Official Selections: 13th LA Black Film Festival
Congratulations to our accepted filmmakers!
Films are listed in alphabetical order, index to the left.
Scroll Down to learn more about each film.
The Bill Patterson Story
Short
Los Angeles Premiere
This is the untold story of Bill Patterson, who dedicated seven decades to public service in Oakland and along the way mentored some of the greatest people who ever lived—Curt Flood, Bill Russell, Joe Morgan—champions who changed the world, even as forces worked to destroy the Black community he served.
Director: Anthony Severo
Producer: Thomas Sawano
Writer: Anthony Severo, Barry Gardin, William Patterson Jr
Cast: Bill Patterson, Barbara Lee, Robert Harris, Joe Ellis
Cinematographer: Khepera bBtties
Editor: Thomas Saano
Website: https://filmfreeway.com/TheBillPattersonStory
Instagram: www.instagram.com/1528films
Transcended
Animated Short film
This is a dedication to my father who was a SAG actor for over 50 years. This is also dedicated to anyone who has loved and lost a parent.
Director: Drew Tank Garrett
Producer: Drew Tank Garrett
Writer: Drew Tank Garrett
Narrator: Drew Tank Garrett
Shadows and Light: A Refugee’s Journey
Documentary Short
Shadows and Light: A Refugee’s Journey is a deeply personal documentary tracing the journey of Taban Patrick Consantino Qwiriko, S.J., a South Sudanese refugee, Jesuit priest, and filmmaker.
Born during the Second Sudanese Civil War, Taban fled with his family to Uganda as a young child and spent nineteen years growing up in a refugee settlement. Through intimate testimony, archival material, and present-day encounters, the film follows his journey from war and displacement to education, faith, priesthood, and filmmaking.
At its heart, Shadows and Light is a story about resilience, human dignity, and the transformative power of hope. Moving between South Sudan, Uganda, and the United States, the documentary explores what it means to carry the experience of displacement while refusing to allow suffering to have the final word.
Taban ultimately discovers filmmaking as a way of transforming personal memory into a voice for others whose stories often remain unseen and unheard.
Director: Taban Patrick Consantino Qwiriko, S.J.
Producer: Taban Patrick Consantino, S.J.
Writer: Taban Patrick Consantino Qwiriko, S.J.
Cast: Taban Patrick Consantino Qwiriko, S.J., Rose Aketch, Ikuu Constantino
Cinematographer: Fr. Christof Wolfs
Editor: Taban Patrick Consantino Qwiriko, S.J.
Shadows and Light: A Refugee’s Journey is Taban Patrick Consantino Qwiriko, S.J.’s thesis documentary from Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television, where he completed his MFA in Film and Television Production with a concentration in Directing Non-Fiction.
The film has received the Best Director Jury Award from Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television and was named an Award Winner at The Greatest NYC Film Festival. It has also been recognized as an Official Selection of the Silicon Valley African Film Festival.
The documentary grows directly from the director’s own experience of displacement. Having spent nineteen years as a refugee in Uganda before later becoming a Jesuit priest and filmmaker, Taban approaches the story not simply as a filmmaker documenting refugees, but as someone whose own life has been shaped by forced displacement. The film seeks to reclaim refugee stories through dignity, agency, memory, and hope.
Website:
https://sites.google.com/view/lightfromshadowsfilms/about
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/t_qwiriko?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/taban.patrick?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=RUbZ1f