Amandla Stenberg has come a long way since playing the quiet Rue in “The Hunger Games.” In fact, the young actress, director and writer has already embarked upon her own filmmaking career.
This fall, Stenberg will start her tenure at New York University where she will be studying film production. In anticipation and celebration, Stenberg has released the project that earned her her spot in the program. “Blue Girls Burn Fast,” a 19-minute short film, which she wrote, produced, directed and edited, follows a foster teen named Andy as she navigates school and family life. As Essence describes, “One day her neighbor, Lea, sneaks into her room and things are never the same after that.” The film stars Leeza Lester as Andy and Julia Rochas as Lea.
Stenberg announced the film’s release on Instagram, where she called it, “very personal to my heart.”
This isn’t even the only short film that the 17-year-old Stenberg has made. Her first, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” she made in 2014 when she was just 15.
Stenberg also co-wrote a series for Stranger Comics about a hybrid elf-human warrior, “Niobe: She Is Life.” The first issue was released November 4. “I think it’s the first comic book that has a black female writer and a black female illustrator and a black female lead,” the upcoming star of the Black Lives Matter-inspired “The Hate U Give” said.
Both of Stenberg’s short films are available on her Vimeo page. You can watch “Blue Girls Burn Fast” below:
[via Essence]
