Black Harvest Film Festival completed its 23rd festival and announced the Best Short Film winner, The Suit. The features, shorts, industry moments and the most recent addition, the expo were great. There is always a nod to the local artists, many of whom premiered their work. Special note goes to David Weathersby and Shahari Moore. The shorts programs were amazing; this year there were seven short film program tracks: Women of Color, Made in Chicago 1, Black history – Lost and Found, International, Family Matters, A Black Harvest Feast, Love African American Style and Made in Chicago 2. But meeting filmmakers and fans, networking and learning the background stories and challenges of the artists were real highlights of the festival. amazing to hear. Floyd Norman, a Disney legend who offered a master class in animation was a reminder of the number of true filmmaker pioneers.
The brilliance of opening the festival with a series of award winning short films and the close with the iconic Love Jones, as a celebration of its 20th year cannot be overstated…next year will be amazing. Its the month of August, every year!
Black Harvest Film Festival Audience Favorite
The Suit
The Suit is a short film by Jarryd Coetsee from South Africa. It’s a Fifties-set drama based on a short story by once banned South African writer Can Themba. The story is about a husband who devises a cruel and unusual punishment for his unfaithful wife. It has been admitted to two Oscar Qualifying Festivals and has won Best Short Film Prize at the prestigious South African Film and Television Awards.
The story is that a husband catches his wife with another man in their home, yeah…in the bedroom. Her punishment, this is set in the fifties, was that she was required to carry The Suit of her lover everywhere she went! Gotta love South African story telling….the ending is tragic, beyond sad but mirrors the harsh conditions of South Africa at the time…somehow there is a kind of odd parallell.
The short film is beautifully ‘shot’ and a definite must see.
As we prepare for the FirstGlance online short film contest which starts October 9, 2017 on the itsashort.com platform. Checkout the trailer for the Spring winning short film Chocolate:
This is the ‘teaser’ for the short film Chocolate by Thiago DaDalt a Brazilian filmmaker about the unbelievable experience of someone who is dealing with Alzheimers, or some form of brain deterioration. It has garnered more than 9 Short Film Festival awards. It’s focus is the ‘real life’ story of woman, Nancy Paulikas, who has been missing for over a year. Partnering with the Alzheimers Association, the search continues, the commitment to raising awareness of this debilitating disease is unrelenting.
Finally, please checkout our online platform: itsashort.com. In addition to amazing short film, we are launching the FirstGlance online short film contest October 9, 2017. Many have participated, this contest will be ‘lit’!
