THE HARLEM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AMAZING 2024 LINEUP

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Harlem FF partners

THE 2024 HARLEM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
announces line-up for 19th edition
(May 16-26)

Opening Night features the World Premiere of
Nana Ghana’s You Are Always Right Here
and an Uptown Shorts Spotlight

Saturday’s Spotlight Presentation will feature the
NY Premiere of Nancy Saslow’s documentary
Xernona Clayton: A Life in Black and White

 

The Harlem  International Film Festival still 1YOU ARE ALWAYS RIGHT HERE, XERNONA CLAYTON: A LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE



New York, NY (May 3, 2024) – The 2024 Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) today announced the films and events for its 19th edition – returning as a fully in-person event taking place May 16-26 with special support from the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment. The film festival will open with the world premiere of Nana Ghana’s You Are Always Right Here, preceded by Gabri Christa’s short film Kankantri (the Silk Cotton Tree), and a special premiere curation of Uptown Shorts.

Due to their successful teaming last year, Harlem International Film Festival and Columbia University Zuckerman Institute’s free-to-the-public presentations will not just return but encompass all in-person screenings for the first four days of the film festival. Located at The Forum (601 West 125th Street), Hi’s famous Opening Night red carpet, screenings and panels will all be located at that central hub with the second weekend at Maysles Documentary Center (343 Malcolm X Boulevard). This year’s film lineup will once again celebrate and showcase relatively undiscovered international cinematic gems and local New York filmmaking talent with a special focus on Harlem artists. Hi’s lineup features 61 films, including 24 features (10 narrative, 14 documentaries), 20 shorts (11 narrative, 9 documentaries, 1 television webisode), 2 experimental, 4 music videos, and 3 VR projects, 4 television webisodes, and 4 youth films.

Harlem International Film Festival’s Program Director, Nasri Zacharia, said. “This is our fourth year working with the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University and the second with the Forum, and we are thrilled to be able to provide so many programs free to the public. This festival is unique in our dual focus on world cinema alongside our homegrown talent here in the HUB ­– Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and the Bronx. This year’s lineup scores on both of those fronts yet again.”

Opening Night on Thursday, May 16 at The Forum will be highlighted by the world premiere of Nana Ghana’s You Are Always Right Here. The film looks at the relationship that develops during the lockdown between Eve, a woman drowning in grief and pain following a personal tragedy, and Adam, who attempts to help her navigate those dark waters. The screening will be preceded by the New York premiere of Gabri Christa’s short film Kankantri (The Silk Cotton Tree) about a woman who enters a place of worship and is transported to the parallel universe of all her ancestors who do not let her leave, until she participates in their dances and rituals. The directors of both films will attend and participate in post-screening Q&As. The evening will also include Hi’s popular Uptown Shorts Spotlightpresentation, featuring short films shot in Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and the Bronx.

The featured film for Saturday’s Spotlight Presentation will be Nancy Saslow’s documentary Xernona Clayton: A Life in Black and White. The film celebrates the life of Xernona Clayton, one of the most unheralded civil rights icons and African American pioneers of our time. Clayton is an extraordinary woman who has impacted our country so respectfully and quietly that many aren’t aware of her enormous contributions. Following the screening will be a Q&A with Saslow and the icon herself, Xernona Clayton.

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THREE (EXTRA) ORDINARY WOMEN, PLAYING THROUGH, ILEANA’S SMILE

Additional highlights include Friday May 17 presentations featuring Cionin Lorenzo and Pearlette J Ramos’ Three (Extra) Ordinary Women, which takes us on a harrowing minute-by-minute journey with three women seeking to overcome traumatic events by reaching Africa’s tallest peak Mount Kilimanjaro. Balbinka Korzeniowska’s festival favorite Playing Through which dramatizes the fateful golf match between Ann Gregory, the first woman of color to enter the USGA Women’s Amateur, and Babs Whatling, a privileged white woman from the south. Three (Extra) Ordinary Women director Cionin Lorenzo, and Playing Through producer Peter Odiorne will both attend and participate in post-screening Q&As. The evening will conclude with a live musical performance by Brad Corrigan, from the band Dispatch, prior to a screening of his film Ileana’s Smile which follows the tragic story of a girl with a lightning smile who endures life in a trash dump community in Managua, Nicaragua, and the unlikely friendships that form around her.

