QuarFest

R. Shanea Williams, Director

Contamination is a short narrative film that tells the story of a 30-year-old African American woman named Jade who suffers from severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This disorder has made her a shut-in for more than a year, because of her enormous fear of being infected by the outside world.

Arielle Thomas, Producer, James Vinson, Director

In 1937 Jean Batten, the legendary New Zealand pilot, touches down in Sydney after smashing a series of aviation records. But on the night of her reception, a chance encounter forces Jean to confront the lonesome consequences of her high‑flying lifestyle. Inspired by a true story.

Jeannie Donohoe, Director

A new kid in town shows up at the high school boys basketball tryouts and instantly makes an impression. Will talent and drive be enough to make the team?

Glen McKay, Director

This film examines the worldwide obsession with colorism in the fashion industry and how it affects women.

Janine Sherman Barrois, Producer, Director

French Fries explores a young, hip African-American foodie couple’s fight to resolve communication problems in a modern marriage of six years, four months and three and a half days.

Khalil Joseph, Director

Director Kahlil Joseph’s experimental film exploring the feminine spirit of the little-known all-black rodeo subculture in Oklahoma in a film scored by experimental musician Flying Lotus.

Anthony Rose, Director; Sirelle Wilkerson, Writer, Producer, Lead Actor

A female fighters career takes a tragic turn for the worse that leads her on a journey of reflection and redemption on her way back into the ring.

Judy Chaiken, Producer/Director

THE GIRLS IN THE BAND tells the poignant, untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and their fascinating, groundbreaking journeys from the late 20’s to the present day.  These incredibly talented women endured sexism, racism and diminished opportunities for decades, yet continue today to persevere, inspire and elevate their talents in a field that seldom welcomed them.

Angela Tucker, Director

Just The Three Of Us is a short fiction film about Regina, an African-American woman and Hank, a Caucasian man who have been married for 50 years. As with many long marriages, the passion quietly fizzled out a while ago so they made a radical decision, “What about a threesome?” The short looks at the people who answer their Casual Encounters ad and through these meetings, they learn about their marriage and themselves.

Shazia Shrivastava and Sharifa Roy, Filmmakers

When abused and elderly Sudha forms an unlikely bond with a hit man one afternoon, she is brought to ask the ultimate question.

Erin Li, Director

Do you ever think about the sacrifices that are made in the supply chain for our food? Erin Li’s “To The Bone” is a “Beautifully crafted…an exquisitely-executed, tragic tale….” A pre-teen migrant farmworker attempts to rebel against the status quo with unintended consequences for herself and her family.

R. Shanae Williams, Director

Paralysis is a short-length psychological horror film about Jessica, an African American photographer suffering with a sleep disorder. After a painful divorce, Jessica moves into a new apartment and is plagued by terrifying occurrences, which she fears are coming from a supernatural entity. “Paralysis” is written and will be directed by R. Shanea Williams and produced by Anthony J. Davis.

Sontenish Myers, Director

An American teenage girl visits her family in Jamaica and uncovers a secret that changes the way she sees the people she loves. This film explores the culture of silence amongst women, the kinds of secrets we keep and who they’re actually protecting.

Addison Wright, Director

This film is courtesty of the famous SXSW festival which cancelled this year’s festival due to COVID-19, but put a shorts program online for public consumption. Addison Wright’s “Hiplet.” Hiplet™ is a ballet group that fuses classical pointe technique with Hip-Hop and urban dance styles. Their classical technique fused with new steps can be danced in pointe shoes.

Tchaiko Omawale, Director

“Solace” where Sole finds comfort in her secret binges, and one day she discovers her neighbor, the beautiful and popular jasmine, but people are never as perfect as they seem.

Gabourey Sidibe, Director

Inspired by Nina Simone’s ‘Four Women,’ award winning actor Gabourey Sidibe’s directorial debut is a multi-layered story that spans one day in the life of four different women who are connected through their quest for love, agency and redemption.

Bita Shafiapour, Director

‘When teen sisters discover that their family holiday abroad is really a plan by their parents to deliver them both into forced marriages, the girls flee home to find their own ways of remaining in Edinburgh, testing the limits of their bond and the resolve of the adults who control their futures’.

Hosted by professional softball player and Golden Glove recipient A.J. Andrews, accomplished athletes share candid conversations on the challenges and joy of being black female athletes at the top of their game. The program features Laila Ali, Michelle Carter, Misty Copeland, Allyson Felix, Simone Manuel, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Nneka Ogwumike and A’ja Wilson and focuses on marketing of the black female athlete, body image and hair, pay equality and representation in sports.

Nuotama Bodomo, Director

. Afronauts tells an alternative history of the 1960s Space Race: It’s July 16th 1969 and, as America prepares to send Apollo 11 to the moon, a group of exiles in the Zambian desert are rushing to launch their rocket first.

Anna Cady

This film is a collaborative, experimental piece of work – made by Anna Cady (artist) Em Cooper (animator) and Jenny Cuffe (radio journalist) commissioned by Pathways for Women’s Empowerment and Screen South. In this film three passionate women tell stories of kidnap, corruption and secret societies as they fight to improve the position of women in politics in Sierra Leone. Oil painted animation and live action present issues of gender and politics as compelling and thought provoking viewing. Official Selection Sundance Film Festival

Faren Humes, Director

Loggy and Alex’s friendship in Miami’s redeveloping Liberty Square is threatened when Loggy learns that Alex is being relocated to another community.

Julie Cohen, Director

The story of a family of African American jazz musicians, from their early days playing as a family band across the American South, through their years performing at famed venues like the Apollo Theater and Carnegie Hall, to their later years as solo artists in their 70s, 80s and 90s. As individual artists and as a group, the Hamptons overcame poverty and discrimination to practice their art, becoming remarkable performers in the process. The film’s central character is the irrepressible Dawn Hampton who, after a career as a saxophonist and a popular cabaret singer in the gay nightclubs of Greenwich Village, traveled the world teaching swing dance and performing as a jazz whistler until her demise in 2016 at 88 years of age. .

Carol Nguyen

[This film contains sensitive content.]  Exploring  the common stigma in Asian families against expressing emotional vulnerability, filmmaker Carol Nguyen interviews her own family to craft an emotionally complex and meticulously composed portrait of love, grief, inter-generational trauma and secrets in this cathartic documentary about things left unsaid.

Nuotama Bodomo, Director

An African family, lost in America, travels to a Louisiana church to find a cure for its problem child.

An IAWRT project

Hands-on profiles five women from four continents tackling climate change through policy, protest, education and innovation. The film powerfully demonstrates how women are transferring knowledge and local networks into hands-on strategies. This 48-minute collaborative documentary offers unique perspectives across cultures and generations; A young woman challenges the expansion of oil rigs in the North Sea while a seasoned community organizer interprets satellite weather reports for fisherman struggling to survive on India’s increasingly volatile coast.

Angela Tucker, Director

Mia, an introverted beauty, gathers her college friends together on a night that she is sure will change her life. As cosmos flow, secrets are revealed and the true nature of friendship is tested. Surrounded by the slick “beautiful people”, Mia ultimately learns that she must be careful what she wishes for as the Birthday Girl. The Birthday Girl is about a group of friends at the beginning of their adult lives, trying to find love.