2019 SHORTS/WEB SERIES/NEW MEDIA

2019 BIBFF - SHORTS/WEB SERIES/NEW MEDIA

Appetizer (14 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 5:15 PM

Synopsis: A young woman dealing with a breakup finds the courage to go on her first date, but her newfound love interest has been holding on to a date-shattering secret. Director: Ayanda Chisholm (USA) – 2019

Awaken (31 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 8:25 PM

Synopsis: A famous musician goes from top of the world to a down and out as he struggles with the suicide of his wife who’s memories he’s unable to shake from his mind. Director: Richard Moore (USA) – 2019

Bad Web Series (8 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: Friends turn foes then friends again in a parody series that combines exaggerated story-lines with familiar production faux pas commonly experienced by the web series community. Director: Brandon Hairston (USA) – 2019 

Beats (14 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 10:15 PM

Synopsis: A pair of siblings must come up with a large sum of money by the end of the night or their legendary hip-hop record store will be forced into foreclosure.
Director: Kalim Hill (USA) – 2019 

Black Butterfly (5 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: In an effort to save his life, a young black man foresees that he is on the verge of becoming yet another victim to police brutality and must pray for a miracle. Director: Zach Byrd (USA) – 2018

Brutality Police (5 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 8:25 PM

Synopsis: In an effort to save his life, a young black man foresees that he is on the verge of becoming yet another victim to police brutality and must pray for a miracle. Director: Zach Byrd (USA) – 2019

Candace (10 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: Before Charlie leaves for college, she and best friend Nina must figure out how to say goodbye. Candace explores race, queerness, race, identity and intimacy.
Director: Em Weinstein (USA) – 2018

Control (10 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/11) 1:45 PM

Synopsis: Gun Control doesn’t become a problem until it hits home when gun shop owner Dwayne faces the barrel of his own gun. Director: Gregg DaCosta (USA) – 2018

Differences (17 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: Differences highlights   how we ask people to process and react socially,  emotionally and mentally to certain events and situations that occur in our lives. Director: Antjuan Ward (USA) – 2018

DYNAMITIE (7min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: An experimental short that investigates the norms of gender and masculinity as it relates to the American black male with spoken word movements and chants. Director: Leila Jarman (USA) – 2018

Embers (9 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: Two mothers with sons in trouble at school face a racist high school administration. Director: Prakshi Malik (USA) – 2018

FAYTH (7 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 8:00 PM

Synopsis: It takes courage to pursue the unknown. Sometimes you have no other choice but to take a leap. FAYTH is inspired was true events. Director: Ashton Pina (USA) – 2018

Finding Elijah (25 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 5:15 PM

Synopsis: Told from a mother’s perspective, Finding Elijah follows a young man’s journey from home; into mental illness, to homelessness, and ultimately to suicide.
Director: Yolonda Johnson-Young (USA) – 2018

Finding Phoebe (20 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 8:25 PM

Synopsis: A 17-year-old girl fights find her way in the streets of West Baltimore, while balancing the toxicity of an unstructured home and her first time falling in love.
Director: Sade Joseph Clacken (USA) -2018

Funny Married Stuff (16 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 7:00 PM

Synopsis: A 17-year-old girl fights find her way in the streets of West Baltimore, while balancing the toxicity of an unstructured home and her first time falling in love.
Director: Sade Joseph Clacken (USA) -2018

GARBAGE (18 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: Black people have to engage White America daily to maintain some sort of life. This film is about the misconceptions our society perpetrates about race.
Director: Jose Muniain (USA)

Grounding (13min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/11) 12:15 PM

Synopsis: Kane suffers from severe anxiety and his girlfriend has slowly turned into his carer. In this very raw insight to how anxiety effects relationships, we witness the fallout of badly dealing with mental health.  Director: R.M. Moses (GBR) – 2018

I Am A Woman (4 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: A cinematic poem exploring Lesbian stud identity. Using break dance and spoken word, Azara Meghie claims the right to dress as masculine as she likes and remain a woman. Director: Kai Fiáin (GBR) – 2016

Identity Pie (2 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: Everyone has an identity that is intersectional, but what would happen if we started embracing that fact? We should reach a common ground, and respect the fact that we are the same in the sense that we are so different. Director: Ayanna White (USA) – 2019

