Harlem International Film Festival - Day Two
129 Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031
129 Convent Avenue
at West 135 Street
Harlem International Film Festival at Aaron Davis Hall
Celebrating the art of cinema in the home of the Harlem Renaissance, The Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) inspires and entertains by honoring dynamic films by anyone about anything under the sun. Conceived from the belief that we all have unique experiences and perspectives to share, the Festival actively seeks and exhibits fresh and urgent work. Hi is committed to exemplifying the eminence that Harlem represents and is dedicated to bringing attention to the finest filmmakers from Harlem to Hong Kong.
The Hi experience integrates the best that Harlem has to offer – great restaurants, unique boutiques, world-class music venues, prestigious universities and cultural institutions, and a long history of excellence in the Arts. The Festival showcases features, documentaries, shorts, animation, youth projects, episodic work and cutting edge music video. Other events include Hi noon lunchtime screenings, the screenplay showdown, panel discussions, nightlife, the Hi Honors and the Renaissance Awards gala.
In addition to showcasing some of the best films from around the world, the Festival also features the Harlem Spotlight, which highlights films produced or directed by Harlem residents, films shot in Harlem, or films about Harlem and her legendary history.
Films Expected to be Screened
September 18, 2025
12:00 pm
Director: Oday Rasheed, Country: Iraq, Running Time: 97min
In a remote Mesopotamian village on the banks of the Euphrates River, twelve-year-old Adam decides to stop time within himself. Only three people believe in his ability to defy time: Anki, his loyal best friend; Ali, his younger brother; and Iman, his cousin, whose dreams of a future with Adam are shattered by his choice.
Director: Hester Jonkhout, Country: Netherlands, Running Time: 58 min
Nomade in No Man's Land takes you to the eventful life of Caribbean artist Felix de Rooy. De Rooy, queer and 'of color', is seen as a pioneer. The first in the Dutch Kingdom to speak freely through his art about what it means to be queer and Caribbean. With his work he challenges the establishment to look at itself in the mirror. In a documentary that combines past and present, the maker searches for the motivations of this limitless artist with an endless urge to create, but is confronted with the unpredictability of his life. Felix suffers a cerebral infarction and has to reorganize his life. What does it mean that the most important thing in his life, creating art, is no longer possible? And what value does everything he created and did still have? What value does his oeuvre still have today?
1:30pm
Director: Richard Van Kleeck Country: United States, Running Time: 58 min
A powerful documentary examining the legendary multiple Pulitzer Prize winning photographers of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Viewers will relate to powerful photographs illustrating the excitement, art, danger, craft and emotional tribulations that all photojournalists experience. Compelling stories include an African American photographer assigned to cover a Ku Klux Clan rally; mind changing images from the Breona Taylor demonstrations; the social divides at the Kentucky Derby; a different look at Muhammed Ali; the human cost of the "killing fields" of Cambodia; the tragic price of coal mining; U.S. Presidents from Truman to Biden; the early consequences of assault weapons in the hands of civilians, and the disputed photograph that went all the way to the Supreme Court; the power of photography to change laws, hearts and minds; and the fall of a family media empire.
Director: Lana AdamS, Country: United States, Running Time: 41 min
After serving 38 years in prison for the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl. David Bryant maintained his innocence. With the help of a nonprofit organization, he is released and sent home, but nothing could prepare him for what would happen next.
Director: Ericka Smith, Country: United States, Run Time: 86 min
A battle rapper is forced to ghostwrite for a popular athlete who threatens his life in more ways than one.
Preceded by:
1) Kaleb & Ms. Kelsey
Director: Andrew A Cano, Country: United States, Running Time: 2 min
Kaleb is just an 8 1/2 yr old who loves to spy on the adults around him. He hears many things he doesn't understand. He seeks help from Ms. Kelsey, his wacky millennial neighbor who gladly explains any and everything to Kaleb, no matter how inappropriate. Kaleb & Ms. Kelsey is a short puppet series that helps adults in the real world understand all the popular (internet) slang around them. Made to feel reminiscent of the shows you grew up with, but with the sense of humor and relatability of adulthood. It's a Kids’ Show for Adults!
2) I Hate My Love Life
Director: Tiffany JackmanCountry: United States, Running Time: 15 min
After years of bickering, a well-seasoned married couple decide to go on dates with other people to see if the grass is really greener on the other side; only to find out they are not prepared for the woes of new-age dating.
4:00 pm
Director: Maria Usbeck, Country: Ecuador, Running Time: 4 min
In this music video the director spent 3 years capturing how a foreign object like a corporate cubicle would interact with the essence and the creatures of the woods.