Negrita The Harlem  International Film Festival NEGRITA

Saturday, May 18 will feature a special panel discussion on colorism in Black and Latinx communities prior to a screening of Magdalena Albizu’s Negrita. The film focuses on diverse Afro Latinas who explore and confront culture and racism while defining their own identity in the United States. The film explores the ideology of Blackness, and how both American and Latino cultures perpetuate the belief that Blackness is to be destroyed.

For updates, registration, and more information on the Harlem International Film Festival go to http://HarlemFilmFestival.org


2024 Harlem International Film Festival Official Selections

Opening Night Selections
You Are Always Right Here World Premiere
Director: Nana Ghana
Country: US, Running Time: 82 min
You Are Always Right Here unfolds linearly, with the day-to-day mundaneness of the lockdown. Eve bakes bread, deep cleans, virtual therapy, for a moment things are feeling good, but soon the memories of her past life, coupled with the discomfort and uncertainty in isolation sends Eve riding the waves of dark waters, drowning with grief and pain. Eve tries to make the best of the government issued stay at home order, but it becomes clear that Eve is using Adam as a band aid for her deep wounds, her divorce as a result of the tragic and accidental death of her 2-year-old son.
Preceded by
Kankantri (The Silk Cotton Tree)
Director: Gabri Christa
Country: Suriname, Running Time: 27 min
A woman enters a place of worship and is transported to the parallel universe of all her ancestors who do not let her leave, until she participates in their dances and rituals and exits, integrated.

Saturday Spotlight Presentation
Xernona Clayton: A Life in Black and White New York Premiere
Director: Nancy Saslow
Country: US, Running Time: 118 min
Celebrating the life of one of the most unheralded civil rights icons and African American pioneers of our time, the documentary tells the amazing story of Xernona Clayton, an extraordinary woman who has impacted our country so respectfully and quietly that many aren’t aware of her enormous contributions.

ADDITIONAL FEATURE FILMS

NARRATIVE
As If It’s True
Director: John Rogers
Country: Philippines, Running Time: 105 min
Gemma Stone is a social media influencer/content creator who’s burning out from trying to maintain the interest of her followers. She meets James, a struggling musician suffering from depression. They enter into a relationship with the mutual intent to capitalize on the other. Gemma uses James for content by presenting him as a perfect aspirational romantic partner, while James leeches off Gemma’s wealth and connections to further his own music career. But, as time passes, their intentions don’t pan out as they expect and a blur forms between real love and exploitation.

La Pura Vida
Director: Dylan Verrechia
Country: Mexico, Running Time: 90 min
Nana and Fili live in Tijuana, Mexico, and try to make ends meet but struggle with money. Fili’s parents, Oscar and Angie, are on their way from their home in Valle de Guadalupe (the wine country in Baja California) to their second home in Cozumel. They stop uninvited to Nana’s house. The parents slowly invade the space, making it theirs, and in the course of it destroy the fragile couple. La Pura Vida tells the story of Nana who must deal with the overbearing family of her boyfriend and overall abuse.

My Last Best Friend
Director: Filippo M. Prandi
Country: US, Running Time: 106 min
NYC. March 2020. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, two men, both named Walter Stoyanov, watch their lives unravel as one of them falls ill and the other one is being investigated by FBI Agent John McCallany.

My Motherland
Director: Benoit Cohen
Country: France, Running Time: 91 min
France has been living alone in her apartment since her husband’s death. When she hears on the radio that an NGO is putting homeless migrants in touch with people who are willing to welcome them, she decides, against her only son’s opinion to welcome Reza, a young Afghan broken by war and exile. Two worlds meet, and they begin to hold each other’s hands.

Playing Through
Director: Balbinka Korzeniowska
Country: US, Running Time: 87 min
Late in her career, Ann Gregory finds the courage to be the first woman of color to enter the USGA Women’s Amateur. She collides with Babs Whatling, a privileged white woman from the south who is searching for her own identity. This highly publicized match forever changes them and the game.