Jamaal: Through The Lens (12 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 1:00 PM

Synopsis: A young man from the South Bronx discovers photography as his way to escape his history of abuse and neglect.  Director: Ian Phillips (USA) – 2018

Know Me So Well (8 min)
Showtime: Reginal Lewis (10/13) 2:00 PM

Synopsis: When a Brooklyn-dwelling British woman in her late 20s realizes her relationship has run its course, she decides to explore a new romance, sending her on a journey of self-love, regret, and heart-breaking consequences. Director: Starr Nathan (USA) – 2019

Ladies Day (9 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 8:00 PM

Synopsis: Amma, a young, black lesbian, spends the day in an Afro-Caribbean hair salon getting her hair braided. It’s full of fun, sheen spray, gossip and laughter, but how will she deal with the casual homophobia? Director: Abena Taylor-Smith (GBR) – 2018

LIFE LINE (17 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 5:15 PM

Synopsis: William is an Oscar-winning actor who once had a very successful acting career, but leading man roles are not being offered to him these days. Depressed with the reality of being an over-the-hill actor in an age-obsessed profession, William has hit rock bottom. Then he gets a phone call from a stranger. Director: Damien Postell (USA) – 2016

LiME (11 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: Set in the urban jungle of Compton, CA in the early ’00s, LiME tells the story of Deshawn, a young man who discovers how hard it is to walk and live in your truth after he experiences the bitterness of the real world. Director: Donta  Dontai Storey (USA) – 2019

Little Church (15 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: Michael, the 10 year old son of a pastor, is plagued with anxiety and confusion as he attempts to connect with his father while struggling to make sense of the culture he’s entrenched in. Director: Zachary Cunningham (USA) – 2019

Mirrors (18 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: Brianna, an executive assistant by day and a cancer researcher by night has a chance to interview for her dream job, but work bullies tell her she’s unqualified.
Director: Larrissa Gayton (USA) – 2018

Paris Blues In Harlem (14 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 10:00 PM

Synopsis: Paris Blues in Harlem is the story of a young woman and her attempts to save her grandfather’s insolvent Harlem jazz nightclub. She has a few hours to convince her rigid elder to accept a realtor’s briefcase with mounds of cash in exchange for his nightclub. Director: Nadhege Ptah (USA) – 2018

Part Of Me (15 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 5:15 PM

Synopsis: This is a story dealing with real life struggles that effect families every single day. In spite of heartache, pain or joy in of our lives, family always comes first. Director: Marcellus Cox (USA) – 2018

Pelourinho: They Don’t Really Care About Us (9 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/11) 11:00 PM

Synopsis: Inspired by Pan-Africanist, W. E. B Du Bois.; and filmed on Super-8  in Pelourinho: the film is a series of vignettes that juxtaposes a letter from Du Bois to the U.S. Embassy of Brazil in 1927 against Michael Jackson’s controversial music video. Director: Akosua Adoma Owusu (BRA) – 2019

POCCON (9 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: POCCON explores the world of animee conventions throught the eyes of POC (People Of Color) cosplayers. Some of the issues they face as cosplayers of color will be addressed at Katsucon, a local animee convention in Maryland. Director: Alyssa Douglas (USA) – 2019

Pooch Sitter (15 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 1:00 PM

Synopsis: Claire, a quirky pet sitter seeks love and adoration from other people’s dogs. She finds clients by sitting on park benches and once hired, makes herself at home. Director: Monda Webb (USA) – 2019

Pride is Costly (11 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 5:15 PM

Synopsis: An urban drama about a young man with dreams of success finds himself grappling with choices and consequences when moving back to the hood poses a threat to his future. Director: Shauntay Cherry (USA) – 2019

Projection of Me (2 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: The life of a Muslim girl who was being bullied by classmates who would say that Trump is going to get her and that she should go back to her country. Director: Jannah Muhammad (USA) – 2019

Quiet and Clear (8 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 5:15 PM

Synopsis: When Aurelian blocks her on Facebook after taking her virginity, 13 year-old Peezoo senses life in Franklin, Louisiana, where the water is still,  iscoming to a halt. Director: Andre Rangiah (USA) 2018

