This year’s edition of the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival has confirmed its final week’s titles and events. The fest, an annual affair founded by African Voices magazine and Long Island University’s Media Arts Department, Brooklyn Campus, will run through November 17, and is being held virtually this year.
“Established in 1997, Reel Sisters is dedicated to providing opportunities for women of color filmmakers to advance their careers in the film industry,” a press release describes. “It is also the first Academy Award qualifying film festival dedicated to women of color.”
Reel Sisters 2020’s final week includes shorts showcases entitled Marriage and Relationships and Protect Her. Felicia Pride’s “Tender,” which sees two women unexpectedly connecting after a one night stand will be featured in the former. Protect Her is comprised of five shorts centered on girls of color from around the world. Works include Lisa Durden’s “Girls Matter,” the story of a precocious nine-year-old and her idol, and Isabella Issa’s “Yellow Girl and Me,” an exploration of sisterhood and sexual abuse set in Jamaica.
On Saturday, the fest will screen “Kelet,” Susani Mahadura’s doc about a Black trans woman of Somali descent determined to make the cover of Vogue. “For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, models like Naomi Campbell and Iman were always a source of strength, keeping her alive through her darkest times,” the press release teases. “After coming out as a teen, the then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family in Manchester and moved back to Finland on her own. There, she found friendship and support in the Ballroom community, who encouraged her personal and professional pursuits, including her modeling career.”
Head over Reel Sisters’ website to find out more or purchase tickets and passes. The final week’s schedule is below, courtesy of the fest.
TUES, NOV 10 | 6:30-8PM EST
MARRIAGE AND RELATIONSHIPS – Reel Sisters Shorts
Five shorts on romantic encounters, navigating relationships, and strengthening bonds.
THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR
(12 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Abbesi Akhamie)
A single woman’s emotions begin to stir when an eccentric African couple moves in next door.
TENDER
(15 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Felicia Pride)
After an unexpected one-night-stand, two women, at very different stages of their lives, share an even more intimate morning after.
SHH…
(9 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Patrick Coker)
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?
DOWN DOG
(9 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Shae Xu)
In the two weeks they’ve known one another, yoga instructor Tammy hasn’t had a chance to talk to Marcus about her trans experience. Does she have to? A question considered by thousands of transgender people daily.
WED, NOV 11 | 6:30-7:45PM EST
PROTECT HER – Reel Sisters Shorts
The five films in this program revolve around young girls of color. We get to see the world through their eyes and, whether it is a girl from rural Jamaica, the Venezuelan Guajira desert, modern Mexico, or 1940’s New Orleans, we sympathize with both her vulnerability and her resilience, and can’t help but to want to protect her.
7 PENNIES
(10 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Kiara C. Jones)
A Creole girl in 1940s New Orleans plots to escape an approaching predator.
GIRLS MATTER
(5 mins I United States I Documentary I dir. Lisa Durden)
Girls Matter, is a short film, featuring the wonderfully precocious 9 year-old, Kamryn Onque ( the Ambassador of Girls Live, Love, Laugh) and her ‘Shero,’the founder, Allison James. It tells a universal story about the positive impact leadership programs and self-esteem initiatives have on Black and brown girls from underserved communities.
YELLOW GIRL AND ME
(20 mins I Narrative I United States I dir Isabella Issa)
Set in the Jamaican countryside, ten-year-old Nicole waits for her sister, Yellow Girl, to teach her how to swim. When Yellow Girl breaks her promise, Nicole realizes that circumstances have escalated in their home life and she is next in line for a life of sexual abuse. Nicole is forced to decide how far she will go to protect herself and her sister.
HIGH-HEELED YOUTH
(9 mins I Narrative I Mexico I dir. Gabriela M. González Moreno)
Viviana, a young female student with a low economical background, is pushed to live a cruel lifestyle in order to survive within the Mexican patriarchal society.
PAULA’S ETERNITY
(11 mins I Narrative I Venezuela I dir. Dayana Gauthier)
Liana, a 5-year-old girl, and her family face a fierce drought. While the mother packs to emigrate, the girl has an unexpected encounter that will change the destiny of everyone.
THURS, NOV 12 | 6:30-8:45 EST
National Black Writers Conference & Reel Sisters Host a Jazz State of Mind, Screening and Discussion
Sundays at The Triple Nickle
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Discussion (Malika Lee Whitney moderating)
FRI, NOV 13 | 6:30-8:15PM EST
HEALING AND RECKONING – Reel Sisters Shorts
WINDUP
When his young daughter falls into a coma, a father stays connected through winding up her favorite music box. In her dreams, the daughter hears the box & tries to let it guide her way back.
