The Diaspora

Cultural Exchange

A debate talk show where men and women from across the globe come together discuss their dating experiences.

Directed By Denise Khumalo

https://www.denisekhumalo.com

SIMI

SIMI SERIES SYNOPSIS: As a young child Simi Unction is forced into an induced coma due to what's presumed to be a major illness that affects his nervous system and causes him great pain. Time passes and he awakens as an adult on a new journey of self discovery to find out who he is, his purpose, and whats causing his condition. When he discovers he has supernatural abilities that allows him to absorb energy from others, he finds himself faced with tough decisions that perplexes his life even more leaving him to question the world around him as his will to live without pain becomes more complicated. 

Directed By Debbie Yati Garrett

https://www.instagram.com/Simi.the.series/

But You're Not Black

A Chinese-Caribbean-Canadian woman, driven by people’s inability to separate her skin colour from her culture, tries to own the Trinidadian identity she knows should feel like hers.

But You’re Not Black opens on Toronto’s Caribana, which Danielle Ayow has attended for most of her life. The festival represents her parents’ Trinidadian culture, but Danielle is also Chinese and visibly so. She struggles with how people see her background, and how she should see herself. Using heart and humour, Danielle tries to anchor herself to the culture she knows should feel like hers. She speaks to her Chinese-Caribbean-Canadian peers, to Trinidadian locals, and to experts. The film challenges perceived correlations between race and culture, asking the audience to examine their own assumptions about cultural identity while Danielle navigates hers. 

Directed By Danielle Ayow

https://danielleayow.com/but-youre-not-black

Rebyrth

Rebyrth is a film about an Atlanta-based Doula working to save the lives of Black mothers as they journey from their pregnancies into motherhood. The role of a doula is to act as a guide in each stage of childbirth, tethering mother and baby to the earth as they move together through space and time. It’s a connection that goes beyond the physical realm. The work of a doula is an ancestral and spiritual process that culminates with the world’s greatest gift — LIFE

Directed & Produced By Cydney Tucker

@CYDLAINE

https://www.cydneytucker.com

BLACK

Logline and Synopsis

When a reformed drummer cannot get his caffeine fix on the anniversary of his brother’s death, ancestral rhythms guide him to the truth buried deep below his city streets. Coffee. For some it’s a nice-to-have, but for the majority of drinkers it’s a must-have. A socially accepted drug, caffeine is a fix that binds us. From classroom teachers to executives, gas pumpers to prison guards and artists, we have all needed it, irrespective of demographics. It functions as an armor of sorts—like most vices—affording us courage that is tangible yet temporary. 

Black Man faces every obstacle on this fateful day in his attempts for a strong, black cup, much like we all have. However, similar to how coffee’s true origins are Ethiopian, Black Man has no idea that his journey for coffee is bringing him closer and closer to his African ancestry, a homeland where his forefathers are indigenous. While a man tries to get a cup of Joe, “Black” unlocks portals into masculinity, ancestry and grief on this bumpy road. His journey forces viewers to address the age-old dilemma of pursuing what we want versus accepting what we actually need.

DIRECTOR, Tamika R. Guishard

@guishardfilms on Twitter and IG

@bagsjunior

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RhythmInBluesFilm

guishardfilms.com

MINO: A Diasporic Myth

It is 2079. In the utopic haven of Biamara, a Coven of Black womxn who can conceive without men must consider denouncing one of their own when she chooses to defy the all female code and self produce a male child.

Directed By Ashunda Norris

http://ashunda.com

@mino_film