Quiet Denial (15 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis:  An African-American woman deals with degrading remarks and insults while auditioning to study classical piano with a world-renowned concert pianist. Director: Zuri Alexander (USA) 2018

R.A.W. Tuba (29 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 8:25 PM

Synopsis: This film is about a son of
Baltimore child who experienced intermittent homelessness but went on to become a world-class symphony musician and professor.(USA) Director: Darren Durlach & David Larson (USA) – 2019

Redlining (8 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 3:00 PM

Synopsis:  A black woman travels the Redline train in Chicago watching  people on the train and reflecting on challenges and changes within the community. Director: Mariah Woods (USA) 2018

Reese (10 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: With increasing violence in neighborhood, Reece a young man, fights for his community regardless of the consequences. Director: Duscan Brown (USA) – 2019

Reincarnated X Speaks (8 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 8:25 PM

Synopsis: Perspectives on today’s time, given by two of the most influential men during the civil rights era. Director: Mosiah Fit (USA) – 2019

Return to Hogan's Alley (31 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 12:15 PM

Synopsis:Hogan’s Alley is neighbourhood in Vancouver which was a magnet for famous entertainers but was also seen by 1960s city planners as urban blight. Director: Melinda Friedman (CAN) – 2016

Run Little Boy (5 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: Run Little Boy is a 2D animated short film following a young boy who must survive a nightmarish world systematically designed to kill him. The film references current social issues in America relating to police brutality and judicial misconduct.
Director: Dominick Bedasse (USA) – 2019 

Sankofa (28 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/11) 4:00 PM

Synopsis: This documentary is about the loss of identity and its systemic impact on black males. By exploring the complexities of mental slavery, Sankofa calls it’s audience to free themselves from the system in which they were born. Director: Princess Garrett (USA) – 2018

Shadow Life: Shining Through Colorism and Depression (6 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: A short documentary about a young woman dealing with racism and colorism and how it led to depression and anxiety. Interview footage of Shaina Lynn Simmons, a performing artist who grew up in New Orleans, is intermixed with stop motion animated shadow puppetry to tell a story about mental illness and healing. Director: Miranda Kahn (USA) – 2018

She's Not a Boy (23 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: Tatenda Ngwaru left Zimbabwe with sixty dollars and the hope that she would finally find a place she belonged. But for an asylum-seeking intersex woman, even a diverse, queer-friendly city like New York is a hard place to make home. Directors: Yuhong Pang & Robert Tokanel (ZWE) – 2018

Shh... (9 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 5:15 PM

Synopsis: When he sees things in black and white, but she sees them through rose-colored lenses, what is the true color of love? And…is it enough? Director: Patrick Coker (USA) – 2018

STEVE (18 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: If grinding in the bustling streets of NYC isn’t enough for a Broadway actress, an uninvited ‘guest’ in her apartment might be just the thing to put her over the edge. Director: Jason Hightower (USA) – 2019

STOP (12 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: A traffic stop turns sinister when two black men encounter a small-town cop on a power trip. Director: Steven DeGennaro (USA) 2018

Stupid Love...Stupid Stupid Love (18 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/11) 2:00 PM

Synopsis: An idealistic poet seeks to create a safe space for him and his love to fully explore their relationship.  His young muse is torn between the highly romanticized world of the poet and reality. This world that they create has the potential to last forever or end in chaos. Director: Michael Taylor (USA) 2018

Tell-by Date (14 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: Ryan gives himself a deadline to tell his beloved son that he’s not his biological father, but it’s easier set than done! Director: Sarah Ball (USA) 2019

TENDER (20 min)
Showtime: AmASSI Center(10/11) 7:00PM

Synopsis: Under the backdrop of San Francisco’s housing crisis, the beauty of a historically LBGT-friendly district is revealed. Tender tells the story of three black trans women and their inextricable connections to San Francisco’s often maligned Tenderloin neighborhood. Director: Daryl Jones (USA) 2019

The Beach (19 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: A father attempts to shield his young kids from their harsh reality by making them a promise he can’t keep. This is about a father fighting for his children.  Director: Toroes Thomas (USA) 2018

