The 2025 lineup of documentary and narrative films (shorts and feature-length) are now playing on ABFF PLAY.
Narrative | 23 min | USA
A Caribbean boy fights prejudice to become the Queen of the West Indian Day Parade, with his devoted best friend by his side.
Directed by: Sekiya Dorsett | Written by: Sekiya Dorsett, Karl O’Brian Williams | Produced by: Cheries Carrabon, Savannah Turner | Executive Producers: Brooklyn Pride, Caribbean Equality Project, Mohamed Q. Amin, Marcello La Ferla, Staceyann Chin, Dianne Augelli, Kevin Brown, Mustimbo Roberts
Narrative Film | 17:35 min | PERU
After being injured in the protests, a Quechua young man experiences a supernatural encounter, which leads him to decolonize his inner self.
Directed by: Suni Sonqo, Vizcarra Wood | Written by: Suni Sonqo, Vizcarra Wood | Produced by: Walker Hull, Suni Sonqo, Vizcarra Wood
Narrative Film | 14:46 min | UK
On the hottest day of the year, Barbadian fruit pickers Nicole and Vincent endure exploitative conditions on a UK fruit farm. When the farm’s owner arrives, tensions reach boiling point.
Directed by: Corinne Walker | Written by: Corinne Walker | Produced by: Sophie Freeman
Narrative Film | 18 min | USA
A privileged, Black law student must choose between solidarity and separation with a group of adjudicated youth when they are all confronted by the police.
Directed by: Carter Stewart | Written by: Carter Stewart | Produced by: Tristan Daley, Carter Stewart
Narrative Film | 18:16 min | USA
Inspired by a lot of people’s true stories…
An African American mother, convicted and on the verge of prison, asks for one last chance to see her kids. But when her children refuse to say goodbye, she’s forced to make other plans.
Directed by: Christopher Grant | Written by: Christopher Grant | Produced by: Hash Sesay, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Chris Grant
Narrative Film | 9 min | USA
A high school English teacher’s livelihood is on the line when she’s fired for teaching Black literature.
Directed by: Daniel Croix & Jonathan Logan – created with the NAACP Cinematic Short Program | Written by: Daniel Croix & Jonathan Logan | Produced by: Leah Cohen-Mays | Executive Producer: Logan Coles
Narrative Film | 17:28 min | USA
Bearing the appearance of a young black man, a domesticated android experiences ‘life’ in the segregated south of the ’50s.
Directed by: A.D. Smith | Written by: A.D. Smith | Produced by: A.D. Smith
Narrative Film | 72 min | USA
In the midst of a racially charged & socially turbulent Brooklyn, New York, an aspiring singer, Angel (Marck Angel), and a reformed street thug, Druid (Donta Hensley), attempt to requite their romance while confronting a troubled past.
Directed by: R.E.D. | Written by: Marck Angel, Donta Hensley | Produced by: Marck Angel
Narrative Film | 17:36 min | USA
When an asexual double dutcher’s religious father forces her to get married, she enlists her friends and fiancé to stop the wedding and free her older sister whose soul is trapped on their father’s land.
Directed by: Adesola Thomas | Written by: Adesola Thomas | Produced by: Adesola Thomas, Adetinpo Thomas
Narrative Film | 121 min | USA
Visions from the past help a grief-stricken mother see her future.
Directed by: Courtney Baker-Oliver | Written by: Steven A. Butler, Jr., Courtney Baker-Oliver | Produced by: Courtney Baker-Oliver, Steven A. Butler, Jr., Andre Strong
Documentary | 11 min | USA
ARTIVISM documents the life+art+activism of “Phree-Art,” a South LA artist “getting active” amidst the 2020 lockdowns and civil unrest.
Directed by: Alfred Gragg | Written by: Alfred Gragg | Produced by: Alfred Gragg
Documentary | 68 min | USA
Former Charlottesville City Council Member Dr. Wes Bellamy’s impassioned activism reveals the journey for racial justice sparked by the controversial removal of confederate statues leading to one of America’s most devisive conflicts.
Directed by: Eric W. Newman, Daniel B. Levin | Produced by: Daryl Davis, Eric W. Newman, Daniel B. Levin | Executive Producers: Daryl Davis, Jay “Jeezy” Jenkins, Angela Rye, Ian Swain, Charlotte Ducksworth, Marvin Arrington, Jr., Ronnell Rock, Keyonna Monroe | Co-Executive Producer: Brian R. Tabb
Documentary | 16:41 min | USA
Midwife and Educator, Nubia Martin, seeks to empower BIPOC mothers and families to safely give birth at home.
Directed by: Katy Walker Mejia | Written by: Katy Walker Mejia | Produced by: Katy Walker Mejia, Betty Bastidas, Natasha Scully
Narrative | 27 min | USA
Connie – the powers and possibilities of community engagement, is a half-hour documentary about the life and work of Buffalo-based activist, women’s advocate, and inspirational community leader Lee Constance “Connie” Bowles Eve.
Directed by: Dorothea Braemer
Documentary | 60 min | USA
Crossing Overtown examines the pivotal role Miami would play in the National Civil Rights movement.
Directed by: Scott Barnett | Written by: Scott Barnett | Produced by: Scott Barnett, Johanna Vega
Documentary | 38:35 min
In Even Me 2.0, the filmmaker embarks on a suspenseful journey to reconnect with the original cast of older African American women living with HIV, ten years after their public disclosure.
Directed by: Megan Ebor | Written by: Megan Ebor | Produced by: Megan Ebor
Documentary | 17:11 min | USA
Occaneechi-Saponi activist Crystal Cavalier and her family fight to protect sacred places in their ancestral homeland from fossil fuel development.
Directed by: Emily Gibson Rhyne | Written by: Emily Gibson Rhyne | Produced by: Emily Gibson Rhyne
Documentary | 41:48 min | USA
The stakes are high for Kingston, NY’s varsity football team this season, as they confront a hypermasculine culture and redefine what it means to be men.
Directed by: Eva Tenuto, Beth Davenport | Written by: Eva Tenuto | Produced by: Eva Tenuto, Beth Davenport, Chris Rahm, Devin Pickering, Kashka Glowacka
Documentary | 55 min | USA
Navigating Autism in Communities of Color is based on the stories of six Black families, as well as experts in the field, on the unique struggles of navigating autism in a structurally unequal society and determination for equal access. In collaboration between the School of History and Sociology and the School of Literature Media and Communication at Georgia Tech, and The Color of Autism Foundation, Navigating Autism offers a first-hand account of the challenges and hopes for a future that embraces autism in Black communities.
Directed by: John Thornton | Produced by: Jennifer S. Singh, Camille Proctor
Documentary | 18 min | USA
San Diego struggles to implement social equity within its legal cannabis industry to right the wrongs directly stemming from the war on drugs, Roll Up For Equity spotlights local advocates who push for accountability and change in America’s Finest City.
Directed by: JM Balbuena | Written by: JM Balbuena | Produced by: JM Balbuena, Terrie Best
