Black Bodies is the best known Canadian short film in recent memory. The Kelly Fyffe-Marshall (writer/director) film is inspired by a real incident where Fyffe-Marshall, Komi Olaf, and Donisha Prendergast were at their Airbnb rental in California. A neighbourhood woman called the police, wrongly believing they were burglars.
The 5-minute film features Olaf and Prendergast on the trauma of being confronted by the police, often ending in death. Olaf and Prendergast are surrounded by a bunch of Black bodies in a unfurnished basement.
The film has spoken word with poetry from Olaf.
Black Bodies is a strong film with an even stronger message about anti-Black racism.
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Black Bodies won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Short Drama in 2021 and made the 2020 TIFF's year-end Canada's Top Ten list for short films.
Fyffe-Marshall won the Changemaker Award at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival and the Jay Scott Prize by the Toronto Film Critics Association.
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The film has reportedly been released to digital platforms as a bonus with Akilla's Escape from Charles Officer. Black Bodies is available on Crave in Canada.
video credit: YouTube/TIFF
photo credit: Black Bodies film
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