END OF SUMMER
On the way to college, Dawn’s life is flipped upside down when her father is struck by a heart attack in the middle of the desert.
GRAVEYARD SPIRAL
In this hybrid of animation and live-action, a woman goes on an inner animated journey to find peace, facing personal demons that surface after she learns her mother is suffering from a serious illness.
HOLLY BLUE
Nikita, a creative, young college student, clashes with her mother over her non-traditional career and life choices.
MOTHER TONGUE
A second-generation Chinese American woman connects to her roots by piecing together the memory of her mother’s last days, when the Alzheimer’s disease stripped away their common language.
ANOTHER DAY
This film follows an adolescent Black girl utilizing music to voice her struggles as a student in a predominantly white Portland, Oregon school.
SAT, NOV 14 | 6-7:15PM EST
KELET
DIRECTOR Susani Mahadura
SCREENWRITER Susani Mahadura
PRODUCER Barbara Lybeck
RUNTIME 65 minutes
COUNTRY Finland, United Kingdom
Kelet, a twentysomething black trans woman of Somali descent, dreams of gracing the cover of Vogue magazine. For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, models like Naomi Campbell and Iman were always a source of strength, keeping her alive through her darkest times. After coming out as a teen, the then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family in Manchester and moved back to Finland on her own.
There, she found friendship and support in the Ballroom community, who encouraged her personal & professional pursuits, including her modeling career. Kelet is a dazzling & accomplished documentary which emphasizes not only pursuing your dreams, but doing so while building and embracing found family and chosen community.
SAT, NOV 14 | 7:15-8:25PM EST
OF WAR AND COURAGE – Reel Sisters Shorts
PATRIOT
(14 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Nailah Robinson)
BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR
(24 mins I Narrative I United States I
A SYRIAN WOMAN
(11 mins I Documentary I Jordan I dir. Khawla Al Hammouri & Louis Karim Sayad DeCaprio)
SUN, NOV 15 | 4-5PM EST
UNLIKELY WARRIORS – Reel Sisters Shorts
IN THIS LAND WE’RE BRIEFLY GHOSTS
(16 mins I Narrative I Taiwan, Myanmar, United States I dir. Chen-Wen Lo)
Myanmar, 2013. A 12-year-old Burmese child soldier, imprisoned for deserting battle, is forced to either kill her older brother, a fellow deserter, or die alongside him. Based on actual events.
BEFORE HE STARTS
(24 mins I Documentary I United States I dir. Xin Fang)
After encountering a number of political incidents in China since the 1950s, Chinese artist Zhang Hongtu reveals his life experience that inspired his art. This film explores the relationship between art and politics.
SUN, NOV 15 | 5:30-6:50PM EST
SURVIVAL AND RESILIENCE – Reel Sisters Shorts
MI O LE KÚ (Survival)
(15 mins I Narrative I United Kingdom I dir. Remi Laudat)
THE VALUE OF LIFE
(15 mins I Documentary I United States I dir. Jamila Hayes)
OCEAN’S VIEW
( 10 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Rosemary Colon-Martinez, Serina Griffin)
NYMPH
(15 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Maria del Mar Rosario)
MON, NOV 16 | 6:30-8PM EST
FAMILY TIES II – Reel Sisters Shorts
MOURNING MEAL
(20 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Jamal Hodge)
After the tragic loss of her son, Cheryl, a grieving mother, adopts a new philosophy, one that changes her outlook on life and grief. One where suffering has become a dear friend … that must be shared.
FAMILY TREE
(17 mins I Narrative I Uganda I dir. Nicole Amani Magabo Kiggundu)
Eight-year-old Nagawa seems to have an idyllic childhood, until a disastrous accident leaves her famous father fighting for his life. As Nagawa and her mother keep vigil at the hospital, the private ward starts to fill up. Nagawa realizes her family is much bigger than she thought.
HEADING SOUTH
(12 mins I Narrative I China I dir. Yuan Yuan)
Eight-year-old Chasuna travels from her home in the grassland to visit her father in the big city. During her father’s birthday party, Chasuna finds out he has a new wife, a Chinese woman.
THE MOON NEVER DIES
(13 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Mariona Lloreta)
On the brink of becoming a teenager, carefree Leo lives with his father and ailing grandmother. While going through the motions of a seemingly normal day, they navigate the complexities of their relationship and the trials of a changing season.
TUES, NOV 17 | 7-9:30PM EST
FESTIVAL CLOSING Filmmakers Awards and Life After Party
