ROXFILM | Shorts: This Is How It Was

SO(U)LSTICE
Directed by Cesar Lazare Jr (USA 2025, 14:58).
In the heat of summer, two lives spiral toward collision. Demetrius, a young man torn between responsibility and the lure of reckless friends, is pulled deeper into violence he never sought. Ariel, weighed down by expectation and searching for direction, drifts between loyalty and escape. As choices turn dangerous, their paths cross on a night where blood, regret, and the sea converge, forcing them to confront the shadows cast by their brightest days.
Premiere.

STELLA ROAD
Directed by Kareem Benjamen Janey, Mike Dunee (USA 225, 7:26).
STELLA ROAD is a coming-of-age, authentic, urban drama based on the true story of two musically gifted brothers from a remote street in Boston called "Stella Road", who tragically lost their mother and were forced to face the world alone.
Determined to take on the world with only their musical talent and grit, the two brothers risk everything to achieve success in the record business in the early 2000s and make their mother proud.
Local.

NIKI•TOMI•BETO
Directed by Jon Ayon (USA 2025, 18:00).
Haunted by the Nahua deity Tlazōlteōtl, 4 cousins in Northeast LA try to protect each other from the violence and family strife threatening to tear them apart.
Niki, Tomi, Beto, and Ernie are 4 close-knit cousins growing up in Northeast LA. As Ernie gets increasingly involved with his gang, he tries to maintain a caring and protective role with the younger Niki, Tomi, and Beto. The boys' tight-knit relationships unravel when the Nahua goddess of refuse and regeneration, Tlazōlteōtl, arrives to intervene in their everyday lives.

THEY PUT US IN THE WOODS
Directed by Cristin Stephens (USA 2025, 14:57).
A group of West Philly teens find momentary respite from the instability of city life on a camping trip to the Pennsylvania wilderness.
Supported by the Austin Film Society.

STEPPIN OFF WITH JUVEY-D
Directed by Wendell Moore (USA 2024, 50:11).
This is a boy's adventure. Dion “Juvey-D” Jackson is a 14-year-old Brooklynite who sneaks his father’s video camera out into the streets to record his antics with his best friend Antman. It is 1992, a transitional period in Fort Greene, a neighborhood at the time considered the Black Boeheim of art and culture, as well as a community on the verge of gentrification. The film is largely seen from Dion’s POV, consisting of awkward camerawork. But what comes into focus are snatches of the moments that hold value to him. His story is led not only by his lens, but by his heart, and wherever it takes him.

BLACK BOYS BEING BEAUTIFUL
Directed by Kelvin Zachary Phillips (USA 2025, 5:29).
A poetic and visual meditation exploring the transformation of how society perceives Black males from childhood to adulthood. An experimental short film that juxtaposes the unguarded wonder of youth against the weight of societal projection, challenging viewers to confront uncomfortable truths while celebrating the beauty that persists despite attempts to redefine it.

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Host or Publisher The Roxbury International Film Festival