Over time, the forest did just that. Moss crept through the walls, seeds scattered into small holes, and creatures came and went as they pleased. The cubicle became a strange, living hybrid—part workspace, part wilderness.
Current is about feeling trapped in the very systems we’ve built—working, paying, surviving—while quietly yearning for something more elemental, more free. It asks: are we living the way we’re meant to? Or have we lost touch with a deeper, more essential way of being?
Rubin Hurricane Carter: Forever a Fighter
Director: Peter Brian Thurling, Country: Canada, Running Time: 80 min
Rubin Hurricane Carter was a black destroyer in the ring. But in 1966, he was sent to prison for killing three whites in a hometown New Jersey bar. The film production begins in 2011 when Rubin is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He’s sick, but feisty and ready to fight for his life once again. On a last round-trip back to rural Georgia, where he picked cotton as a child, he is with his longtime friend John Artis who went to prison with him. They weren’t freed until 1985 after a Federal judge ruled the case against them was based on “racism over reason”. Rubin escapes to Toronto, working to free others wrongly convicted, and helping to make it a mainstream issue, one that he fought for right to his deathbed in 2014. Even today, his spirit lives on.
6:00 pm
Vanishing: A Love Story is a documentary about award-winning novelist Cai Emmons and her loving, open-hearted journey towards death. In 2021, at the age of 70, Cai was diagnosed with ALS. Taking place in 2022, during the last six-months Cai’s life, the film is, first and foremost, a story about the agency of expression —having a voice to create a legacy in the world.
See You Friday
Director: Makeba L. Ross, Country: United States, Running Time: 11 min
Zuri is finally ready to be serious with Amare; but Amare just got some news that threatens to ruin the romantic date he planned for her. The sequel to See You Thursday is here!
Break A Leg
Director: Thomas J. Cooksey, Country: US, Running time: 19 min
A struggling actor is thrown into the role of a lifetime, when an unconventional exercise places him in the middle of an extortion plot.
After Alma
Director: Lorena Durán,Country: US, Running Time: 9 min
In the Astoria housing projects of New York, a demanding single mother grapples with her daughter’s last day home, revealing her own fragility.
Breathe
Director: Jamie Burton-Oare, Country: United States, Running time: 16 min
For Eric, it is a normal day in his life/neighborhood. For the world, it’s the day Eric faces the reality of taking his last breath. #breatheericgarnershort
The End
Director: Wil Pinke, Country: United States, Running Time: 18 min
In this surreal noir-comedy, an aging, wannabe mystery writer struggles to finish his first detective novel before it's too late. As he approaches the end, the lines between his real and fictional lives begin to blur.
Staging Ana
Director: K.M. Murphy , Country: United States, Running Time: 20 min
A Theatre Company prepares for season previews under a manipulative Director, whose fanatical tactics blur the line between illusion and reality.
Aly
Director: Kevin L. Lee, Country: US, Running Time: 15 min
Tonight might be the night Michael and Aly take their relationship to the next level. But Aly has a secret.
8:20 pm
Fist Bump
Director: Madeleine Fray Country: United States, Running Time: 60 min
Fist Bump is the story of Marcus Knight, an astounding success story; a talented and charismatic bi-racial young adult with autism and cerebral palsy who pursues his dream career of a life on Broadway. As a college freshman, he’s accused of sexual harassment from a friendly fist bump and struggles to piece together his shattered ambitions..
Preceded by:
1) Belief
Director: Christian Loubek, Country: United States, Running Time: 14 min
Alongside his wife and daughter, Lennox joyously unpacks their new home, but is left speechless when he finds a letter in a moving box labelled 'mom' that predestines a different life for him and one not as he remembers
2) Superman Doesn’t Steal
Director: Tamika Lamison, Country: United States, Running Time: 19 min
Based on true events, "Superman Doesn't Steal" is a coming of age story, set during the 1970's Atlanta child murders- as seen through the eyes of 9 year old Harriet & her brother, who are fascinated with superheroes. However, when they experience a troubling series of events- the impact on their family leaves emotional scars and causes them both to grow up fast as they redefine their definitions of heroes, villains and yes- even Superman.
Director: Kevin Schreck, Country: United States, Running Time: 92 min
This animation-documentary hybrid documents the inspiring story of rapper/producer/Ph.D. candidate, Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, a.k.a., Sammus. With her autobiographical and afrofuturism-inspired music, Enongo tackles various subjects including (but certainly not limited to): mental health, growing up, and relationships. Through a combination of actuality and animation, the film tells a universally-relevant, intimate, empowering story of identity, artistic creation, and survival. Notably, it is the first feature-length film of any genre to have an all-Black women animation team.