Sappy
Director: Shusei Ueda
Country: Japan, Running Time: 86 min
A man has ambitions to be a novelist, while working as a driver for a sex worker. Kobayashi, an acquaintance and best-selling novelist, mentors the aspiring writer, advising him on how to complete his first novel.

Valley of Exile
Director: Anna Fahr
Country: Lebanon, Running Time: 107 min
Two sisters arrive in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley at the onset of the Syrian war, embarking on a journey into exile that tests their loyalty to their country, their family and each other.

When Morning Comes
Director: Kelly Fyffe-Marshall
Country: Jamaica, Running Time: 92 min
A young boy struggles with his widowed mother’s decision to relocate the family from Jamaica to Canada.

White Guilt
Director: Marcus Flemmings
Country: UK, Running Time: 61 min
Eleven affluent white individuals in their twenties and thirties head off in a bus, hoping to assuage their white guilt. They seek a unique pay-to-play service: experiencing reverse slavery. While this controversial service typically proceeds as planned, things take a dark twist when a carefree newcomer joins the crew, and a woman of mixed-race ethnicity stands among the elite clientele.


DOCUMENTARY
A Thousand and One Berber Nights
Director: Hisham Aïdi
Country: US, Running Time: 53 min
In the late 1950s Hassan Ouakrim was a young dancer and actor in Morocco. Little did he know that he would soon become the protegé of La Mama Theatre founder Ellen Stewart, performing across America, forming friendships with the likes of jazz virtuosos Ornette Coleman and Randy Weston, and becoming a pioneer in spreading Berber dance and music in North America.

Another Part of Me
Director: Ivan Lopez
Country: Spain, Running Time: 81 min
This is the story of how Gustavo Hernández (known as Gus Jackson) managed to become, chosen by the fans themselves, the best Michael Jackson impersonator in Europe and the second worldwide. Born in Ingenio (Gran Canaria), Gustavo Hernández began working in the late nineties as an imitator of the King of Pop and since then he has made this work his philosophy of life. The film approaches Gustavo’s day-to-day efforts to achieve his teenage dreams, while deepening his relationship with fans around the world and showing how his work has become an influence and inspiration for thousands of people as Michael Jackson himself achieved in life.

The Apology
Director: Mimi Chakarova
Country: US, Running Time: 82 min
The Apology, a feature-length documentary by Mimi Chakarova, investigates an incident in California in the 1960s in which Alameda County and the City of Hayward dismantled the entire community of Russell City, pushing 1,400 residents out of their homes and off their land – all to claim the 200 acres for an industrial park.

Firefly: The Tay Fisher Story
Director: Christopher Nostrand
Country: US, Running Time: 56 min
Tay Fisher’s basketball and life journey is one of determination, inspiration, teamwork, and downright talent – developing into one of the greats in 4-point shooting history during his 10 years on the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters. As “Firefly” he enthralled fans around the world with his “Curly” Neal-inspired one-of-kind dribbling style and infectiously positive attitude. Today, Tay shares the challenges and guidance of his never-give-up story on and off the court, by mentoring kids and holding basketball camps in his hometown.

Healer: The Dr. Joycelyn Elders Story
Director: Candace Bellamy
Country: US, Running Time: 48 min
From Sharecropper’s daughter to the first African American Surgeon General of the United States, Healer is a documentary about the life of Dr. Joycelyn Elders.

Ileana’s Smile
Director: Bradley J Corrigan
Country: US, Running Time: 64 min
Ileana’s Smile is the tragic story of a girl with a lightning smile who endures life in a trash dump community in Managua, Nicaragua, and the unlikely friendships that form around her. The film follows American musician Brad Corrigan, Nicaraguan taxi driver and pastor Bismark Rocha, and several Nicaraguan social workers and educators as they try to open up new paths of opportunity and healing for Ileana, and the devastating choices she makes.

One Person, One Vote?
Director: Maximina Juson
Country: US, Running Time: 78 min
An Award-winning documentary that takes and in-depth look at the US Electoral College, its slavery origins, and impact on American politics today.

