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Here Are The Black Short Films Premiering At The 2023 Sundance Film Festival

The 2023 festival returns in person this year and will take place Jan. 19–29 in Salt Lake City, Utah. A selection of films will available online across the country Jan. 24–29, 2023.

More than 10 Black stories have been selected for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival under the Short Films and Indie Episodic projects category!

According to an official press release obtained by BET.com, the Indie Episodic projects and selected shorts will be available to screen online, beginning on January 24 through the end of the Festival. 

The 2023 Festival returns in person this year and will take place Jan. 19–29 in Salt Lake City, Utah. A selection of films will available online across the country Jan. 24–29, 2023.

Black filmmakers attached to the projects include Maisha Maene (Mulika), Sterling Hampton (Kylie), Catherine Hoffman (Parker), Xenia Matthews (OURIKA!), Crystal Kayiza (Rest Stop), Rashad Frett (Ricky), Tari Wariebi (We Were Meant To), Vincent Fontano (Sét Lam), Iyabo E Kwayana (By Water), Jeron Braxton (Oxytocin) and Jarreau Carrillo (Vacation).

“Short films and episodic projects are an integral aspect of the overall mission of the Sundance Institute — to empower artists who are taking risks, bringing new perspectives to the forefront, and creating work that entertains and provokes conversation,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “These platforms provide artists with the ability to expand beyond the boundaries of traditional cinema, while also motivating a unique creativity through an ever-expanding format.”

Online ticket packages are now on sale and the full schedule of in-person and online screenings is live! 

  • By Water

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

    An unlikely hero's journey into his own memories becomes a vehicle for reconciliation and healing for himself and his sibling.

    Director: Iyabo Kwayana; Producers: Chris Hastings, Maori Karmel Holmes, and Nevo Shinaar

  • Kylie

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

    A young Black ballerina expresses her passion and pain as a dancer in the ballet community while performing in the inner-city neighborhoods of Los Angeles

    Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Sterling Hampton

  • Mulika

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

    An “afronaut” emerges from the wreckage of his spaceship in the volcanic crater of Mount Nyiragongo. As he encounters the people of present-day Goma in the city, he begins to understand how to change the future for his people. Cast: Sefu Weber-Kal, Faustin Biyoga, Ibrahim Twaha, and Sarah Bahati.

    Director and Screenwriter: Maisha Maene and Producer: Leo Nelki

  • OURIKA!

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Christian Vasquez)

    The long-dead Ourika, a Senegalese girl enslaved by a French aristocrat, is awoken in the eerie space between life and death, between body and soul, where she finds her way back to life and into liberation. Cast: Evesha Harry, Joilet Harris-Lawton, and Lynn-Catherine Daniels.

    Director and Screenwriter: Xenia Matthews;  Producer: Stephanie Malson

  • Oxytocin

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Jeron Braxton)

    Cash for organs and anything for love. Cast: Jeron Braxton

    Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Jeron Braxton

  • Parker

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo By Jackson Montemayor)

    Three generations of a Kansas City family are finally unified when they do something that countless other Black Americans could not — choose their own last name.

    Directors: Sharon Liese and Catherine Hoffman; Producers: Sharon Liese, Funmi Ogunro, and Samantha Hake.

  • Power Signal

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

    While trying to navigate a city that won’t provide him a bathroom, a delivery worker discovers an unearthly presence infecting women all over New York. Cast: Babs Olusanmokun, Will Brill, Brooke Bloom, Angela Sarafyan, Tennessee King, and Muhamed Gueye,

    Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Oscar Boyson; Screenwriter: Erin DeWitt; Producers: Jordan Drake and Alex Coco

  • Rest Stop

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo By Kristin Kouke)

    On a bus ride from New York to Oklahoma, Meyi, a young Ugandan-American girl, realizes her place in the world through her mother’s ambitious effort to reunite their family. Cast: Leeanna E. Tushabe, Alicia Basiima, Khalid Semakula, Robert Wanyama, Margaret Bisase, and Olivia Nantongo

    Director and Screenwriter: Crystal Kayiza; Producers: Jalena Keane-Lee and Brit Fryer

  • Ricky

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

    An ex-offender struggling with new freedom pursues redemption at all costs when given a job from his neighbor. Cast: Parish Bradley, Maliq Johnson, Simbi Kali, Karen Chilton, Reese Antoinette, Shanice Marcia.

    Director and Screenwriter: Rashad Frett; Producers: Pierre M. Coleman, Ramfis Myrthil, and Simon TaufiQue 

  • Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie

    (Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

    A surrealist exploration of dissociative identity disorder (DID) based on the lived experience of a Black, nonbinary, disabled artist and former sex worker. Cast: Kitoko Mai, Dustin Hickey, Myfanwy Charlesworth, Morgan Bargent, Grace McDonald, Andrea Werhun.

    Director, Screenwriter, and Producer- Nicole Bazuin; Screenwriter and Producer- Andrea Werhun; Screenwriter: Kitoko Mai

  • The Vacation

    A Black man attempts to take a vacation. Cast: Drew Harris, Jarreau Carrillo, Ohene Cornelius, Trae Harris.

    Director and Screenwriter- Jarreau Carrillo; Producers- Marttise Hill and Julius Pryor

  • We Were Meant To

    In a world where Black men have wings and their first flight is a rite of passage, Akil must defy fears, insecurities, and societal barriers while discovering his perfect launch into manhood. Cast: Tim Johnson Jr., Amin Joseph, Karimah Westbrook, Jordan-Amanda Hall, Skye Barrett, and Luke Tennie.

    Director and Screenwriter- Tari Wariebi; Screenwriter- Christina K. Licud; Producer- Jordan Vernon Tyner

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