2025 official selections
BALDY THE FILM
BALDY THE FILM
BALDY THE FILM
We meet Travis, a New Yorker whose receding hairline mirrors the distant memories of his childhood. As he navigates the vibrant chaos before his birthday on a night out, he's haunted by looming thoughts.
Writer: Melvin Taylor II
Director: Eddie Griffith
Producers: Tracy Oliver, Melvin Taylor II, Felicia Bell, Tre’Vell Anderson, Diana Alleyn
We meet Travis, a New Yorker whose receding hairline mirrors the distant memories of his childhood. As he navigates the vibrant chaos before his birthday on a night out, he's haunted by looming thoughts.
Writer: Melvin Taylor II
Director: Eddie Griffith
Producers: Tracy Oliver, Melvin Taylor II, Felicia Bell, Tre’Vell Anderson, Diana Alleyne, Alyssa Fauntleroy, Max Hague, Sarah-Michelle Léger, Niina Taapopi, Sunni Valentine, Jill Gross, Charlie Gross, Ian Hague, & Jaamal Jones.
Time: 16 minutes
BRIM
BALDY THE FILM
BALDY THE FILM
Explores racial trauma, resilience, and legacy, as we follow a family from the 1940s into the 2020s. The narrative navigates the erasure of Blackness and how racial trauma impacts Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline.
Director: Keenan Dailey
Writer: Gertrude Namara
Producers: Keenan Dailey, Gertrude Namara, & Kevin Lau
Time: 97 minutes
CAIN & LILLITH
BALDY THE FILM
CAIN & LILLITH
A marriage proposal evokes repressed emotions between partners with opposing beliefs.
Writer, Director & Producer: Chandler Robinson
Time: 12 minutes
DAUGHTERS
FOLLOWING HARRY
CAIN & LILLITH
A father-daughter relationship from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl waiting to be picked up for a weekend visit.
Writer and Director: Maxwell Towson
Producer: LaTanya Joyce & Otello Banaci
Time: 7 minutes
DRACELLA
FOLLOWING HARRY
FOLLOWING HARRY
In a late-night eatery, Donovan waits for Dracella, a mysterious and alluring vampire. When a man threatens Dracella, she reveals her true nature.
Writer & Director: Brian Smith
Producer: Brian Smith & Amanda Schoonover
Time: 8 minutes
FOLLOWING HARRY
FOLLOWING HARRY
FOLLOWING HARRY
Harry Belafonte during the last 12 years of his life, as he embarks on a deeply personal and reflective journey, while mentoring an emerging group of artists and activists committed to following in his footsteps and disrupting injustice to implement impactful change.
Director: Susanne Rostock
Producers: Susanne Rostock, Frankie Nasso, & Edward Zeng,
Time: 90 minutes
HARM IN THE WATER
HARM IN THE WATER
HARM IN THE WATER
Delves into the critical issue of water pollution affecting Black communities along the Mississippi River. This documentary weaves together historical context, scientific insights, and the urgent call for environmental justice.
Director: Kendall Moore
Producer: Martha Merson
Time: 90 minutes
THE HENRY HOTEL
HARM IN THE WATER
HARM IN THE WATER
A historian tells a young filmmaker about Charles T. Henry, the man behind an important and famous landmark that bears his name, in Ocean City, Md.
Writer & Director: Marlon Wallace
Producer: Bryan Babcock
Time: 17 minutes
LA PANDERELLA
HARM IN THE WATER
THE MONDAY CLUB - HISTORY, NOW & SOON
La Painderella is a fresh twist on Cinderella. Set during one summer weekend in Brooklyn. Lilly—Painderella—is overworked by her self-absorbed and 24/7 demanding manager. When Lilly stumbles upon Oliver—the handsome guy at a coffee shop—sparks fly.
Director: Haley Dix
Writers: Haley Dix & Alyssa Fisher
Time: 16 minutes
THE MONDAY CLUB - HISTORY, NOW & SOON
THE MONDAY CLUB - HISTORY, NOW & SOON
THE MONDAY CLUB - HISTORY, NOW & SOON
The Monday Club, founded in Wilmington, Del., is the oldest Black Social Club in the United States. This documentary chronicles its legacy and mission moving forward.
Writer, Director, Producer: PJ Pinkett
Time: 9 minutes
MONSTER
THE MONDAY CLUB - HISTORY, NOW & SOON
A NATURAL JOURNEY
Follow the adventures of a Bigfoot obsessed 10-year-old who, with the help of her widowed grandfather, learns that each of us sees the world a little differently and that everyone’s view has value.
