Shorts 2: Building Up and Taking Back

Short Film Program

Fire in Little Africa

Directed by Keith Daniels and Ben Lindsey (USA, 2021, 39 min.)

One hundred years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, more than 50 of Oklahoma’s best artists come together  five days on Tulsa’s Greenwood Avenue to record a commemorative album honoring the legacy of Black Wall Street.

Ma’s House

Directed by Jeremy Dennis (USA, 2021, 7 min.)

Ma’s House was once the heart of a community. As Ma’s grandson, artist and photographer Jeremy Dennis is on a quest to restore the family home to its central role as a community gathering place for a new generation of diverse artists. Facing a climate crisis, the Reciprocity Project embraces Indigenous value systems that have bolstered communities since the beginning of time. To heal, we must recognize that we are in relationship with Earth, a place that was in balance since time immemorial.

The Bus Buddy Chronicles

Directed by Dominga Martin (USA, 2022, 12 min.)

The Bus Buddy Chronicles is a mini documentary that follows four AmeriCorps Seniors from Dorchester and Mattapan as they learn to navigate public transportation throughout Boston. This timely, enriching project highlights the Age Strong Commission’s brilliant Bus Buddy program and some of Boston’s iconic locations, as the AmeriCorps Seniors enjoy a cultural plunge into the city after being isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Black Action Figures

Directed by Dave Steck (USA, 2022, 7 min.)

A short documentary about representation and the power of seeing yourself included in popular culture.

Doreen Garner on Her Own Terms

Directed by Naima Ramos-Chapman (USA, 202, 9 min.)

From her Brooklyn studio to international art fairs to a Juneteenth barbecue, sculptor and tattoo artist Doreen Garner navigates two very different communities—the public, whiter world of galleries and museums and an intimate, Blacker world of client tattooing—carefully carving out space for creative fulfillment and emotional self-care. 

Kameelah Janan Rasheed: The Edge of Legibility

Directed by Carrie Hawks (USA, 2021, 8 min.)

logo·​phile | \ ˈlȯ-gə-ˌfī(-ə)l a lover of words. A leading artist of her generation moving fluidly between public art projects, publications, and gallery shows, Brooklyn-based Kameelah Janan Rasheed has a near-religious belief in words and their power to both shape and destabilize meaning. This short documentary portrait explores Kameelah’s expansive ideas and miniaturist process.

Let’s Make Some Dope Sh!t Together

Directed by Kent Greenfield Ichikawa (USA, 2021,18 min.)

This documentary depicts the story of how Thinker Makers Society, a brand-new Black-owned art gallery in Old City, Philadelphia, opened its doors in June 2021 to serve as a community/safe space/art hub mainly for local underrepresented POC artists.

Festival Passes

If you wish to see multiple films in the Roxbury International Film Festival lineup, purchase a festival pass!

There are separate passes for in-person and online screenings. To access all in-person and online events, please purchase both passes.

In-Person Pass

$165; available through June 25, 5 pm

The In-Person Pass grants access to all events in the festival, including those at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Hibernian Hall; the Boston Public Library’s Roxbury branch; and ArtsEmerson. See a full list of in-person screenings at roxfilmfest.com.

Note that additional venues will be listed on your pass purchase as Non-MFA screenings.

ROXFILM@Home Pass

$50; available through June 30, 11:59 pm

The ROXFILM@Home Pass grants access to all online screenings.