OPENING DAY: REEL SISTERS OF THE DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL
Celebrating Twenty-Eight Years of Black Women in Film in Brooklyn
Each fall, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival premieres rigorous and exciting new work by Black women filmmakers throughout Downtown Brooklyn. For this year’s 28th iteration, 651 ARTS is proud to partner with the Academy Awards-qualifying Festival as a host venue for Reel Sisters’ short film series screenings.
SECTION A – Masks & Mirrors | 1-2:20 pm
Little Stories, Big Echoes: Beads of Hope
Director/Writer: Dawn Richard
Producers: Chris Hartley and Dawn Richard
Animation, 5 min.
Beads of Hope is a powerful animated short film set in New Orleans, following Dawn, a young Black girl, as she navigates the chaos of a devastating flood that threatens the life of a beloved family member. The story unfolds in a historically Black neighborhood, on the day of Hurricane Katrina—now marking its 20th anniversary.
Facepaint
Director/Writer: Silvana Carranza
Producers: Karsten Otto and Tommy Schutz
Narrative, 15 min.
A party clown with artistic endeavors outside of her day job fights a panic attack during one of her shifts.
The Knife
Director/Writer: Joy Nesbitt
Producers: Grace Odumosu
In The Knife, Ife, a young Black Irish woman, is anxiously awaiting her 20-week pregnancy scan, hoping for good news about her baby’s health. But when the scan reveals unexpected complications, she and her husband, Darragh, are forced to confront a ridiculous reality that will test their trust in the healthcare system.
(G)host Country
Director: Kheyal Roy-Meighoo Writers: Kheyal Roy-Meighoo, Isaac Gazmararian, Koan Roy-Meighoo
Producers: Isaac Gazmararian, Molly Patrick
Animation, 7 min.
Since moving to the UK, international student Kajal has had odd visions. After her concerns are dismissed by her British therapist, Kajal takes matters into her own hands and confronts her haunts.
Missing Rhythms
Director: Regina Hoyles Writer: Aja Houston
Narrative, 15 min.
In a mysterious insane asylum full of missing Black women from all over the country, a woman must use rhythm to remember her true identity and fight being lost forever behind the ominous Blue Door.
SECTION B – Transitions 2:25-3:45 pm
In Transit (Invited)
Director: Jean Paulo Lasmar
Writers: Jean Paulo Lasmar, Thiago Fernandes
Doc., 4 min.
Bernie Wagenblast, a well-known voice to anyone who’s been on a NYC subway, has undergone a transition. On the Transgender Day of Visibility, the MTA revealed Bernie’s true voice as a transgender woman for the first time in its history.
Plenum
Director/Writer: Charlene A. Carruthers
Producers: Ahsha Davis, Charlene A. Carruthers
Narrative, 26 min.
An experimental reconstruction of the 1995 Black Nations/Queer Nations Conference, PLENUM follows the experience of siblings Ajani and Tracy, as they make their way from Chicago to New York City. While Tracy is worried that Ajani’s recent HIV positive diagnosis will drive him into isolation, Ajani fears the consequences of telling their father as he enters a new community and phase of life.
Cuming Out
Director/Writer: Jasmine J Johnson
Producers: Mary Ross Bonney, Whitney Fuller
Narrative, 19 min.
Kennedy’s desire for a heteronormative experience sees her embark on a one-night-stand. What could possibly go wrong?
Blackberry Winter
Director: Jason Hightower Writer: Amber Iman
Producers: Jason Hightower, Arizona Newsum, Amber Iman
Narrative, 16 min.
A fairytale Valentine’s Day takes a turn when Amber, our Georgia Peach living in the Big Apple, sees an unexpected text message in her boyfriend’s phone. Launched into a journey of self-discovery, with a future that is uncertain, Amber questions whether to follow her head or her heart to find her way forward.
SECTION C – Ancestral Rhythms | 3:50-5:05 pm
She Island
Director: Raven Irabor, SIRA Marissa Lewis
Writers: Kadia Blagrove, Dylan Braud, Olivia Jade Khoury, Andrea Knowles
Producers: Raven Irabor, D’Andre Wilson, Miesha Miller, Ashley Laird
Experimental, 16 min.
She Island is an enchanting and experimental film that weaves together folklore, history, and mysticism to tell a powerful story of resilience and cultural reclamation. Set on the fictional Caribbean island of She Island, where women reign supreme and cultural syncretism flourishes, the narrative is inspired by the folkloric character LaDiabless and navigates themes of hybridity, sisterhood, tradition, ritual, preservation, wisdom, and mysticism.
Boil the Cabbage
Director: Candace Mae Williamson Producers: Kaylee Hayes, Jemina Garcia
Doc., 24 min.