Negrita
Director: Magdalena Albizu
Country: US, Running Time: 50 min
Negrita is a feature documentary about diverse Afro Latinas who explore and confront culture and racism while defining their own identity in the United States. The film explores the ideology of Blackness, and how both American and Latino cultures perpetuate the belief that Blackness is to be destroyed. Through personal accounts, family pictures, old videos, and interactions with family and friends, Negrita follows the director’s own struggle with identity, her journey to embrace her African history, and her conversations with her family about their disapproval of her journey, while interweaving the stories/experiences shared by other Afro Latinas.

Return To Your Corner
Director: Ashley Malcolm Morrison
Country: Australia, Running Time: 62 min
Who was the first Boxing World Champion from Africa? Why do so few people know his name?
Sadly, few know his name even in Africa because Battling Siki was a world champion during the colonial era so his world title is recorded as belonging to his colonial ruler. Siki faced severe racism during his career, but used the very thing used against him to promote himself and his fights. He also stood up to racism at a time when few did.

Silent Fallout
Director: Hideaki Ito
Country: Japan, Running Time: 76 min
Narrated by Alec Baldwin, this documentary film looks at the damage caused by the resulting radiation from the testing of nuclear bombs. The U.S. government dropped 101 atomic bombs on the American continent for years. As a result, in the 1960s, milk was contaminated with radiation. Women stood up and proved that their children were exposed to radiation. President Kennedy declared a halt to atmospheric nuclear testing, but we are just discovering the extent of the damage done.

Sing! Fight! Sing! Fight! From Leroi To Amiri
Director: Colin Still
Country: UK, Running Time: 88 min
A portrait of the African American poet & playwright Amiri Baraka, formerly LeRoi Jones.

Skate Night
Director: Emily Leibow
Country: US, Running Time: 58 min
Skate Night is a documentary film about freedom told through a unique community of inline skaters as they explore New York City on wheels. This skating community, like the city itself, brings people together—every race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, and nationality. The motto is, “all wheels welcome.” To be included, all you have to do is show up with some way to “roll as one.”

Three (Extra) Ordinary Women
Directors: Cionin Lorenzo, Pearlette J Ramos
Countries: United Republic of Tanzania/US, Running Time: 92 min
The feature documentary Three (Extra) Ordinary Women tells the personal stories of three women of color who have collectively overcome poverty, abuse, systemic racism, and political occupation through practicing forgiveness, helping others and immersing themselves in nature. As they brave their biggest physical obstacle yet – climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – trekking up Africa’s tallest peak through arctic temperatures and some of the highest altitude on the planet, they discover they still have emotional hurdles to climb.


ADDITIONAL SHORT FILMS

NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS
Billy Boy
Director: Will Roane
Country: US, Running Time: 6 min
In this tense, enigmatic drama, a former football star turned real estate broker meets with a troubled young heir to an old-money fortune to close a deal on a new house, and nothing goes according to plan.

Bronx Park Thunder
Director: Shaun Vivaris
Country: US, Running Time: 16 min
Forced to run an errand for a Bronx mafioso, a small-time fireworks & ecstasy dealer seizes the opportunity of a lifetime and goes rogue.

Homing
Director: Ricardo J. Varona
Country: US, Running Time: 17 min
In a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood, a reclusive pigeon keeper is tasked with caring for his estranged daughter for a day but is blindsided by a revelation that could mean losing her for good.

I Promise You Paradise
Director: Morad Mostafa
Country: Egypt, Running Time: 22 min
Following a violent incident; Eissa, a 17 year old African migrant in Egypt is in a quest against time to save his loved ones whatever it takes.

Love Letter for the Subway
Director: Mary Hawkins
Country: US, Running Time: 2 min
Animation – The filmmaker works with type making this set of hand-drawn, animated letters representing New York City’s subway lines as a love letter to NYC. Imagery is pulled from the neighborhoods that trains move through, using common items in the subway as textures, and found shapes in the architecture and sights around us as we get where we’re going.

