ROXFILM | Shorts: What Keeps Us Going

OUR SONG
Directed by Stephanie Glover (USA 2025, 7:32).
A young boy born with ectrodactyly is eager to explore the world, but his father, a pianist, constantly redirects him toward “safer” dreams that don’t require the use of his hands. Believing he is protecting his son from cruelty and disappointment, the father unknowingly chips away at the boy’s sense of possibility with each well-meaning intervention.
RoxFilm Alum.

FINAL FINISHERS
Directed by Rudy Valdez (USA 2025, 23.25).
Against the electrifying backdrop of the New York City Marathon, FINAL FINISHERS celebrates the unsung heroes at the back of the pack. Hours after the elites have crossed the finish line, the film finds its heart in the stories of those who persist long after dark, cheered on by a community that refuses to leave anyone behind.FINAL FINISHERS challenges conventional notions of athletic achievement, emphasizing that every pace has a place and that the courage to show up and persist is worthy of recognition. It’s a moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit, triumph over adversity, the power of community, and the strength found in showing up, no matter how long it takes.

SWIM SISTAS
Directed by Catherine Joy White (USA 2025, 11:11).
Swim Sistas is a poetic, visually stunning love letter to water, sisterhood, and the enduring strength of Black women across generations.
Featuring the voice of Academy Award nominee Naomie Harris (Moonlight) as Mami Wata, part deity and part ancestral memory, the film flows across generations: from a young girl diving into joy, to Great Britain’s first and only Black female Olympic swimmer breaking historic barriers, to a woman learning to swim at 54, defying a legacy of inherited fear.
It is a celebration of connection, resilience and hope, told through the lens of the rising tide of Black women reclaiming their place in the water, and in history.
RoxFilm Alum Award Winner for Best Narrative Short award with Fifty-Four Days.

BLACK LONGEVITY
Directed by Geneva Peschka (USA 2024, 23:51).
Black Longevity is a short documentary that follows a remarkable group of Black elders as they defy societal expectations by embracing the fullness of their lives in their later years. This film explores the daily rituals, personal reflections, life philosophies of these elders, and the communities that sustain them. Black Longevity emphasizes that longevity is not just about the number of years lived, but about the vibrancy and quality of those years and the relationships that define them - the richness of their experiences, celebrating love, family, and the true meaning of generational wellness. Black Longevity stands as a powerful meditation on Black life - inspiring through the proof of the beauty of aging through the wisdom of our elders, offering a compelling testament to the power of living in your truth and redefining what it means to live well.

SHE QUIETLY RAN INTO HISTORY
Directed by Anthony Renard Reed (USA 2026, 17:49).
Black African women have dominated the three major US 26.2-mile marathons; the Boston, New York City, and Chicago Marathons. This African dominance began in 1994 when a Kenyan woman became the second Black woman to place in any of these marathons. Between 2014 and 2025, almost three-quarters of the top five women finishers of the three major U.S. marathons were Black Africans. However, nineteen years earlier, Baltimore-native, Marilyn Bevans, made world history as she became the first person, male or female, to place in the top five in these three prestigious marathons.
2027 is the 50th anniversary of her golden year when she was runner up at the Boston and Chicago Marathons, won the Maryland and Beltsville Marathons, and was ranked as one of the world’s top ten fastest women marathoners in 1977.
This is the story of Marilyn Bevans. She quietly ran into history.

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Host or Publisher The Roxbury International Film Festival