• Directed by Radha Mehta and Saif Jaan

  • A revered small-town imam faces a crisis of faith when he must choose between upholding the values of his mosque or protecting the safety and spiritual belonging of a trans man congregant.

  • Radha Mehta (she/her):
    Radha Mehta is a Director/Writer with an MFA in Directing at AFI, a UnlockHer Potential Mentee with HeyDay Films, WIF Directing Fellow 2025, and Recording Academy Voting Member.  Her award-winning films include DOSH (Slamdance Spirit Award); Winds of Silence (16Days16Films w/ UN Women, Geena Davis Institute, Voices With Impact w/ VIFF); SŪNNA (CAPE Julia Gouw Winner); Standing With Moms (Women’s Voices Now “Best Short Documentary”); Being Gina (STARZ); and Evan Ever After.

    Saif Jaan (he/they):
    Saif Jaan (he/they) is a trans and queer screenwriter and artist who grew up in a Muslim-Yemini and Pakistani household in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He works with liberatory themes that transcend internal and geographic borderlands. His art is inspired by the power of the people and imagining alternative futures in the path towards true collective freedom. He won the Netflix/Tasveer Grant to help make “Witness”. The film “Witness” has gone on to win the Islamic Scholarship Fund, and InsideOut RE:Focus Grant.

  • Directed by Kerry Coddett

  • Set in a lively Brooklyn barbershop, Zeke follows Vic, a loyal customer whose routine visit takes a sinister turn. After falling asleep in the chair, he wakes up to a disturbing realization—something deeply unsettling has happened, but he struggles to process it. As his trauma strains his marriage and leaves him searching for support, he finds himself met with dismissal and silence. When Zeke, the shop’s charismatic owner, announces plans to expand his business into a school for boys, Vic decides he can no longer stay quiet. His public confrontation triggers a wave of revelations, exposing years of abuse masked as routine barbershop mishaps. With sharp humor and social critique, Zeke examines power, trust, and the silence that enables abuse.

  • Kerry Coddett is a Brooklyn-born writer, actress, and comedian. She was Co-EP, Showrunner, and Head Writer on HBO’s Yvonne Orji: A Whole Me and recently served as a writer and co-producer on an upcoming Apple TV drama. A 2025 Rideback Rise fellow and WGA Showrunner Training Program graduate, Kerry also wrote for Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors and appeared in Ramy, Desus & Mero, and Pause w/ Sam Jay. She graduated college cum laude at 19 and once styled Jay-Z.

  • Directed by Siddiq Saunderson

  • When Jamie stumbles upon a trombone case by the church on the night of the full moon he calls the homies, Che and Turq, to meet him for wontons at their favorite restaurant. As they navigate the allure of this mysterious find and the possible danger of it all, Jamie is forced to confront a deeper question: Is it his lucky night or does this blessing belong to someone else.

  • Siddiq Saunderson is a multi-hyphenate artist and filmmaker from Brooklyn, NY. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in Acting, he moved to LA to start a career in film and television. Siddiq starred in WuTang: An American Saga (Hulu) as Ghostface Killah, Kemba (BET+), R#J (Sundance), Godfather of Harlem (MGM) and upcoming The Terror: Devil in Silver (AMC). Moonluck Wonton is his debut as a screenwriter and director. He is currently shopping his feature ¿cómo se dice? and aims to start production summer 2026.

  • Directed by Shayla Racquel

  • Constance McKinney, a quirky teenage girl living with Sickle Cell, shares her experiences of attending a high school in a small southern town that defies the usual coming-of-age movie tropes. Her school's social hierarchy consists of three groups: The Well-Knowns, The Floaters, and The Off-Brands. With encouragement from Jada, a "Floater," Constance tries double-dutch for the first time and realizes she is naturally good at it. This brings both positive and negative attention from a few "Well-Knowns," one being her suave high school crush, Jamel. Constance must decide whether she will allow the opinions of others to dictate her interests or face her insecurities by no longer playing it safe.

  • Shayla Racquel is an energetic creative with a passion for storytelling honed by her southern roots. She is no stranger to overcoming odds - diagnosed with Sickle Cell and a stroke at 12, her battle with this illness unlocked her love for storytelling and filmmaking. Shayla’s work has screened in over 40 film festivals and has received over 20 awards to date, including a Student Emmy. She has directed three series for Keke Palmer's KeyTV, garnering millions of views. She currently serves as the Executive Creative Director for Chosen Few Agency, leading the creation of several global brand campaigns. Her smile and appreciation for life brighten any room when she greets you with her infamous saying: "Smiles are sunshine for the Soul."

  • Directed by Sea Mahsati

  • Keur Simbara is an intimate, lyrical short documentary that follows a group of women community organizers in a rural Senegalese village as they build and sustain systems of health, finance, agriculture, and domestic infrastructure. Through intergenerational conversation and everyday observations, the film explores the deep relationships among mothers, daughters, and neighbors, highlighting the collective labor that upholds their community. Amid water scarcity and environmental challenges, they articulate their hopes for the future and the legacy they wish to leave behind. Keur Simbara is a tribute to communal wisdom and the power of local organizing.

  • Sea is an award-winning filmmaker and birth worker of Caribbean heritage. Their work blends myth and spirituality to tell stories of mourning, maternal inheritance, and self-possession, guided by Black feminist principles. Sea approaches filmmaking as ritual, shaping personal and ancestral memory into collective reflection. They are a 2024–2025 Baldwin for the Arts fellow and are currently developing their Howard University MFA thesis film, Bois Baby.

  • Directed by Bryce Savoy

  • After the death of his father and the birth of his son in the same year, Rapper Bryce Savoy finds himself navigating a transformative chapter in his life.