Pantagruel
Director: Omar Al-Nakib
Country: US, Running Time: 6 min
A New York scientist’s experiment to revive a hybrid goes horribly right.

Pen, Again
Director: Julian J. Delacruz
Country: US, Running Time: 13 min
Mourning the unexpected loss of his wife, Leo embraces a new technology that promises to bring her back. We discover Leo just before he’s about to receive his “new” wife, Penelope. Not knowing what to expect, Leo discovers what he’s willing to accept to cope with the grief.

Speak Up Brotha!
Director: Wes Andre Goodrich
Country: US, Running Time: 15 min
Grad student Ahmad Jones drives for a rideshare company. He receives a request from a mysterious woman — a poet. They connect over music, but she seems to ignore him. When the opportunity arises to see her again, Ahmad must learn how to communicate in ways beyond his understanding to win her heart.

The War Torn Drum
Director: Derek A Ham
Country: US, Running Time: 12 min
Animation – In the late 1860’s, a U.S. Marshal bonds with a post Civil War drummer boy in their search to track down a wanted criminal.

What Somalia Wants
Director: Jade Bryan
Country: US, Running Time: 44 min
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.


DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS
A Race In The Sun
Director: K. Nicole Mills
Country: US, Running Time: 20 min
An exploration of cycling culture through the eyes of Ayesha McGowan who rose through the ranks of the New York City underground cycling world to break barriers as the world’s first African American woman to become a professional cyclist.

The Book of Days
Director: Ian Phillips
Country: US, Running Time: 43 min
In a neighborhood where everything around him is changing, one man’s life remains stagnant. A documentary by Ian Phillips, filmed over the course of sixteen years.

Dr. Eddie Henderson: Uncommon Genius
The remarkable life story of renowned African American jazz trumpeter and flugelhrn player Eddie Henderson, whose curiosity, desire for exploration, and athleticicsm led him down many career paths, including figure skating and dual career in medicine and music.

The Historic HBCU Photograph
Director: Ciara D. Ingram
Country: UK, Running Time: 27 min
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic put an abrupt halt to all in-person social activities across the nation. An ongoing wave of civil unrest ensued in the United States, triggered by the murder of George Floyd during his arrest by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, 2020, leading to riots and peaceful protests aainst years of systemic racism toward African Americans in the United States. In 2021, a vaccine was approved by the CDC, allowing social activities to slowly resume. As a result, HBCU alumni from across the country came together for one day on the steps of Morningside Park in Harlem for a Historic Photograph.

How To Sue The Klan
Director: John Beder
Country: US, Running Time: 34 min
From Producer Ben Crump. America’s first hate group, the Ku Klux Klan, dealt out hatred and violence for over a century without penalty – until five Black women and a young Black civil rights lawyer finally forced them to pay for their crimes. The strength of these women and the groundbreaking 1982 civil case set forth by their attorney established a legal precedent that paved the road for today’s fight against organized hate.

Interception: Jayne Kennedy
Director: Safiya Songhai
Country: US, Running Time: 15 min
When a bronze-skin bombshell rocks the world of Sunday Morning Football, millions tune in… but few know the tumultuous story of Jayne Kennedy, the first Black woman to boldly run interception on the racial lines of American sportscasting.

Kingdome
Director: Shawn Antoine II
Country: US, Running Time: 20 min
Kingdome chronicles the remarkable journey of the legendary basketball tournament in Harlem known as the Kingdome. For 37 years, this tournament has been a symbol of community, resilience, and the transformative power of basketball. Through the eyes of its founder, Terry “Huncho” Cooper, and the diverse cast of players, fans, and organizers, the film explores the profound impact of the Kingdome on the lives of those involved and the Harlem community at large.

Taking Your Best Shot
Director: Aminah Salaam
Country: US, Running Time: 31 min
This documentary focuses on a Youth Citywide Basketball Tournament held by the New York City Housing Authority for its residents. The protagonists in this film are youth and teen athletes from New York City Housing, also known as ‘the projects’ all over NYC.

Tell Me Your Story
Directors: Jamal Joseph, Mike De Carp
Country: US, Running Time: 40 min
Academy Award Nominee musician Tevin Thomas comes back to New York City after many years to record a new album with his lifelong colleagues. The music sessions become an opportunity to reflect on his life and musical journey.


