Short Films

Gaps (Jenn Shaw, USA, 2023, 11 mins): A pubescent girl from a close-knit family finds herself at a crossroads between keeping her gapped front teeth or risking it all for the seemingly “perfect” smile.

Skindeep (Edi YUCA Youth, USA, 2021, 8 mins): A black athlete, Dominique, wins her swimming competition. Her competitor is jealous and throws a racist insult to Dominique. Dominique’s coach does not believe her when she tells her that Jen was racist towards her. We take a brief journey through memory and experience to better understand what Dominique is experiencing.

She Dreams at Sunrise (Camrus Johnson, USA, 2021, 11 mins): A young person takes care of his elderly great aunt as she needs assistance to go through her day. Although she spends all her time at home, she lives elsewhere in a vivid dream world. Her grandnephew must find a way to reconnect her with parts of her life that she so desperately misses.

Lil’ Ruby (Bartek Kik, USA, 2023, 9 mins): Based on Little Red Riding Hood, “Lil’ Ruby” reimagines the classic tale with a modern twist. When Ruby, a gifted young Black girl from Brooklyn, visits her grandmother for their annual “Girls Weekend,” she discovers an unexpected visitor at Nanda’s house — a financial advisor named Coleman Howell.

The Night I Left America (Laki Karavias, USA, 2021, 14 mins): While awaiting the results of his mother’s visa renewal request, a teenager recalls memories from his childhood in Uganda and his relationship with his parents. He reconsiders the values his parents have instilled in him and wonders whether the pursuit of the American dream is everything he has imagined it to be?

Father’s Day (Tumelo Lekena, South Africa, 2023, 26 mins): Father’s Day is a short film about Alakhe a 12-year-old boy who is raised by a single mother.  Alakhe is selected to give a speech for a Father’s Day school event. He decides to go against his mother’s word and sets out to find the father he’s never met. Eventually he discovers who his real father is.