Candace is a documentary filmmaker and novice banjo player. As she learns her first tune, “Boil That Cabbage Down,” she reaches out to historians, activists, and storytellers to uncover the complex history of the banjo. Through her journey, we are transported to the past, where the painting “The Old Plantation” is reimagined, revealing the instrument’s origins.
Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps
Directors: Shellée M. Haynesworth, Michelle Parkerson
Producer: Shellée M. Haynesworth
Doc., 15 min.
Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps follows 4-time Tony-nominated choreographer, director, and educator Camille A. Brown (Hell’s Kitchen, GYPSY) as she elevates the possible with bold explorations of everyday movement and African Diasporic dance.
SECTION D – Rooted In Resistence | 5:15 pm-6:47 pm
On A Sunday at Eleven
Director/Writer: Alicia K. Harris
Producers: Jeff Chiu, Hayley Brown
narrative, 9 min.
A young Black ballerina performs her Sunday rituals, while facing the pressures to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards.
Yáamay: An Ode to Blooming
Directors: Casse Kihúut, Camaray Davalos Producers: Casse Kihúut, Camaray Davalos
Writers: Emily Clarke, Alexis Munoa-Dyer, Meadow Fuller, Avelaka Macarro, Marlene’ Dusek
narrative, 12 min.
Using original poetry as the foundation, we are taken through a journey examining what it means to be a contemporary California Indigenous woman. With a montage of modern, archival, and animatic visuals, this film becomes as dynamic and alive as the women telling their stories.
Headbang
Director/Writer: Anna Khaja
Producers: Raelle Tucker, Cameron Fife
narrative, 24 min.
An American perspective on the hijab and female empowerment that resonates with universal questions of selfhood and freedom. Through the lens of two different young women, Leila, from secular background, and Amara, from a religious one, Headbang explores the complex power of the hijab, and how a seemingly simple piece of cloth embodies both what the wearer imbues it with and what society project onto to it.
A Beauty Supply In Queens
Directors: Oluseyi Olatujoye, Princess Adenike
Writer: Princess Adenike
Producers: Princess Adenike, Caroline Chikezie, Shalom Obiago
narrative, 17 min.
An HBO Short Film Finalist, A Beauty Supply in Queens follows Ms. Aji, a Nigerian mother, and her daughter Tobi as they navigate the challenges of running a beauty supply store in Queens. Amidst fierce competition and underhanded tactics from rivals, the film celebrates their resilience and the strength of their community.
Nannies of New York (Invited)
Director: April Guscott
Doc., 10 min.
Nannies of New York provides uncensored, first-hand accounts of three Afro-Caribbean women’s perspectives working as nannies to wealthy white families in NYC, the stigma associated with the work, and the fight for their rights as domestic workers.
Kiss My Grass
Directors: Mary Pryor, Mara Whitehead
Producers: Justin Benoliel, Luke Anderson, Saki Fenderson
Doc., 15 min.
Kiss My Grass exposes the persistent inequities faced by Black women entrepreneurs in the booming cannabis industry. Executive produced by trailblazers Colin Kaepernick, Rosario Dawson, Mary Pryor, Luke Anderson, and Justin Benoliel, the film takes viewers on an emotional journey through the struggles, corruption, and lack of support these women encounter as they fight for their place in a landscape fraught with obstacles.
ABOUT THE PARTNER:
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series is the first Academy-qualifying film festival for narrative shorts devoted to women of color. The Festival’s status is a game changer for women’s access to Oscar consideration in the Live Action Shorts category. Reel Sisters’ Academy qualifying status gives women of color a path to the Oscar consideration list and opens the door for all women directors. It is a milestone for women directors who rarely get nominated by the Academy Awards for Oscar-worthy films.
Reel Sisters is the first Brooklyn-based festival devoted to supporting films produced, directed and written by women of color. Since 1997, the festival has been enriching the city with over 3,000 films by women of African, Caribbean, Latino, Asian, Indian and Native American descent. Reel Sisters attracts film lovers from across the nation and globe including California, Chicago, Florida to as far away as Britain, India and Nigeria.
Each year, we screen an average of 40-58 films depending on the professional workshops we offer. Reel Sisters is presented by African Voices magazine.
Reel Sisters honors industry professionals with the Reel Sisters Hattie McDaniel Pioneer Award and the Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award. Past honorees: Sandra Guzmán, Leslie Harris, Nana Camille Yarbrough, JT Takagi, Terence Nance, Tamara Tunie, Vinie Burrows, Jessica Williams, Neema Barnette, Julie Dash, Issa Rae, Cathy Hughes (TV One), Naturi Naughton, Vinie Burrows, Tamara Tunie, Michelle Materre, Pearl Bowser, Mable Haddock, Margot B., Mahen Bonnetti, Irene Cara, Shola Lynch, Lonette McKee, Ebony Jo-Ann, Moikgantsi Kgama and power couple Tim and Daphne Reid.