EXPERIMENTAL
For Those That Lived There
Director: Shawn Antoine II
Country: US, Running Time: 6 min
Amidst the ivy-draped remnants of once-notorious public housing projects, the film weaves a visual tapestry, navigating the poignant impacts of gentrification, the displacement of Black legacies, and the emergent migrant narratives. Against Chicago’s ever-evolving skyline, this evocative exploration immerses audiences into the soul of a neighborhood transformed.

Re-Éksodos
Director: Julia Horta Paiva
Country: Brazil, Running Time: 16 min


MUSIC VIDEOS
Cyano Sun Suite
Director: Stefan Verna
Country: Canada, Running Time: 9 min

Damn Thing
Director: Toby Sidler
Country: US, Running Time: 4 min

In Sync
Director: Jeff Collin Suttles
Country: US, Running Time: 9 min

Never Hold Me Down
Director: Toby Sidler
Country: US, Running Time: 4 min


VIRTUAL REALITY
A Vocal Landscape
Directors: Omid Zarei, Anne Jeppesen
Country: Denmark, Running Time: 14 min
A Vocal Landscape is a hyperrealistic VR short film that explores the strange and familiar
Anatomy of a conversation.

The Carrier
Director: Andrew Cochrane
Country: US, Running Time: 10 min
The Carrier is told through the eyes of a baby waking up in the back seat of their family’s car, which is stuck in a traffic jam. In the front seat, the baby’s parents lament their decision to wait to evacuate the city – from what is not clear, but the duct-taped vents and windows of the car and the luggage strapped to the cars surrounding them seem to indicate that something serious is happening.

Nirwana Gold
Director: Andreas Waldenmaier
Country: Germany, Running Time: 13 min
Nirwana.Gold is a multi-sensory virtual reality trilogy that offers the viewer three different spiritual experiences. An individual film, soundtrack, perfume, and ice cream flavor was created for each VR experience.


WEBISODES
6 Train to Parkchester
Director: J. Swain
Country: US, Running Time: 20 min
Webisode – Based on a true story, 6 Train to Parkchester is a gripping drama about two brothers (Dirk&Jewelz) from the Southeast section of The Bronx.

Connection (episode 2)
Director: Sarah Gross
Country: US, Running Time: 44 min
The Corona virus is not over. Nor are the divisions between us. Race and economic situations separate us far more than any ocean. This intimate 4-part documentary builds a political and historical chronicle of our time through personal stories of daily life from around the world.

Lucy and Sara (pilot)
Director: Susan Park
Country: US, Running Time: 7 min
Two unlikely recluse sisters learn to cope with living with each other after the death of their father.

Rick Younger Presents The Rick Younger Show (Starring Rick Younger as Rick Younger)
Director: Lalou Trotter Dammond
Country: US, Running Time: 12 min
Middle aged actor Rick Younger suddenly finds himself out of his Broadway gig and discovers that he must go viral if he wants to have a career.


YOUTH FILMS
Asphyxia
Director: Luciano Alzate
Country: Colombia, Running Time: 14 min
A failed writer and his son are stuck in their home after an apocalypse. Tensions rise as the son vies for freedom while the father forces him to write.

Black Care
Director: John Joseph MonacoCountry: US, Running Time: 4 min
Life and meaning at Smitty’s Barbershop.

Little Sahara
Director: Emilio Martí López
Country: Spain, Running Time: 30 min
Those who do not know the Sahara think that in the desert there is only sand. But here there are children, who play and draw and make movies, and who would like not to have to think about war. In the desert there is a European colony, an occupied country, called Western Sahara, and there are thousands of Sahrawi refugees living a hard life in exile. Little Sahara is an animated documentary that tells their story, that of a resilient people who try to thrive and grow up in the Hamada, where everything struggles to grow.

