Features
Opening our festival is Elegance Bratton’s revered documentary PIER KIDS: a poetic glance into the life of Krystal Labeija and her friends seeking shelter and stability on the west side of Manhattan. Played alongside short film BLACK BUTTERFLY.
90 mins
Friday Sept 4th
6-7:15pm – Screening
7:30-8:30pm – Audience Q+A
Black Butterfly, Wide Angle Media Youth
Pier Kids, Elegance Bratton
SAY MY NAME follows two Black trans women, Selem and Diana, in the process of changing their names in Brazil. Met with obstacles and loopholes, the process becomes a long battle for respect in a transphobic society. Preceeded by COMBUST, these films personify frustration, acceptance, and release.
83 mins
Saturday Sept 5
9-10:25pm – Screening
10:25-11pm – Audience Q+A
Combust, Tyler Washington
Say My Name, Juliana Chagas
Closing off our 2020 festival is a documentary spanning multiple years, made in our home of Baltimore. ANATOMY OF WINGS is an emotional masterpiece of young girls blossoming into women through their support system and after school program, Wings. Short film LOVE, AVA graces the screen before the film.
90 mins
Sunday Sept 6th
8-9:25pm – Screening
9:30-10pm – Audience Q+A
Love, Ava, Ava Dee, James Burkhalter
Anatomy of Wings, Nikiea Redmond, Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander
SHORTS
Every year we select short films that we feel redefine what it means to be “femme.” These 8 short films speak to what being a femme in 2020 feels like.
89 mins
Saturday Sept 5th
10-11:30am – Screening
11:30am-12:30pm – Audience Q+A
Breathe (Neefso), Aisha Jama
Trans of Thought, Brittony Mckenney
Tori, Eric Cotten
In the shadows, Charmaine Bingwa
Mamas, Taja Sparks
Divina Gracia (Divine Grace), Ana Paula Teixeira
Facão (Machete), Camila Hepplin
MeMaw, Zanah Thirus
Being perceived as an “Angry Black Woman” keeps certain Black femmes from expressing valid emotions. What happens when the anger is revered instead of suppressed?
78 mins
Saturday Sept 5th
1:30-2:50pm – Screening
2:50-3:30pm – Audience Q+A
Keep Your Flowers, Sekou Brown
Sweet Rind, Andre Wynter
Omi, Vatora Godwin
Suicide By Sunlight, Nikyatu
Rising Power: Building an Intersectional Justice Movement in the United States, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
To be femme, Black and horny… These shorts explore a space that’s not quite love, not necessarily romance, but certainly lust.
69 mins
Saturday Sept 5th
4-5:10pm – Screening
5:10-6pm – Audience Q+A
Tender, Felicia Pride
Sex is a God Thing, Zarinah Ali
Drip Like Coffee, Anaiis Cisco
“Friends”, Joy Lamont-Smith
So What Happens Next?, Sohkna Samb
Beauty is currency, and for the black femme somedays are plentiful while others may feel sparse. These short ponder the way aesthetic informs the lived realities of the black femme.
50 mins
Saturday Sept 5
7-7:50pm – Screening
8:05-8:45pm – Audience Q+A
Safehouse, Ariella Tai
Wash Day, Kourtney Jackson
PICK, Alicia Harris
Kinky, Tayana Brumaire
Creating Looks, Stephanie Crawford
In Praise of the Shadow, Effy Kawira
Black Girl Magic is given a variety of meanings in this shorts block program. Watch these Black Femmes use what they got to get what they need.
83 mins
Sunday Sept 6th
10-11:15am – Screening
11:15am-12:15pm – Audience Q+A
The Lobbyists, Thomas Pace
B.G.K, Blayre Pichon
EQ, Bashi Rose
The Kall, Barbara Mamabolo
Pigment, Henrietta Biayemi
The Black Baptism, Stephanie Diane Ford
Herald of Blue, Jacqueline CJ Barnes
What matters more, the relationship you have with your loved ones or the one you have with your art practice? These shorts grapple with what happens when given the chance to revisit past dreams, having to temporarily pause them in the middle of a pandemic and making it happen despite the obstacles.
84 mins
Sunday Sept 6th
1:30-2:50pm – Screening
3-3:30pm – Audience Q+A
Mothering in Quarantine: Episode 1, Kyisha Williams
BackBurner Dreams, Brenda Hayes
Southside Suplex, Antonio Hernandez
Kindred Spirits: Artists
Hilda Wilkinson Brown and
Lilian Thomas Burwell, Cintia Cabib
Every year we select short films that we feel redefine what it means to be “Black.” These selected short films speak to what being Black in 2020 is about.
73 mins
Sunday Sept 6th
4:30-5:50pm – Screening
6:30-7:30pm – Audience Q+A
Naufraga, Juh Almeida
Tipsy Talk, Alexandra Ibarra, Amber Washington, Ian Wagner, Jacob Wyscaver, Xander Elmore
The Walk Home, Kendra Brown
Omobinrin Mi (My Daughters), Ife Oluwamuyide, Claudia Owusu
It’s a Little Complicated, M. Emeraude Domingos-Mbuku
Sasha & Condi, Lucretia Stinnette
They Say I’m Your Teacher, Catherine Murphy, Lucy Massie Phenix