Writer & Director: Kameryn Robinso
Producers: Kameryn Robinson & Jasmine Ballew
Time: 7 minutes
A NATURAL JOURNEY
THE MONDAY CLUB - HISTORY, NOW & SOON
A NATURAL JOURNEY
Set during a callback audition, this short film satirizes the film industry’s audition process while exploring race, gender, and the politics of representation. What begins as a professional test quickly exposes the tension between authenticity and stereotype.
Writer & Director: Curtis J Harris, Jr.
Producers: Fatou Maka Harris & Elijah J Harris
Time: 5 minutes
PAW PAW & DAYJA
RETURN TO HOCKESSIN NO. 107C
RETURN TO HOCKESSIN NO. 107C
Follow the adventures of a Bigfoot obsessed 10-year-old who, with the help of her widowed grandfather, learns that each of us sees the world a little differently and that everyone’s view has value.
Writer & Director: Gregory Alan Williams
Producer: Richard Tavernaro
Time: 60 minutes
RETURN TO HOCKESSIN NO. 107C
RETURN TO HOCKESSIN NO. 107C
RETURN TO HOCKESSIN NO. 107C
Return to Hockessin No. 107C unearths the forgotten stories of Hockessin Colored School No. 107C alumni. Former students share challenges they faced after their school closed in the wake of Brown v the Board of Education desegregation ruling.
Director: Alexander Roy Arcturus Newman
Producers: Alexander Roy Arcturus Newman, Kyle Grantham, \
Return to Hockessin No. 107C unearths the forgotten stories of Hockessin Colored School No. 107C alumni. Former students share challenges they faced after their school closed in the wake of Brown v the Board of Education desegregation ruling.
Director: Alexander Roy Arcturus Newman
Producers: Alexander Roy Arcturus Newman, Kyle Grantham, \Matt Sullivan, Matt Meyer, Vanessa Phillips, Brian Cunningham, and Aundrea Almond
Time: 30 minutes
ROOM FOR DESSERT
RETURN TO HOCKESSIN NO. 107C
ROOM FOR DESSERT
A police officer is acquitted, the protests have started, a father is running his business, and a fatigued man just wants chocolate cake. Is that too much to want?
Writer & Director: Pamela Davis-Noland
Producers: Kerry Cahill, Tim Gaer, Nicole Collins, & Theodus Crane
Time: 19 minutes
SENTENCED
RETURN TO HOCKESSIN NO. 107C
ROOM FOR DESSERT
An immersive and vulnerable exploration of the epidemic of childhood illiteracy. Filmed from the point of view of ethnically diverse adults and children who have never learned to read, the film is a forceful yet tender tale of how literacy can free children from the cycles of generational poverty.
Directors: Mark Allen Johnson & Connor Ma
An immersive and vulnerable exploration of the epidemic of childhood illiteracy. Filmed from the point of view of ethnically diverse adults and children who have never learned to read, the film is a forceful yet tender tale of how literacy can free children from the cycles of generational poverty.
Directors: Mark Allen Johnson & Connor Martin
Producers: Stephen Curry, Tony Kriz, Jeff Martin & Eric Peyton
Time: 69 minutes
TOGETHER
WHO MADE YOU SO ANGRY?
WHAT SOMALIA WANTS
For years a neighborhood has enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity. Residents feel safe walking the streets at night. This good fortune is due to the dedicated efforts of a small neighborhood team. Suddenly, a string of armed robberies occurs and causes great concern.
Writer, Director & Producer: Eric Rice
Time: 88 minutes
WHAT SOMALIA WANTS
WHO MADE YOU SO ANGRY?
WHAT SOMALIA WANTS
In this gentrified Harlem dramedy series, Somalia LaMine, a Black deaf fashion designer, pop-up store owner, and TikTok influencer experiences new challenges and hilarious situations associated with the pressures and demands of a Gen Z era.
Writer, Director, & Producer: Jade Bryan
Time: 45 minutes
WHO MADE YOU SO ANGRY?
WHO MADE YOU SO ANGRY?
WHO MADE YOU SO ANGRY?
A determined 10-year-old girl faces the emotional turmoil of her father's return from prison as she struggles to understand the man he's become.
Writer, Director, Producer: Ayanna Barnes
Time: 13 minutes
WITH/IN
WHO MADE YOU SO ANGRY?
WHO MADE YOU SO ANGRY?
Haunted by his past, Quincy lives in constant avoidance of his emotions. But when his anguish seems to encircle him, will Quincy be able to escape its many manifestations?
Writer, Director & Producer: Dominic X Cobb
Time: 10 minutes