe Owens
Writer: Chloe Owens
Cast: Peyce Byron, Krista Unverferth
Cinematographer: Adrian Sierkowski
Editor: Brent Storm
- BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM, International Independent Film Festival.
Twitter: chloesrose
D.D.I.T. Dads Do It Too
Los Angeles Premiere
The show follows Trevor, a bright young man with a heart of gold. But after two failed marriages and three beautiful children from those marriages, he has always focused on work and raising his kids. Trevor is now ready to move forward with his love life, but it’s been a very long time since he’s dated, so now he must learn again, what it is to be in a relationship and how to go about it, all the while still trying to figure out the whole parenting thing.
Director: Jimmie Lee Ward Jr.
Producers: Rebecca Cormeny, Torrance Colvin, Cristian Blandin, Sylvia Williams, and Jimmie Lee Ward, Jr.
Writer: Jimmie Lee Ward Jr.
Cast: Kenneth Wayne, Candiace Dillard, Kyla Bradley, Ankita Patni, Chanel Collins, Kar Logan, Tatiana Romero, Randy Vince III, Sheyda Nabaee, Maya Jai Penson, Christopher Dews and Cristian Blandin
Cinematographer: Chris Franklin
Editor: Jimmie Lee Ward Jr.
Don’t Shoot At Me
Los Angeles Premiere
“Don't Shoot at Me is a plea to the American people to understand that police brutality isn’t just about cops, robbers, crooks, or detectives. It’s a real problem that has historical context which results in the senseless slaying of countless black and brown people in America. The overarching message is this for all our white friends: What if you turned on the news and saw it was me? What would your reaction be? Oh that’s right. You would be sick to your stomach. So let’s have some empathy and common sense.” - Don Collins aka Don't Censor Collins
Director: Ivan Delgado
Producer: Ivan Delgado
Writer: Ivan Delgado and Don Collins
Cast: Don Collins, Sylvester Highley Jr., Richard Lewis III, Ivan Delgado
Cinematographer: Dmytro Cherkaskiy
Editor: Ivan Delgado
Winner of the “Best Music Video Award” and “Of The Times Award” at the DePaul Shorts Film Festival.
El Mulatto
USA Premiere
Short
A young mixed-race man 'unearths' his freedom in the face of racism. This film follows the Leo Award-winning film El Color Negro (2020). Through the poetic words written by Omari Newton and the cinematic images shot on Kodak 35mm, this film is about the identity struggles of a person who is born half black and half white.
Director: Andy Hodgson
Producer: Jessie Anthony, Pauline Egan, Philip Planta
Writer: Omari Newton
Cast: Donald Sales | Narrator: Seth Whittaker
Cinematographer (if applicable): Andy Hodgson
Editor: Jon Silverberg
- Official Selection: Vancouver International Black Film Festival (Canada)
- Official Selection: Birrarangga Film Festival (Australia)
Website: m.imdb.com/title/tt15527590
Instagram: @elmulatto.film
Causalité
Los Angeles Premiere
TV Pilot
The story takes place in 2018 shortly after the football world cup. Joshua and Idris are professors at the university, Joshua ends up finding the algorithm that allows time travel and Idris converts this algorithm into binary code by implementing a computer device that will allow them to go back TWENTY years back for the 1998 soccer world cup.
Idris, unaware of Joshua's intentions, follows him to try the experiment but once back in their so-called present, their lives have been completely turned upside down.
Director : Albérick Tode
Producer : Aiolia-Logan Dechessy
Writer : Aiolia-Logan Dechessy
Cast : Aiolia-Logan DECHESSY, Sasha TOPOROFF, Joëlle HÉLARY, Bruno NOURY, Albérick TODE, Tassia MARTIN, Aymeric LOKOSSOU , Éva MEURIOT, Manon CHENET, Joëlle HÉLARY, Angélique MEYNS, Éricka MARINETTE, Viviane GOMIS PREIRA, Elfie-Mélia DOUABOU
Cinematographer : Laura Béjean
Milan Independent Awards ( ITALIA )
Award Winner
New York Movie Awards ( U.S.A )
Award Winner
New York Movie Awards ( U.S.A )
Award Winner
Paris Film Awards ( FRANCE )
Award Winner
London Movie Awards ( UNITED KINGDOM )
Award Winner
New Creators Film Awards ( FRANCE )
Award Winner
Florence Film Awards ( ITALIA )
Award Winner
Rome Prisma Film Awards ( ITALIA )
Finalist
Instagram @moments_en_captivite
Facebook: fb.com/aiolialogan.dechessy
Dancing In My Sadness
Los Angeles Premiere
A dark hip-hop song and its animated music video that tells the common story of a traffic stop going downhill, involving a young Black man and a White police officer.
