PROTECT HER – Reel Sisters Shorts
The five films in this program revolve around young girls of color. We get to see the world through their eyes and, whether it is a girl from rural Jamaica, the Venezuelan Guajira desert, modern Mexico, or 1940’s New Orleans, we sympathize with both her vulnerability and her resilience, and can’t help but to want to protect her.
7 PENNIES
(10 mins I Narrative I United States I dir. Kiara C. Jones)
A Creole girl in 1940s New Orleans plots to escape an approaching predator.
GIRLS MATTER
(5 mins I United States I Documentary I dir. Lisa Durden)
Girls Matter, is a short film, featuring the wonderfully precocious 9 year-old, Kamryn Onque ( the Ambassador of Girls Live, Love, Laugh) and her ‘Shero,’the founder, Allison James. It tells a universal story about the positive impact leadership programs and self-esteem initiatives have on Black and brown girls from underserved communities.
YELLOW GIRL AND ME
(20 mins I Narrative I United States I dir Isabella Issa)
Set in the Jamaican countryside, ten-year-old Nicole waits for her sister, Yellow Girl, to teach her how to swim. When Yellow Girl breaks her promise, Nicole realizes that circumstances have escalated in their home life and she is next in line for a life of sexual abuse. Nicole is forced to decide how far she will go to protect herself and her sister.
HIGH-HEELED YOUTH
(9 mins I Narrative I Mexico I dir. Gabriela M. González Moreno)
Viviana, a young female student with a low economical background, is pushed to live a cruel lifestyle in order to survive within the Mexican patriarchal society.
PAULA’S ETERNITY
(11 mins I Narrative I Venezuela I dir. Dayana Gauthier)
Liana, a 5-year-old girl, and her family face a fierce drought. While the mother packs to emigrate, the girl has an unexpected encounter that will change the destiny of everyone.