Project: KLB2
Director: Andrew Baker Taylor, Andrew Yuen
Country: US, Running Time: 8 min
Set in the near future. When Caleb, a humanoid AI teenager escapes, a corporation unleashes a search to find the missing subject. On the run Caleb seeks out his long-lost Mother for asylum. However, when he finally has the chance to reunite with her, something internal prevents him from doing so. He then realizes he must figure out how his emotions work to gather the courage to properly meet his mother.



ABOUT THE HARLEM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Celebrating the art of cinema in the home of the Harlem Renaissance, The Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) inspires and entertains by honoring dynamic films by anyone about anything under the sun. Conceived from the belief that we all have unique experiences and perspectives to share, the Festival actively seeks and exhibits fresh work. Hi is committed to exemplifying the eminence that Harlem represents and is dedicated to bringing attention to the finest filmmakers from Harlem and across the globe.

For previous Harlem International Film Festival coverage, click here!

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Harlem International Film Festival 2021 review: ‘My Fiona’

MY FIONA

 New York State Premiere
Director: Kelly Walker
Country: US, Running Time: 86 min
Following the suicide of her best friend, Jane finds purpose in helping her friend’s wife with their child. In doing so, she becomes inadvertently drawn into an intimate relationship bound by grief that’s potentially catastrophic to the healing for all those involved.

Jeanette Maus‘s final feature role is impactful beyond words. She plays Jane, a woman whose best friend commits suicide and must address her own grief within the complexity of her newfound family dynamic. How close is too close when all are have left are the ones left behind? The cast’s chemistry is immaculate. Maus leaves it all on screen. Every moment is an emotional gut-punch. Suicide is a loaded subject. The script tackles its all-consuming confusion with a carefully crafted hand. In an attempt to discover Fiona’s “Why” and to find her place without Fiona, Jane must come to grips with the messy aftermath of loss. MY FIONA is an intimate look at grief from the perspective of a best friend. It’s a fresh take on something that is so relatable. It’s okay to not be okay. Writer-director Kelly Walker has given Harlem International Film Festival audiences a true gem. MY FIONA is a different kind of love story. Do not miss this film.

Audiences in New York can access the film now!

16th Edition
May 6-16, 2021 Extended Dates!

Harlem International Film Festival 2020 review: ‘The Subject’ is powerful from every angle.

Jason Biggs plays Phil, a documentary filmmaker whose conscious ways heavy on him. The Subject is aptly named. Phil made a film about a black 15-year-old whose murder is caught on tape, by him. It’s been two years, he’s worried that Malcolm’s death means nothing back in Harlem. He’s onto his next project but cannot shake the guilt of possible exploitation, nor can the press. His girlfriend wants him to get over it, but Phil tries really hard to do the right thing. After finally attempting to move forward, the other shoe drops. Someone begins filming him.

Bringing on a new assistant and managing his new project, we gain insight into his trauma. But it’s the social commentary about Harlem that strikes the loudest tone, recognizing that Phil cannot ultimately be the “white savior”. Writer Chisa Hutchinson has written a fully fleshed out, flawed man who is trying to keep levelheaded through success and the reality we currently reside in. The performance from Biggs is captivating and genuinely layered. He has great material. Once Marley enters the scene, she is privy to some new information. Manipulation and a clear underlying agenda appear. You get the feeling that something truly else, something larger is coming our way.

Anabelle Acosta as girlfriend Jess is very compelling. There is a lot to learn from their relationship dynamic and it comes into play heavily. Carra Patterson as Marley is quite the catalyst for chaos. She gives off a Maya Rudolph vibe and I dug her energy throughout. Nile Bullock’s performance as Malcolm is exactly where the audience needs him to be; balancing the line of an arrogant teen and an innocent child. Jason Biggs is better than ever. He plays Phil with an understanding of power and guilt. It’s stunning. Aunjanue Ellis plays Malcolm’s mother, Leslie. The scenes between her and Biggs are explosive. She represents so many mothers who lose their children to violence. Her performance is the culmination of everything in this film. Cutting through mansplaining and truth, everything leads up to these moments. The Subject is phenomenal in its storytelling. It’s a must-see film. Harlem International Film Festival was a fitting home for its Manhattan premiere. The film has an ending you will not see coming. Congratulations to director Lanie Zipoy and everyone involved in making this film.

