SFBFF SATURDAY SCREENING

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN:

A gender reveal party goes comically south when the mom-to-be hides in a closet with her queer bestie and spills the tea…he may be the daddy.

DIRECTOR - JANEEN “NEEN” TALBOTT

INSTAGRAM -

//WEBSITE - SUPERSPECIAL.COM

BRIEF EXCHANGES:

Brief Exchanges follows Tanya, a young Black woman living in NYC. After a harsh encounter with a drunken stranger, Tanya lands on the same street corner as Troy, a young Black man whose kindness stands in sharp contrast to the unfriendly city. Their chance encounter becomes a daylong affair of flirtatious banter punctuated by poignant moments, or "brief exchanges,” that reflect the various microaggressions she must navigate daily. Filtered through the lens of a charming meet-cute, this film represents a Black woman’s reality in living with these intersectional identities.

DIRECTOR - ASHLEY VERSHER

*GUEST SPEAKER ON PILLOWTALK_SERIES

INSTAGRAM - BRIEFEXCHANGESFILM

//WEBSITE - BRIEFEXCHANGESFILM

WHY MORE BLACK AMERICANS SHOULD TRY CAPOERIA:

Chinwe Oniah, a student of capoeira, was initially drawn to the Afro-Brazilian art form for its martial arts and self-defense elements. But the art form that also combines dance, music, spirituality, history and philosophy quickly developed into something greater for her – a return to form, a return to self, and the discovery that capoeira is Black people’s cultural legacy, still thriving centuries after its beginnings.

DIRECTOR - CHINWE ONIAH

BUILDING BLOCKS:

A soon-to-be mother gets cold feet about her impending motherhood, but her husband suspects there may be more to her anxiety than she lets on.

DIRECTOR - SAVANNAH EDMONDSON

INSTAGRAM - BUILDINGBLOCKSFILM

FINDING THE LIGHT:

The story of Donna Hylton and her social justice non profit "A Little Piece of Light" which uses her experience in the Pr*son system to support reform and reentry of other black women and LGBTQ+

DIRECTOR - BRANDON HAYNES

MATRIARCH:

Matriarch is an experimental short documentary celebrating the legacy of elderly motherhood from the perspective of the filmmaker's grandmothers, two Southern Black women hoping to maintain their independence during what could potentially be the final year of their lives.

DIRECTOR - DONALD CONLEY

INSTAGRAM - THEMATRIARCHDOC

//WEBSITE - DONALDCONLEY.COM/MATRIARCH

MORE THAN HAIR:

Sitting for the first time in a barbershop, a young black boy will discover for the first time the symbolic power of black hair.

DIRECTOR - FITCH JEAN

INSTAGRAM - MORETHANHAIRFILM

//WEBSITE - MORETHANHAIR

WADE IN THE WATER:

Wade in the Water: The Documentary (2023) is a historical chronicle of the 1,000 year old Pan-African surfing tradition that stretched the coastline of West Africa from Senegal to Angola and has since taken root in America. The film features several of SoCal’s leading surf historians as well as community leaders and environmental activists in the upcoming generation of pioneers.

DIRECTOR - DAVID MESFIN

INSTAGRAM - DAVIDMESFINART

//WEBSITE - WADEINTHEWATERPROJECT

Host or Publisher SAN FRANCISCO BLACK FILM FESTIVAL