Creative director, Issa Rae, and Nice Crowd President & COO, Nicole Friday, kick off the momentous opening night of the 28th American Black Film Festival on Wednesday.
Welcome & Opening Night: HBO Short Film Award Showcase during Day 1 of the American Black Film Festival on June 12, 2024 in Miami Beach, FL. (Photo by Kelvin Bulluck / Nice Crowd)
Taking center stage is the 27th HBO® Short Film Award Showcase. The HBO® Short Film Award is regarded as one of the country’s most prestigious short film showcases.
The ABFF is an Academy Award-qualifying festival for the Short Film category and five filmmakers were selected as finalists to screen their short films and compete for a chance to win $10,000.
For the first time, the HBO Short Film Award Showcase at ABFF features films made by all Black women directors:
- Chocolate with Sprinkles, a sweet family fantasy/drama, starring Reno Wilson, directed and written by Huriyyah Muhammad
- Muna, United Kingdom story of British-Somali teenager explorations of grief and culture directed and written by Warda Mohamed
- Once Upon a Dime, profound perspective of the unhoused community, directed and written by Lauren Julia
- The Brown Dog, an animated short narrated by the late Michael K. Williams and directed by Nadia Hallgren and Jamie-James Medina
- The Rebel Girls, 1960s civil rights story directed and written by Felicia D Henderson and executive produced by Mara Brock Akil