2022 SELECTED FILMS

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 At the dawn of the 1970s, the maelstrom of Black dissent swirled throughout South Los Angeles, in part because of events like the persecution of the Black Panther Party by law enforcement, the death of incarcerated Black militant “Soledad Brother” George Jackson in an August 1971 prison escape, and the death of Jackson’s younger brother Jonathan in a failed hostage abduction attempt in a Marin County court house a year earlier.
In the wake of these proceedings, a group of socially conscious African Americans from the Avalon Gardens Housing Projects, joined together under the title of the “Jonathan Jackson Educational Cadre (or JJEC)” to uplift their community. The film “Jackson: Not Just a Name,” tells the story of this commune, whose efforts to politically enlighten the neighborhood led to their being branded a Black Nationalist organization by area law enforcement and subsequent harassment. 

The reality of an independent successful Black-run movie studio was strong in the silent years of the 1920s but faded with the arrival of sound (requiring an investment in much more expensive equipment) and the Great Depression.

A fourteen-year-old boy witnesses his neighbor get abducted across the street. A moment of bravery to save her will test his courage on the bike ride of his life.

A young woman, Erykah, is lost after the passing of her sister Lottie. Spiritually they connect. Lottie helps guide Erykah through her difficulties in life.

We Went Out is a short film based in Toronto that explores coming of age in the in-between spaces of a city.  In the spring of 2021, Rosina Kazi called to ask if I would contribute to a project she was curating as part of the 2021 Luminato Festival. The project would become a five-part docu-music series called Guided by Starlight—Exploring Toronto’s Musical Galaxy. The concept focused on neighborhoods and then pivoted to venues because of the music venue closures happening in the city due to Covid restrictions and lockdowns. I told Rose, a long-time friend, that many of those venues did not treat hip hop or young Black and Brown people well in the times when we performed in them regularly. The venues my close friends and I spent the most time in were in-between and informal spaces: sidewalks, stairwells, and benches. We had few formal places to be on our own. I made We Went Out, a short film featuring my close friends and members of the downtown hip hop community in the 90s and 00s, to pay homage to the people who became adults in those in-between spaces. It is a mapping project. We have wonderful and significant memories in places that are not often valued, that didn’t value us but are an important part of Toronto’s cultural landscape.

 “Because They Believed” is a 101- minute documentary containing interviews of athletic trailblazers that were the first to break through racial barriers to participate in professional sports. These are stories of forgotten male & female athletes whose perseverance and dedication changed the world of sports forever. They boldly integrated and participated in sports that were, at that time, segregated. These stories are told to inspire people of all ages, races, and genders. In this documentary, we memorialize the stories of these athletes who broke barriers and opened the doors for professional athletes of color today.

After the New Republic Patriot Party seizes control in America and passes a law requiring all males over 35 to have a vasectomy to keep the number of babies with birth defects down, Jamie decides to flee to Canada on the eve of his 35th birthday.

This work was a collaboration between James Morrow, Quinton Meadows aka "Tex the Artist" and Chicago's own Al Tamper. Quinton is a professional multidisciplinary artist proficient in dance, photography, fashion, and creative direction. He has worked with A$AP Rockey, Black Eyed Peas, Da Baby, Keke Palmer, Dash Radio, the BET Awards, and more.

Camilla and her close friends Tiffany and Derrick find themselves falling down a horrific rabbit hole of the supernatural when a strange man shows up at her residence with a very ominous offer.

Power of Intimate Touch is a short film that was created because there appears to be a pretty global misunderstanding about what intimacy is. Many people think intimacy means physical sex, but true intimacy is first the connection of the heart and soul and then the mind, and then to the physical in many ways than sex. We filmed 2 couples exploring the 6 basic exercises of close intimacy that all beloveds should learn and practice to strengthen their relationships.  

Wandering through the ruins of the European Project, a couple tries to find their way out. In their quest for freedom, they rapture the timeline and disrupt reality.  

After spending 27 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, Jimmie Gardner retells his perspective of this horrifying ordeal. Through his college radio show, Jimmie learns to become a DJ and shares his experience of receiving a second chance at life.  