Director: Casual Affairs
Producer: Local Program Records
Writer: Casual Affairs, Chuuwee
Cinematographer: Casual Affairs
Editor: Casual Affairs
Best Under Five Minute Short Film @ Aphrodite Awards, Best International Music Video @ Urban Mediamaker Film Festival, Best Short Film @ The Sabira Cole Film Festival, Best Social Justice Short Film @ Toronto Independent Film Festival
Website: casualaffairs.org
Instagram: @casual_what
Twitter: @casualwhat
Dr. West’s Fervor
Anthony West is an odd and quirky psychiatrist struggling with his own lifelong demons. He’s confronted on his own journey toward mental and emotional wholeness when he meets his new patient, Rose Angel. Music is a catalyst of healing in Dr. West’s world. The music of his mind serves as a calming mechanism when he needs it most. Dr. West’s Fervor explores the human need to take the medicine and the advice we dispense to others, while reminding us that just because everything appears to be normal doesn’t mean that there’s not a storm brewing under the surface.
Director: Maria Katre Osler
Producer: Kenneth Mosley
Executive Producers: Maria Katre Osler & Kellen Malloy.
Writer: Maria Katre Osler
Cast: Kenneth Mosley, Sonia Balcazar
Cinematographer: Kellen Malloy
Editor: Scott Simerly Jr.
Instagram: @drwestsfervorfilm
Twitter: @DrWestsFervor
Espelho (Mirror)
World Premiere
Esperanza experiences a deep internal and psychological confusion. Along the riverside, she follows a path to find herself and her spirituality.
Director: Luciana Oliveira
Producer: Baruch Blumberg, Gabriela Melo, Manoela Veloso Passos
Cast: Elisa Lemos, Quésia Sonza, Rita Maia, Michelle Pereira, Lulu Souza, Thaty Meneses
Cinematographer: Luiza Bomfim, Letícia França
Editor: Lu Silva
Instagram: @espelhofilme
City
Los Angeles Premiere
Director: Kenneth Lott
Producer: josh Folan
Writer: Terrence Cooper
Cast:Elijah Both, Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris, Moses Massena, Kason "Black Diamond" Waymon, Taprena Augustine, James "Chi The Realist" Boykins, Oz Tozan, Nelcie Souffrant, Saadiq Muhammed, Michael Leonard James
Cinematographer: Rommel Genciana
Editor: Ken Hutchinson
Future of Fresh Finalist
Best Soundtrack Nomination @ Hip Hop Film Awards
Voted Most Popular @ San Fran Black Film Festival
Nominated for Best Narrative Feature @ San Antonio Black Film Festival
Website: www.citythemovie.com
Instagram: @citythemovie
Comic Escape
"A young boy unexpectedly finds a comic book that changes his reality"
Director: Alphonso McAuley
Producer: Nyambi Nyambi, Kamilah Meek, Martin Russell Johnson, Jonathan Goldfisher
Writer: Alphonso McAuley
Cast: Bodhi Dell, Alaina Fleming, Julia Verdin, Eugene Byrd
Cinematographer: David Newbert
Editor: Fifi Bonson
Selected in to the Pan African Film Festival
Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival
Instagram: @Mcphonz
Twitter: @Mcphonz
Crown & Confidence
West Coast Premiere
Crown & Confidence explores how Women embrace the unexpected confidence that comes after cutting their hair.
Director: Bukky Adeyokunnu
Producer: Bukky Adeyokunnu
Cinematographer: Tyrell Saint
Editor: Tyrell Saint
The short documentary was part of the IMBD Independant Short in 2020.
Website: kweenphotos.com/crown/
Decisions
When a jaded sex worker and a high class business man end up together for a night, they realize that they need each other in more ways than one.
Director: Sade Sellers
Producer: Katisha Sargeant, Bossin Up Productions, Dawn Aneada
Writer: Aiah Samba
Cast: Katisha Sargeant, Jordane Christie, Teanna Lucas, Maurice Mack
Cinematographer: Kaity Williams
Editor: Mairi Utno
Instagram: @decisions_movieYour
Don't Feed the Birds
Short film
When a man runs out of bread while feeding the birds, he makes an enemy for life.
Director: Tess Paras
Producer: Eddie Mujica
Writer: Jordan Stafford
Cast: Jordan Stafford, Lureena Cornwell, Austin Antoine, Bri Giger, Dickie Hearts, Tyler Davis, Eddie Mujica
Cinematographer: Kelsey Talton
Editor: Patricia Esguerra
Instagram: @tessparas/
Twitter: @TessParas
Ecotone
Animated Short
Two wildlife biologist attempt to track a biome that only appears at night.
Director: Ashton Kellman-Holmes
Producer: Ashton Kellman-Holmes
Writer: Ashton Kellman-Holmes Cast: Alison Kellman-Narrator
Editor: Ashton Kellman-Holmes
Website: ahsotn.com
Instagram: @ahsotn
Ellay
World Premiere
Based in Los Angeles, we follow Aiden, a struggling actor, through what should be one of the biggest days of his life - the day he gets married.
Directors: Keenan Duke & Cruz Castillo
Producers: Jaime Davila, Lorena Jorge, Alicia Sixtos, Bex Taylor-Klaus
Writer: Keenan Duke
Cast: Cruz Castillo, Andrea K. Torres, Sebastian Fernandez, Lorena Jorge
Cinematographer: Michael Martinez
Editor: Angelica Lopez