The Eternal Extra (28 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 8:25 PM

Synopsis: Lights, camera, insanity. Life-long best friends, Dro and Lonte grew up with big dream in acting. Now later in their stagnant careers, they grapple with whether hollywood is needed or if they should take back their power and create their own opportunities. Director: Carltaise Ransom (USA) 2019

The High Bridge (9 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: Abel, a teenager from the Bronx reluctantly confronts fatherhood when he’s forced to care for his young daughter and take her to a doctor’s appointment.
Director: Benedict Campbell (USA) 2018

The Last Taboo (14 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: Colorism and unrequited love are explore through 17 year old Jonathan, who goes mad after suffering intolerable rejection, humiliation, and pain. Director: Emily M. Blake (USA) 2019

The Magic Comb (10 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/11) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: With mommy out of town, a father nearly loses his relationship with his little girl and his sanity when he uses a mysterious magical comb in order to do her hair. Director: Roni Brown (USA) 2019

The Other Man (18 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: A beloved daughter will learn that it’s not all about her feelings when it comes to her father and who he chooses to love.
Director: Chuck Brown (USA) 2018

The Real Dillah (18min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: After 25 yearson stage, the creator of Brazilian drag queen Dillah Dilluz faces difficulty to find work, prejudice and exclusion within his family. Director: Washington Calegari (BRA) 2018

The Talk (8 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 3:05 PM

Synopsis: On his way to a big date, seventeen year old J.J. has a talk with his dad, but Dad couldn’t prepare him for what he would encounter on his night out on the town. Director: Emily M. Blake (USA) 2017

The Water Will Carry Us Home
(7 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: This is the story of the spirits of stolen Africans being thrown off the slave ship whilst sailing through the Middle Passage. Director: Gabrielle Tesfaye (USA) 2018

The Wicked Imagination of a Teenage Kid (38 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: This creepy comedy features J.C., a teenager who has a supernatural trait–he can’t eat before he goes to sleep,  or his imagination comes to life in a creepy way! But, uh oh! There is a creepy new teacher at school who has a craving for more than apples! Will his imagination come to life and make him the teacher’s snack? Directors: Tasha Neal-Harris & Candace Wright (USA) – 2018

This Is Me (2 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: Students in Wide Angle Youth Media’s HS Video Team created personal stories around the collective theme “Why Black Lives Matter.” This is Brooke’s story.
Director: Brooke Anderson (USA) – 2018

Top 10 Places to Visit in São Paulo (14min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/12) 5:35 PM

Synopsis: This short explores the very best places to visit, takes photos and fall in love in São Paulo! Director: Akira Kamiki (BRA) – 2018

Uncle Ted (11 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/13) 1:00 PM

Synopsis: A girl of humble heritage and with big dreams moves to London with the man that she loves, but soon finds out not everything is rosy in the big city.
Director: Bruno Catarino (GBR) 2018

Untitled (2 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 5:05 PM

Synopsis: The significance of an explanation justifies the commonality of community decisiveness, while in doing so eliminates twoness of what one perceives. This deconstruction subjugates and creates an expectation. Expression is neglected and yet respective to each person.Director: Gyasi Mitchell (USA) 2019

We Do What We Can (9 min)
Showtime: The Charles (10/10) 11:00 AM

Synopsis: A couple who have a child without a place to live must find a way to make a life as they discover one of the miracles in the journey of diaspora Africans. Director: Kwaku Awuku Asabre (GBR) 2019

Youth of the Diaspora: Havana, Cuba (27 min)
Showtime: AmASSI Center(10/11) 7:00PM

Synopsis: After 9 months of preparation, 10 youth from Baltimore’s own Frederick Douglass High School embark upon a Diaspora excursion to Havana, Cuba.  The trip’s aim is to connect  youth of African descendant with the diaspora using an alternative educational program by way of study abroad. Director: Michael Bussey (USA) 2019

Zahra and the Oil Man (20 min)
Showtime: SNF Parkway (10/13) 3:00 PM

Synopsis: Zahra, the daughter of a street merchant, uses creativity and order to save her father’s struggling business in a changing Newark. Director: Yucef Mayes (USA) 2017