Narrative Features (U.S. & International)
A competitive section for feature-length films directed by, or written and produced by, persons of African descent. Films selected for this section will compete for Jury Awards, including Best Narrative Feature with a cash prize of $2,500 sponsored by Walmart, and Best Director with a cash prize of $2,500 sponsored by Ally. Additionally, if a person of African descent directs a film accepted to this section and it is their first feature film, they will be eligible to compete for the John Singleton Award for Best Debut Feature Film, presented by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The following films represent the 2025 official selections in the Narrative Features category:
Can You Stand The Rain
USA | 90 min | WORLD PREMIERE
A group of lifelong friends reunite after the sudden death of their childhood anchor, only to confront buried dreams, hidden tensions, long-held regrets — and the truth about who they’ve become… and who they still might be.
Director: Eden Marryshow | Writer: Eden Marryshow | Producer: Eden Marryshow | Cast: John Bermudez, Steve H. Broadnax III, Jaben Early, Devin Haaq, Eden Marryshow, Stephen Conrad Moore, Adesola Osakalumi, Cesa Pledger, Celestine Rae, Jaime Lincoln Smith, Brandhyze Stanley, Analisa Velez, Jasmin Walker
Deadly Visitor
USA | 84 min | WORLD PREMIERE
A woman’s quiet home turns into a deadly standoff when assassins come hunting a stranger and stolen diamonds.
Director: Aaron L. Williams | Writer: Aaron L. Williams | Producers: Aaron L. Williams, Orlando Eric Street, John Sonny Louis, Allysa Carson | Cast: Danielle Laroach, Maurice P. Kerry, Rodney Perry
Freight: The Five Incarnations of Abel Green
USA | 90 min
FREIGHT operates on the premise that a person’s spirit, or soul, comes to the world because there is something the soul needs to learn, If the soul does not learn it, then it comes back to the world again and again until its successful.
Director: J. Alphonse Nicholson | Writer: Howard L. Craft | Producers: J. Alphonse Nicholson, Tabitha Brown, Nafeesha Nicholson, Stephen “Doc” Love, Juel Taylor, Joseph Megel | Cast: J. Alphonse Nicholson
Hoorah 99!
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USA | 122 min | WORLD PREMIERE
A down-on-his-luck father, in the midst of a foreclosure and other financial woes, convinces his three high-school teenage sons that their only option is to rob a bank.
Director: Ash Innovator | Writer: Ashley Smith | Producers: Ci Esta | Cast: Travis Johnson, Jeff ‘Ja Rule’ Atkins, Kevin Barbara, Marqi Morgan, Zy’Air Carter, Thashley Ulysses, KiKi the First Lady
It Comes In Waves
CANADA | 105 min | WORLD PREMIERE
A family of four escapes the genocide in Rwanda and lands in Ottawa. They quickly learn that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Director: Fitch Jean | Writer: Sammy Mohamed | Producers: Amir Zargara | Cast: Adrian Walters, Nendia Lewars
Love, Brooklyn
USA | 97 min
Three longtime Brooklynites navigate careers, love, loss, and friendship against the rapidly changing landscape of their beloved city.
Director: Rachael Abigail Holder | Writer: Paul Zimmerman | Producers: André Holland, Kate Sharp, Liza Zusman, Maurice Anderson, Patrick Wengler | Cast: André Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, Roy Wood Jr.
Love Offside
JAMAICA | 105 min
When an undervalued physical therapist secretly takes on a famous rugby player’s recovery using a bold mix of Jamaican herbal remedies and modern therapy, she risks her career—and her heart—in a fight to prove her worth.
Director: Dale S. Lewis | Writer: Daneil Campbell, Jeanette Milio | Producers: Kimala Bennett, Melissa Llewellyn, Lorisa Bates, Tashara Lee Johnson, Judi Johnson, Victoria Rowell, Mike Merrill | Cast: Judi Johnson, Mike Merrill, Victoria Rowell, Sundra Oakley, Carli McIntrye, Tosh Alexander
Meta Take One
USA | 96 min
An obsessive young director & his crew plunge into a frantic night long odyssey of desperation to finish his film no matter the cost.
Director: John Dierre, Ryan Dutter | Writer: Ryan Dutter and John Dierre | Producers: Ryan Dutter, John Dierre, Cabral Clements, L.M. Davis | Cast: Ej Ezuruo , Emmanuel Peeples, Aminah Williams, James Choi, John Romanski, Laura Poindexter, Kountry Slimm, Kevin Williams
Outdoor School
USA | 84 min | WORLD PREMIERE
In 1994, drugs and gangs surge north up the Interstate 5 corridor, destabilizing Portland, Oregon. Amidst this urban chaos, 12-year-old Vin, homeless in the heart of the city, embarks on a week-long wilderness journey, experiencing Portland’s transformative rite of passage: Outdoor School.
Director: Ime N. Etuk | Writer: Ime N. Etuk, Kamafi Adio Byrd | Producers: Ime N. Etuk, Ifanyi Bell, Vin Shambry | Cast: Kendrick Cross, Cycerli Ash, Jahi Diallo Winston, Eric Edelstein
The Fisherman
GHANA | 106 min
In Zoey Martinson’s Venice Film Festival-winning feast of magical realist comedy— aging Ghanaian Atta Oko sets his sights on finally having his own boat and becoming the envy of his village, he’ll just need help from a talking dead fish first.
Director: Zoey Martinson | Writer: Zoey Martinson | Producers: Kofi Owusu Afriyie, Korey Jackson, Yvonne Orji | Cast: Ricky Adelayitar, Endurance Grand, William Lamptey, Kiki Romi, Adwoa Akoto, Dulo Harris
The Late Night Creep
USA | 95 min | WORLD PREMIERE
An unhappily married man sneaks out of the house to go on a date with his college crush and ends up having the night from hell.
Director: Jamal Dedeaux | Writer: Jamal Dedeaux | Producers: Rebecca Haze, Jamal Dedeaux, Kris Simms | Cast: Jake Choi, Tosin Morohunfola, Karen Obilom, Siddiq Sanderson, Ali Gallo, Lori Laing, Jason Mitchell, Leslie Jones
The Reject
USA | 93 min
A struggling screenwriter revisits the characters in his script in real life to do a rewrite of his latest draft in order to save his dying career.
Director: Blademil Grullon | Writer: Yonel Aris,Percy Romeo Miller, Logan Burdick, Kionne Mcghee | Producers: Marco Molinet, Percy Romeo Miller, Brandon Dumlao, Kionne Mcghee | Cast: Percy Romeo Miller, Kamal Ani- Bello, Tsachai “Sky” Aris
The ReWrite.
USA | 94 min | WORLD PREMIERE
A struggling screenwriter revisits the characters in his script in real life to do a rewrite of his latest draft in order to save his dying career.
Director: Terry Dawson | Writer: Terry Dawson | Producers: Julie Bersani, Bill Benenson, Laurie Benenson, Terry Dawson | Cast: Stephen Barrington, Freddy D. Ramsey Jr., Elijah R. Reed, Anthony Riggins Jr., Taylor Leigh Edwards, Holly Hyman, Don Wallace, Felice Heather Monteith, Jhey Castles, Jordan Murphy
The Secret Between Us
USA | 114 min | US PREMIERE
Some secrets break us; others can bind us.
Director: Tamera Hill | Writer: Tamera Hill | Producers: Tamera Hill, Michael Jai White, Reggie Currelley, Suzanne Lyons | Cast: Michael Jai White, Lisa Arrindell, Victoria Rowell, Tre Ryan
TREASURE HUNT
SOUTH AFRICA | 97 min | WORLD PREMIERE
A desperately poor ex-con man returns lost expensive jewellery only to discover that a gang of criminals are bent on using him to get the jewellery for themselves.
Director: Chim Onyebilanma | Writer: Chim Onyebilanma | Producers: Chim Onyebilanma, Happiness Mpase | Cast: Moopi Mothibeli, Melissa Mkhize, Thabiso Mokhethi, Patrick Kenny, Crystal Tryon-Smith
Fight Like A Girl
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO | 118 min
A young Congolese woman forced to work in an illegal mineral mine, escapes her captors and finds a new life for herself after joining a renowned all-women boxing club in the border city of Goma. Based on a True Story.
Director: Matthew Leutwyler | Writer: Matthew Leutwyler | Producers: Anton Laines, Yvette Gayle, Innocent Munyeshuri, Serge Ibaka | Cast: Ama Qamata, Hakeem Kae Kazim, Clarck Ntambwe, Malaika Uwamahoro, Arthur Nkusi, Bahali Ruth, Kennedy Mazimpaka
Trouble Man
USA | 92 min | WORLD PREMIERE
An Ex cop turned fixer is hired to find his superstar and rumored ex-girlfriend. With a blend of brains, bullets and Kung Fu, Jaxen must fight through a maze of street thugs, slicksters and Chinese mobsters before his or the diva’s time runs out.
Director: Michael Jai White | Writer: Michael Stradford | Producers: Craig Baumgarten, Michael Jai White, Ron Robinson | Cast: Michael Jai White, Method Man, Mike Epps, Gillian White, Orlando Jones, Lala Anthony