Among the endlessly exciting new projects at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival are 14 titles by filmmakers who identify as Black, African American, or of African descent. With the first day of Fest just around the corner, we’re delighted to walk you through these artists’ new feature-length and short films to help you populate your Festival schedule with a mosaic of unique perspectives.
Take in engrossing documentaries like Brittany Shyne’s Seeds, exploring the challenges of generational Black farmers in the American South, and How to Build a Library from Maia Lekow, following two women in Nairobi working to transform a formerly whites-only library. There’s also plenty of fiction, including Mark Anthony Green’s pop-horror film Opus and Rachael Abigail Holder’s romantic Love, Brooklyn.
On the shorts side, choose from stories by filmmakers across the globe, such as B(l)ind The Sacrifice, directed by Nakhane, and THE LILY (เดอะลิลลี่) by Quintessa Swindell — both a part of Short Film Program 4.
Check out the list below for these and other projects from Black filmmakers. Then head to the Festival Program Guide to grab tickets for in-person or online screenings before they sell out.
FEATURES
Co-Director: Maia Lekow
Section: World Cinema Documentary Competition
Available to watch in person and online
Two intrepid Nairobi women decide to transform what used to be a whites-only library until 1958 into a vibrant cultural hub. Along the way, they must navigate local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past.
Co-Directors: Anas Saeed, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea Ahmed, Rawia Alhag
Section: World Cinema Documentary Competition
Available to watch in person and online
Forced to flee Sudan for East Africa following the outbreak of war, five citizens of Khartoum — a civil servant, a tea lady, a resistance committee volunteer and two young bottle collectors, re-enact their stories of survival and freedom through dreams, revolution, and civil war.
Director: Rachael Abigail Holder
Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Available to watch in person and online
Three longtime Brooklynites navigate careers, love, loss, and friendship against the rapidly changing landscape of their beloved city.
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House
Director: Elegance Bratton
Section: Premieres
Available to watch in person
Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.
Director: Mark Anthony Green
Section: Midnight
Available to watch in person
A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.
Director: Rashad Frett
Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition
Available to watch in person and online
Newly released after being locked up in his teens, 30-year-old Ricky navigates the challenging realities of life post-incarceration, and the complexity of gaining independence for the first time as an adult.
Director: Brittany Shyne
Section: U.S. Documentary Competition
Available to watch in person and online
An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land.
SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Section: Premieres
Available to watch in person
An examination of the life and legacy of Sly & The Family Stone — the groundbreaking band led by the charismatic and enigmatic Sly Stone — captures the band’s rise, reign, and subsequent fadeout while shedding light on the unseen burden that comes with success for Black artists in America.
SHORT FILMS
AN ALMOST SUCCESSFUL DATING APP LOVE STORY
Director: Winter Coleman
Section: Short Film Program 5
Available to watch in person and online as part of Short Film Program 5
Determined to meet him dead or alive, a curious young woman attends the funeral of a man she matched with on a dating app.
Director: Nakhane
Section: Short Film Program 4
Available to watch in person and online as part of Short Film Program 4
A nomadic family wanders the land under the father’s leadership. One day, the men ascend a mountain to make a sacrifice. But today, things are different, which alters the family forever.
Entre le Feu et le Clair de Lune
Director: Dominic Yarabe
Section: Documentary Short Film Program
Available to watch in person and online as part of the Documentary Short Film Program
An Ivorian father and his daughter set out to continue the book he never finished about a war he experienced as a child. With children in his village today, three generations create timelines, dreams, and memories.
Directors: LaTajh Simmons-Weaver, Aurora Brachman
Section: Documentary Short Film Program
Available to watch in person and online as part of the Documentary Short Film Program
A chronicle of the power and complexity of the relationship between Corinne and Tiana, two Queer Black womxn who experience cycles of life’s joys and pains together in the home they share.
Director: Quintessa Swindell
Section: Short Film Program 4
Available to watch in person and online as part of Short Film Program 4
Two Muay Thai fighters who were once childhood friends come together for a final fight, which serves as a brutal resolution to their difficult familial bond torn apart by the hatred of their fathers.
Director: Manu Zilveti
Section: Short Film Program 3
Available to watch in person and online as part of Short Film Program 3
At a Cuban high school, a group of girls who call themselves “Las Perdularias” find ways to deal with the absences on an island that is becoming increasingly empty.
