The
Impact
Mission Statement
We all have an ancestry, or a lineage, and we are influenced by people who came before us whether or not we acknowledge it. This is deeply true for young Black girls. This film explores how our relationships, both physical and spiritual, to ourselves and to others, shape us.
Story
A jubilant and raucous party roars to life in the living room, but upstairs 15 year-old Honest Cardamom is cooped up in bed. She scribbles down her thoughts, reflecting on the summer without her best friend, before sliding into the function where her folks are about to break bread.
Though she’s lived here her entire life, something about tonight feels off. There is an otherworldly presence lurking around. This is Song, Honest’s late mother, whose spirit intently follows her daughter throughout the evening.
Audience
The film is intended to be appropriate for teenagers and young adults who are still developing language for processing big emotions. I’ve worked with many youth organizations in Philadelphia who are open to having workshops and events that deal with these themes.
Make A
Contribution
Getting Involved
I knew that in order to address loss, grief, and the spiritual nature of our connections I needed to build this world through animation. TMWYGH is set in a land of my own imagination. There’s three moons in the sky, a sentient power source, and homes that float on top of water. I want to immerse viewers in a visual world that is whimsical and surreal, like Spirited Away or Midnight Gospel. My hope is that the short film can be a window into a cinematic universe that includes a feature film–currently in development–a tv series, and a video game.
Though the world is fantastical, we are also creating an experience that is grounding and culturally relevant for Black audiences. Like Small Axe: Lover’s Rock, I want to immerse audiences in a movie that looks, sounds, tastes and smells like a reggae party. We’re working with an incredible artist, Black Buttafly, to create an original soundtrack that’s inspired by the Caribbean parties I attended as a child.
The world feels full of the magic and whimsy and silliness that’s inside of me, and is also infused with the deeper lessons that I’ve learned about what’s valuable to me: our connections with each other, the importance of teaching young people about where they come from, and the role that grief plays in allowing us to connect with our loved ones. The story is steeped in my love for family and wider community, and a sense of curiosity about the world and how we live in it.