Harlem International Film Festival review: Narrative short ‘Steve’ is an entire journey.

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.

As someone who went to school for musical theatre in the city, short film Steve spoke to me in a very specific way. Star and writer, Amber Iman, is the “private me” on film. I have never felt more “seen”, as the kids say, as watching an extroverted, fellow theatre kid in her element. In real life, Iman is a Broadway star and it shows. Living in Manhattan is its own experience. Everyone, at least once, has had a mouse in their apartment. It’s basically a right of passage. We all react in pretty much the same way, with few exceptions. Amber Iman takes all of that energy and translates it into the funniest short I’ve yet to see. My husband had headphones on while I was watching this film. I was laughing so loud he took them off and laughed with me having no knowledge of what I was watching. Iman’s chemistry in her brief scenes that include other cast members is downright hilarious. But, for the majority of the film, she is speaking directly to her unwanted guest. It is the full range of emotions and then some. Who needs a professional reel when you have this short to show casting directors? The simplicity and relatable nature make Steve a brilliant treatment for Iman to have her own series, even if that was not the intention. I would not be mad at that notion. Director Jason Hightower‘s resume is massive. Great call on connecting with this script and Amber.

Harlem International Film Festival review: ‘Look At Lucas’ is parental wake up call.

As a parent, sometimes a film is like a slap in the face. Agustin McCarthy‘, LOOK AT LUCAS is one such short. The plot is simple, a mother and son take a weekend away at the beach. Mom struggles to leave work at work and her son simply wants to spend time together. Parenting today looks very different than it has in the past. With all the stress and expectations, sometimes our phones are the only respite from constant interaction with our jobs or our children. But, most of the time, they are a distraction tool. As a work-at-home-Mom, scrolling through other people’s lives for 10 minutes makes me feel less anxious, all the while I know that energy should be going to my kids, even if I am only a human who needs a mental break from time to time. Watching this sort of story play out from the outside was an entirely different experience. Seeing that scenario from the eyes of a child felt sobering. In the film, we track Mom Lacey desperately trying to finish a work call but also taking plenty of time for Instagram and the like. Her son Lucas just wants his mother to play with him, nothing more. As Lucas plays without attention, your anxiety will undoubtedly rise. You’re sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop but it will not be what you’re expecting. You will recognize yourself in the frustrated tone in actress Jessica Frances Dukes‘ voice. You may see your child in the eyes of Daniel Mekonen. McCarthy’s writing and directing make it easy to do. With a beautiful setting and relatable premise, LOOK AT LUCAS is a fantastic reminder to stop and look up. It can be the most important thing you do for your family.

Harlem International Film Festival 2020 review: short film ‘Generation Lockdown’ will break you.

GENERATION LOCKDOWN is a narrative short film, seen through the eyes of an eleven year old boy as he tries to save his friend’s life during an active shooter attack in his school.

This film is based on a short story by Caleb, a 6th grader from a public school in Teaneck, NJ.

If you aren’t crying by 6 minutes in, perhaps you’ve become numb to the reality of so many kids and parents. I was a senior in high school when Columbine happened. I watched it live while on spring break with my family. Two weeks later, I was in a lockdown of my own in the cafeteria of my own school, unknowing that it was only a drill. Now, I am the mother of two young children. In the first year of school for my son, we received an email explaining that they would be doing a school shooter drill. He was 2 at the time. I can remember the terror I felt at 18. I could not have imagined my children, now 3 and 4, having to run these drills regularly, 22 years later.

The film itself is stunning. The look is bright and relatable to a child’s perspective. As a former teacher, it had a familiarity to it that a lot of films centering around children do not. The morning after I viewed the film, I’m still emotionally drained but feel an inherent need to speak about it. The climax is poignant both in storytelling and in visual impact. The editing is like a punch in the gut. I was not expecting it. For a short film, Generation Lockdown makes a massive impact. It’s something that deserves a primetime viewing slot for its artistic and political effectiveness. This short serves as not just a conversation starter, but a continuation of a movement. Seek it out.


You can now watch the film in its entirety below: