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Highlights

A film still from Luther: Never Too Much that shows Luther Vandross singing into a microphone in red-tinted lighting.

Your Guide to the Projects by Black Filmmakers at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival

There’s no shortage of captivating films created by Black artists that have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, from thought-provoking documentaries to powerful narratives. With the 2024 Fest in full swing, we’re excited to walk you through 23 outstanding projects in the lineup. The titles listed below emphasize the artistic brilliance of Black creators and empower audiences to start meaningful conversations that can impact how we look at the world. 

Explore films from Sundance Institute alums like Dawn Porter (Luther: Never Too Much), Peter Murimi (The Battle for Laikipia), and Yance Ford (Power) and dive into works from Festival newcomers, including Titus Kaphar (Exhibiting Forgiveness) and J.M. Harper (As We Speak).   

Whether you’re in the mood for a touching music documentary, a captivating short, or a clever satire, listed below are the exciting projects from Black filmmakers to add to your schedule. Visit our Festival Program Guide to see which films still have tickets available for first and second screenings. Remember, if a screening is sold out, check for available second screenings and be sure to join the waitlist via our Sundance Film Festival 2024 app.  

Features 

As We Speak 

Director: J.M. Harper

Section: U.S. Documentary Competition

Available to watch in person and online

Bronx rap artist Kemba explores the growing weaponization of rap lyrics in the United States criminal justice system and abroad — revealing how law enforcement has quietly used artistic creation as evidence in criminal cases for decades.

Kidnapping Inc. 

Director: Bruno Mourral 

 Section: Midnight

Available to watch in person and online

Tasked with what appears to be a simple abduction for hire, two hapless kidnappers find out that it’s anything but and end up in the middle of a political conspiracy.

Daughters 

Director: Angela Patton (and Natalie Rae)

Section: U.S. Documentary Competition

Available to watch in person and online

Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail.

Exhibiting Forgiveness 

Director: Titus Kaphar

Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition

Available to watch in person and online

Utilizing his paintings to find freedom from his past, a Black artist on the path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, a recovering addict desperate to reconcile. Together, they learn that forgetting might be a greater challenge than forgiving.

The Battle for Laikipia 

Director: Peter Murimi (and Daphne Matziaraki) 

Section: World Cinema Documentary Competition

Available to watch in person and online

Unresolved historical injustices and climate change raise the stakes in a generations-old conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Laikipia, Kenya, a wildlife conservation haven.

Luther: Never Too Much 

Director: Dawn Porter

Section: Premieres 

Available to watch in person 

Luther Vandross started his career supporting David Bowie, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, and more. His undeniable talent earned platinum records and accolades, but he struggled to break out beyond the R&B charts. Intensely driven, he overcame personal and professional challenges to secure his place amongst the greatest vocalists in history.

Power 

Director: Yance Ford

Section: Premieres  

Available to watch in person 

Driven to maintain social order, policing in the United States has exploded in scope and scale over hundreds of years. Now, American policing embodies one word: power. 

Rob Peace 

Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor 

Section: Premieres

Available to watch in person and online 

Robert Peace grew up in an impoverished section of Newark and later graduated from Yale with degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry while on scholarship. Peace led a dual life in academia and research while also earning six figures selling marijuana. Based on Jeff Hobbs’ bestselling biography.

Seeking Mavis Beacon 

Director: Jazmin Renée Jones 

Section: NEXT 

Available to watch in person and online 

Launched in the late ’80s, educational software Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally, but the program’s Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two DIY investigators search for the unsung cultural icon, while questioning notions of digital security, AI, and Black representation in the digital realm. 

Suncoast 

Director: Laura Chinn

Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition 

Available to watch in person and online 

A teenager who, while caring for her brother along with her audacious mother, strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric activist who is protesting one of the most landmark medical cases of all time. Inspired by a semi-autobiographical story.

Tendaberry 

Director: Haley Elizabeth Anderson 

Section: NEXT 

Available to watch in person and online

When her boyfriend goes back to Ukraine to be with his ailing father, 23-year-old Dakota anxiously navigates her precarious new reality, surviving on her own in New York City. 

The American Society of Magical Negroes

Director: Kobi Libii 

Section: Premieres 

Available to watch in person

A young man, Aren, is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier.

Episodic

God Save Texas: The Price of Oil

Director: Alex Stapleton 

Section: Episodic

Available to watch in person 

As the world’s energy capital, Houston is a city that manufactures both its prominence and demise. Alex Stapleton explores the industry’s impact on her family, who arrived as enslaved people in the 1830s, built thriving communities, and now must cope with the human costs of Texas’ biggest money-maker.

Me/We 

Director: Nzingha Stewart

Section: Episodic 

Available to watch in person and online 

Amaria “Yaya” Jones, an argumentative teenager with a passion for dance, must plead her case to her overprotective brother in hopes of winning his blessing to walk to school with her first crush. Yaya’s story is a celebration of life.

Shorts

Dona Beatriz Ñsîmba Vita 

Director: Catapreta 

Section: Animated Short Film Program 

Available in person and online 

Kimpa Vita fulfills the prophetic mission of leading her people in a racist and unequal society. Set in contemporary Brazil and inspired by the true story of Kimpa Vita, a 17th-century Congolese religious leader.

Dreams like paper boats 

Director: Samuel Suffren

Section: Short Film Program 3 

Available in person and online 

Edouard and his daughter live with a cassette received from his wife in the United States, a long time ago. After years of absence, what can we expect from a distant love?

Essex Girls 

Director: Yero Timi-Biu 

Section: Short Film Program 1 

Available in person and online 

After an incident at her high school pulls her into the orbit of the only other Black girl in her year, “Essex Girl” Bisola is plunged into a journey to discover a whole new side of herself.

Grace 

Director: Natalie Jasmine Harris 

Section: Short Film Program 5 

Available in person and online 

Sixteen-year-old Grace prepares for her baptism in the rural 1950s South. When she learns she must repent before the ritual, she begins to question the budding romantic feelings she has toward her best friend, Louise.

Merman 

Director: Sterling Hampton IV

Section: Short Film Program 2

Available in person and online 

A 58-year-old Black Queer man speaks the truth about his life as an emergency nurse, a leather enthusiast, husband, and civil rights advocate.

Salone Love 

Director: Tajana Tokyo

Section: Short Film Program 3

Available in person and online 

A scrapbook of opinions and advice about love in Sierra Leone.

Terra Mater 

Director: Kantarama Gahigiri

Section: Short Film Program 4 

Available in person and online 

Technology and waste in our lands, our systems, our bones. Wandering our spaces, she cannot help but wonder, where is the space for healing?

The Heart 

Director: Malia Ann

Section: Short Film Program 1 

Available in person and online 

A lonely man grieves the death of his mother after an argument about groceries and an odd request in her will.

To Be Invisible 

Director: Myah Overstreet

Section: Documentary Short Film Program

Available in person and online 

Every week for the past three years, Alexis and Kellie have stood outside Durham County’s child welfare agency, demanding the return of their children. Together, they embark on a journey to bring their children home.

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