BIFF Shorts: Racial Justice In View

Documentary, experimental, video essays and narrative shorts that shine a light on race, (de)colonialism, and inequity in the United States, Canada and sovereign Indigenous Nations.

Hustle

Xavier Cousens (Dir), 10 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere

This verité documentary chronicles a day in the life of Anthony Johnson, a work release recipient, who spends his days as a courier in New York City and his nights incarcerated.

Shoulders Deep

John Fiege (Dir), 8 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere

Aniya Wingate is a radiant and talented 17-year-old dancer from Houston, who was displaced from her home for half a year by Hurricane Harvey. Shoulders Deep translates her experience of displacement through dance, poetry, and performance.

Big Touch

Christopher Tenzis (Dir), 3 minutes, USA, NY Premiere

Afro-surrealist fable about the transformative power of touch.

Graffica!

Yogi Dada (Dir), 15 minutes, USA, NY Premiere

Needing to find a place to feel safe in the time of covid, Dada creates a visual world where the fundamentals of being true to herself are unearthed and celebrated in this innovative, animated documentary.

Ego of a Nation

Wes Day (Dir), 3 minutes, Canada, Special Presentation

This video poem performed by Janet Rogers reacts to centuries of judiciary injustice experienced by Indigenous peoples, more specifically the acquittal of Colten Bouchie's murderer in February 2018.

Monologue Harmonic

Yuma Dean Hester (Dir), 7 minutes, Canada, Special Presentation

Weaving together legend, despotic visions, collective cultural analysis and individual repeal is a dialogical visual and sonic experience.

Superstar

Jordan Hidalgo (Dir), 16 minutes, USA, WNY Premiere

A day in the life of Martin (Jamad Mays), a homeless man attempting to keep his individuality despite being dehumanized by everyday society.

Hallowed Ground

Catherine Rafferty (Dir), 13 minutes, WNY Short Film, USA, Buffalo Premiere

Two Rochester student orators, Tian Stephens and Anastajia Charley, learn the stories behind Fredrick Douglas’ words as they navigate issues of racism similar to thoser that shaped Douglass’s life and work.

The Ascendants (Episode 2)

Ladan Osman (Dir), 9 minutes, USA, Special Presentation

At 22, singer Christian has already won the respect of Chance the Rapper, but it hasn’t been an easy road. On the South Side, she dealt with redlining; in Freeport, she faced open racism. Now the preacher’s daughter is taking on the music industry.