16-year-old Daniel is excited, he just graduated from the Youth Law Enforcement program for young teens who want to pursue a career in law enforcement. During his short walk home, Daniel encounters a few unsavory officers. Scared and alone, Daniel contacts his parents. When Daniel’s parents finally arrive at his location, the situation intensifies and Daniel's life will never be the same.  

In a fishing village whose ancestors came from Africa, enslaved, ancient ancestral beliefs and cults remain. Neide (Jari Nass) is a former resident looking for ways to save her business, threatened by the decline of fish due to the oil spill in the region. The relations between the old forms of fishing work and their beliefs are contrasted with the need for collective work.  

Michael Zinzun was an American Revolutionary who lived his life by following the Ten Point System of the Black Panther Party. He traveled the world fighting for social justice and equality.  

Black Daddy is unadulterated storytelling from the black father's point of view because it is often overlooked and the assumption is that black fathers are not involved in their children's lives. Black Daddy: The Movie is a passion project covering a space that is near to our hearts; black fatherhood. I followed the lives of a few like-minded men as they told compelling stories of the joy, pain and the complexity of what it means to be a black father in America. The project has original music by Dame Drummer and new music in collaboration with other Oakland-based musicians Mike Blankenship, Kev Choice, Karega Bailey, and Ryan Austin to name a few.  

On her way home from the supermarket, Judge Clarice Williams begins to hear the footsteps of someone following her in the night.  

"Remember Me" is a biopic on the life of Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, her rise and challenges in the music industry, her unbreakable bond with Dr. Martin Luther King, and her dramatic impact on the Civil Rights Movement.  

Inspired by Malcolm X teaching’s Mr. and Mrs. Jones both doctors, use their power and influence to create a nationwide plan to seek and kill George Zimmerman and other Americans who have gone unchecked for killing black people.  

4 Black men share a paralleled story of how they individually encountered racism at different times, on the same day.  

A documentary following the life, religion, and aspirations of immigrant Yusupha M.S. Badjie.  

When two bystanders fail to rescue a homeless street mime from dying, both are terrorized by a vengeful “playful” entity who manipulates their fantasies into fatality - by way of “mime control”.  

France, 1986. When Hughes, a young black guy, discovers the new Freetime advertisement campaign, it’s a shock and an offense. France, the country where he is born, considers him as a cannibal. This is the start of a radical awareness, fed by anger and frustration. This is the rise of the Black Soldier.

The photographer Cédrick-Isham Calvados from the West-Indies meets descendants from slavery, born in French oversea-regions, and questions them about their identity.  

From the local Surinamese tongue, "A Pasi Fu Romeo" can be translated into either "Romeo's Road" or "Romeo's Passion." In either case, the double meaning is appropriate when describing the passionate road the film's main subject, Romeo Koffymaga, has taken to become an emerging Maroon voice in the fight against logging transportation practices in Suriname.  As the film creatively portrays, Romeo is a man who developed his righteous mentality as a fearless soldier; fighting against a leftist military regime during Suriname's Civil War (1986-1992). In the present day, Romeo has put down his rifle but continues to fight using the power of his voice

A jaded and protective older sister attempts to brace her visionary sister for the apathetic world that awaits her. But after a shocking event, it becomes clear to her that her sister is her only hope.  

 A suspenseful urban drama-filled love story about lies, relationships, drugs, and betrayal. Two brothers Methon aka Meth and little brother Corey are business owners /drug dealers. They are juggling multiple relationships and living double lives. They are weaving a web that may have them in sticky situations with bad outcomes. Falling for Bestfriend Sun and Ruby, Corey and Meth have to get it together. The only people they can’t afford to
hurt are each other. Will they choose the right things to do, or will they continue to be TORN forever? 

Through theatre, oral storytelling, and animated stories, the writer and stage storyteller Hebert Poll Gutiérrez, a true son of Cuba, decides to use art once again to entertain, educate and transform realities. Cuba qué linda es Cuba? does not criticize for the sake of criticizing. It is a revelation of that secret Cuba... that invisible Cuba that does not appear in the mass media. A beautiful land but plagued by social problems such as racial discrimination, police abuse, prostitution, psychological abuse, bureaucracy, among other ills that affect Cuba today.  

This film examines HIV in the Black community, the stigma around the disease, and solutions that address HIV disparities.