    Produced by Neighborhood Diamonds Media, BIG BRYCE SON is a raw, vulnerable documentary that shares a unique perspective of an artist's journey through the lens of a man dealing with the circumstances of life and death. Bryce embarks on a personal journey of self discovery as he navigates fatherhood, grief, legacy, and healing.

  • Bryce Savoy is an artist, rapper, and storyteller from Oakland, California, now based in Los Angeles. A 2014 graduate of Howard University, Bryce uses his platform to bridge culture, community, and creativity.  He is the founder of Neighborhood Diamonds, a creative company dedicated to representing “diamonds in the rough” worldwide through powerful storytelling, artistry, and community-centered initiatives.

  • Directed by Krystina Christiansen

  • At the end of his life and now paralyzed by MS, an avid outdoorsman reflects on his life's lessons in a letter that is left on a hiking trail in Utah. Finding it 3,000 miles away, a filmmaker befriends him and his newfound family of strangers that have brought his letter to peaks around the world.

  • Krystina Christiansen is a producer, director, and writer whose work bridges personal storytelling and social impact. Her films span documentary, narrative, and branded media, with support from The Redford Center, Sony Pictures TV, NYFA, and others. She is the producer-director of Dear Brandon, a documentary about connection, grief, and the unexpected journey of a single letter. Her next feature, The Death Boom, releases in 2026.

  • Directed by Osahon Tongo

  • History is crafted bead by bead, woven ever so delicately into the fabric of Superbowl lore. The day after Superbowl 58, while confetti was being swept up in Las Vegas, the NFL announced Queen Tahj Williams as the official designer of Super Bowl 59’s logo. Through the lens of Queen Tahj, NFL vet Tyrann Mathieu, and NFL Alumni Big Chief Dow Edwards we head to New Orleans, we learn about the hidden history behind the city’s Black Masking Indians and the legacy of resistance and community woven into the fabric of American culture.

  • Osahon Tongo is an Emmy Award–winning director, producer, and writer whose work explores identity, legacy, and transformation through cinematic storytelling. A director and producer on the acclaimed NFL360 series, his projects have earned two Sports Emmy wins and 10 nominations. He directed Second Unit on Netflix’s They Cloned Tyrone and his short films have screened at Cannes, The Getty Museum, and festivals worldwide. Tongo brings a first-generation American perspective to stories that bridge culture and consciousness.

  • Creator/Showrunner: Nakia Stephens

  • A Korean-American girl, raised from birth by Southern Black parents, struggles to defend and redefine her identity after being accepted into a popular HBCU.

  • Nakia Stephens is an award-winning screenwriter, showrunner, and founder of Damn Write Originals, the first screenwriting label. Known for crafting character-driven narratives that blend heartache, humor, and controversy, she has 40+ produced works including Della Mae, Novella, and The Psychological Evolution of Fboys. Recognized by Forbes, Deadline, and the NAACP Image Awards, Nakia amplifies authentic, purpose-driven Black stories.

  • Creator Bernard David Jones

    Directed by Tari Wariebi

  • A forgetful millennial, and his four best friends, navigate queer love, rocky careers, and the ups and downs of friendship, while realizing that his forgetfulness is more serious than imagined.

  • Tari Wariebi is a first-generation Liberian and Nigerian American filmmaker from Philadelphia, based in LA. An AFI Directing alum and BAFTA Special Jury Prize winner, his films have screened at over 60 festivals, including Sundance. He’s also won Grand Jury Prizes at Indy Shorts, Holly Shorts, and Martha’s Vineyard. Tari is developing his feature We Were Meant To, based on his Oscar-qualifying short.

  • Created by Alscott Worrell and Rodney Hawkins Jr

    Directed by Carlton V. Bell II

  • After their 9-5’s become a thing of the past, two LA transplants, have to figure out, what’s next? Tapping into two things they love, cannabis and sex, they work to build a brand, focused on these taboo industries that bring in billions each year. Both beautifully flawed in their own ways, they’re tested as they balance the obstacles life throws at them while building a business from the ground up.

    Episode 3: Two LA transplants host a rent party to stay afloat—but when past loves and future desires crash the scene, the night erupts into chaos, confession, and unexpected connection.

  • Carlton V. Bell II (“CJ”) (they/them) is a Black, Southern, queer artist and cultural organizer. Their work in theatre and film investigates and documents the Black queer experience. As a cultural organizer, CJ has raised over $2.5 million for artists and organizations led by those living within the margins.

    A trained intimacy choreographer, director, and producer, CJ’s practice centers collaboration and consent. Their accolades include being named AL.com’s Entertainer of the Year (2019), a Finalist for the SDC Foundation's 2023 Barbara Whitman Award, and winner of the Sara Spencer Award for Child Drama and Sidewalk Film Festival’s 2023 Black Lens Filmmaker Award.

  • Creator/Showrunner: Cheyenne Ewulu

  • Facing the increasing dominance of digital media and the constant threat of eviction from their landlord (who wants to turn the space into a dispensary), the quirky crew of misfits resorts to ridiculous schemes and antics to keep the store from closing.

  • Cheyenne Ewulu is a Nigerian-American actress, writer, and showrunner based in Los Angeles. A multi-hyphenate creative, she is the founder of Awkward Virgo Productions and the creator of the indie workplace comedy The Comic Shop, which became one of Kickstarter’s top-funded TV projects, raising over $200K. Her work blends sharp comedy with heartfelt explorations of identity, community, often spotlighting underrepresented voices and underdogs.

FILMGOOD Festival 2024

FILMGOOD Festival 2023