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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Director: Tajana Tokyo
Section: Short Film Program 3
Available in person and online
A scrapbook of opinions and advice about love in Sierra Leone.
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?
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.
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.
