blackfilm.com sends a huge congratulations to Akinola Davies Jr. for winning the Sundance Short Film Grand Jury Prize for his film “Lizard!” Sundance 2021: A List of Short Films Directed by Black Filmmakers
Akinola Davies Jr.’s work is situated between West Africa and the United Kingdom, as he identifies as a member of the global diaspora, being part of both worlds. His work navigates the collision of colonial and imperial traditions, as well as a return to Indigenous narratives. He is a resident at Somerset House Studios and was included in the Berlinale Talents 2020.
We would also like to acknowledge a job well done to the following filmmakers whose short films were selected for SUNDANCE 2021. Check out our reviews (links below) highlighting some of this year’s most talented up and coming filmmakers.
LIZARD
Director: Akinola Davies Jr.; screenwriters: the Davies Brothers; producers: Rachel Dargavel and Wale Davies.
Juwon, an eight-year-old girl with an ability to sense danger, gets ejected from Sunday school service. She unwittingly witnesses the underbelly in and around a megachurch in Lagos.
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION
Directors: Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers; producers: Lindsay Crouse, Ben Proudfoot, Jeremy Lambert, and Kris Bowers
A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
BLACK BODIES
Writer-director: Kelly Fyffe-Marshall; producers: Tamar Bird, Sasha Leigh Henry, Komi Olaf, and Donisha Prendergast
A Black man comes face-to-face with the realities of being Black in the twenty-first century.
BRUISER
Director: Miles Warren; screenwriters: Miles Warren and Ben Medina; producers: Gustavo René, Albert Tholen, and Lauren Goetzman
After his father gets into a fight at a bowling alley, Darious begins to investigate the limitations of his own manhood. Read blackfilm.com review – Sundance Shorts Review: ‘Bruiser’ by Miles Warren
DEAR PHILADELPHIA
Writer-producer: Renee Maria Osubu
With the help of their family, friends, and faith, three fathers unravel the incomparable partnership of forgiveness and community in North Philadelphia.
DON’T GO TELLIN’ YOUR MAMA
Writer-directors: Topaz Jones and rubberband.; producers: Luigi Rossi, Jason Sondock, Simon Davis, Eric McNeal, Kevin Storey
In 1970, Black educators in Chicago developed alphabet flash cards to provide Black-centered teaching materials to the vastly white educational landscape, and the Black ABCs were born. Fifty years later, 26 scenes provide an update to their meanings. Read blackfilm.com review – Sundance Shorts Review: ‘Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma’ by Topaz Jones
THE FIRE NEXT TIME
Director: Renaldho Pelle; screenwriter: Kerry Jade Kolbe; producer: Yanling Wang
Rioting spreads as social inequality causes tempers in a struggling community to flare, but the oppressive environment takes on a life of its own as the shadows of the housing estate close in.
FIVE TIGER
Writer-director: Nomawonga Khumalo; producers: Brett Michael Innes, Paulo Areal, Schalk Willem Burger, Nomawonga Khumalo
A God-fearing woman in present-day South Africa finds herself in a transactional relationship as she tries to support her sick husband and daughter.
I RAN FROM IT AND WAS STILL IN IT
Writer-director: Darol Olu Kae
A poetic meditation on familial loss and separation, as well as the love that endures against dispersion. Read blackfilm.com review – Sundance Short Review: ‘I Ran From It and Was Still In It’ by Daral Olu Kae
WHITE WEDDING
Writer-director: Melody C. Roscher; producers: Nadine Lübbeling, Craig Shilowich, Emily Wiedemann, and Christina Garnett
Amidst a racially tense Southern wedding, a biracial bride has the chance to confront her estranged Black father after accidentally hiring his wedding band to perform. Read blackfilm.com review – Sundance Shorts Review: ‘White Wedding’ by Melody C. Roscher
UP AT NIGHT
Writer-director: Nelson Makengo; producer: Rosa Spalivieiro
As dusk fades and another night without electricity falls, Kinshasa’s neighborhoods reveal an environment of violence, political conflict, and uncertainty over the building of the Grand Inga 3 hydroelectric dam, which promises a permanent source of energy to the Congo.
Sundance Review: ‘Summer of Soul,’ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Directorial Debut
Sundance 2021: A List of Short Films Directed by Black Filmmakers
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