BLACK BLACK

BLACK BLACK is a dramedy about an interracial couple who confront the hidden truths that threaten their relationship — and their daughter. A family gathering becomes the setting for an unexpected reckoning.

Watch the trailer

Willy and his daughter Grace play with sparklers beside a pool at night.

Synopsis

Willy, a Black man in an interracial marriage, has his world turned upside down when leaked group-chat messages reveal that his partner, Joanna, may harbor racist ideas. During a family gathering, Joanna shares a video from her phone to the television, then leaves the room without realizing that her device is still connected. Her guests are inadvertently shown a series of racially insensitive private conversations.

Willy is not someone who usually makes a big deal about racism, but he cannot get past messages that seem to target his daughter’s hair. The film follows Willy and Joanna through the fallout, asking what love requires when private prejudice becomes visible and how a family begins the difficult work of confronting it.

BLACK BLACK poster featuring the principal cast

Director’s statement.

Seeing beyond our blind spots.

BLACK BLACK is a film that speaks to the current moment, as growing social and political divisions keep us talking past one another. Ideas and policies that are clearly regressive and hateful to some, are viewed as egalitarian by others. Bias and misinformation are being weaponized in ways that threaten art, education, and democracy.

We made this film to discover what it takes for people to see beyond their blind spots.

The film’s credits end with a quote from W.E.B. DuBois, whose early 20th Century writings on the racial divide – what he calls “the veil” – and the double consciousness that emerges as a result, have influenced over a century of thinking on race relations around the world. The final shot of the film envisages this veil, the emergence of double consciousness, and the beginning of a journey of understanding and growth.

I’ve spent the past decade conducting research on how bias shapes our everyday life, and how we can beat it back. BLACK BLACK is a deeply personal project that extends the themes and questions that motivate my scholarly work.

As I share this film, I continue to meet people who discuss the ways BLACK BLACK relates to their own personal experiences with race, especially in the context of relationships with loved ones and family members. I’ve learned that story and image are better able to plumb the depths of the human experience than survey or experiment.

I hope this film will inspire difficult questions that will make our way forward more clear.

Recognition.

Festivals and awards

Socially Relevant Film Festival — Official Selection, New York, March 2026Antoine Williams — Best Actor in a Short Film, Socially Relevant Film Festival New York
Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival — Official Selection, Martha’s Vineyard, August 2026
XL Film Festival — Official Selection, Chicago, August 2026
Indiewood Film Festival — Official Selection, Los Angeles, September 2026

Credits.