''Black Bodies'' is a 2020 Canadian short film, directed by

Kelly Fyffe-Marshall Kelly Fyffe-Marshall is a Canadian filmmaker best known for her 2020 two-part short film ''Black Bodies'', which won the Changemaker Award at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, and won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Sh ...

, and produced by Tamar Bird and Sasha Leigh Henry. Inspired by a real-life incident when Fyffe-Marshall, Komi Olaf and Donisha Prendergast were travelling in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and a woman in the neighbourhood called the police on them because she wrongly believed they were burglarizing their

Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( , an abbreviation of its original name, "Air Bed and Breakfast") is an American company operating an online marketplace for short-and-long-term homestays, experiences and services in various countries and regions. It acts as a ...

rental, the film features Olaf and Prendergast performing

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

pieces about the trauma of being victimized by anti-Black

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. The film premiered at the

2020 Toronto International Film Festival The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, the 45th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from September 10 to 21, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, the festival took place primarily on an online stream ...

,Jeremy Kay
"TIFF adds special events including new edition of Planet Africa, live talks series"
''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'', August 25, 2020. where Fyffe-Marshall was named the winner of the inaugural Changemaker Award. The film was named to TIFF's year-end

Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema". ''Welland Tribune'', November 23, ...

list for short films. Fyffe-Marshall was subsequently awarded the

Jay Scott Prize The Jay Scott Prize is an annual film award presented by the Toronto Film Critics Association, in conjunction with commercial sponsor Stella Artois, to an emerging talent in the Canadian film industry. First presented in 2009, the award was named ...

by the

Toronto Film Critics Association The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) is an organization of film critics from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is a member of the FIPRESCI. History The Toronto Film Critics Association is the official organization of Toro ...

. The film won the

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

for Best Live Action Short Drama at the

9th Canadian Screen Awards The 9th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 17–20 May 2021 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020. The presentations were held as a seri ...

. The film has been released to digital platforms as a bonus feature accompanying

Charles Officer Charles Officer (October 28, 1975 – December 1, 2023) was a Canadian film and television director, writer, actor, and professional hockey player. Early life and education Charles Officer was born in Toronto, Ontario on October 28, 1972. He ...

's feature film ''

Akilla's Escape ''Akilla's Escape'' is a 2020 drama film, directed by Charles Officer,Radheyan Simonpillai"Planet Africa returns for TIFF 2020"'Now'' August 25, 2020. his final feature prior to his death in 2023. The film stars Saul Williams as Akilla, a marijua ...

''.Victoria Ahearn
"‘Black Bodies’ director Kelly Fyffe-Marshall making ‘ripples’ in Canadian film and TV"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', July 7, 2021.

Cast

* Komi Olaf * Donisha Rita Claire Prendergast

References

External links

* 2020s English-language films 2020 short films Canadian drama short films Films directed by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall Films about racism Best Live Action Short Drama Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners 2020s Canadian films English-language drama short films {{2020s-Canada-film-stub