Who's got next? Heres 5 can't miss filmmakers in 2020
These directors are doing big things
With filmmakers like Ryan Coogler, Jordan Peele and Ava Duvernay capturing the world’s imagination, there has never been a better for time for directors of color than now. Quality black led films are popping up seemingly every month, with themes that break away from the genericness of the past. Here at Gritty Vibes though, we like to keep an eye on what’s next. With that being said, here are 5 can’t miss directors on the come up.
Shawn Antoine II
The Harlemite has been pumping out short films and documentaries since 2015 while consistently addressing societal issues within his art. He made a splash on the filmmaking scene while still playing football at The University of Rhode Island, with films like “Letter to Malcolm” and “3A” . Shawn went on to receive national acclaim for his most recent effort though, the Nate Parker backed “Showtime”. The film nabbed him “Best New Director” in the Hip Hop Film Festival.
Natalie Jasmine
Natalie is keeping the tradition alive at NYU Tisch with a stellar body of work. Her short film “Metamorphosis” put her on our radar as the subtle, intimate tale of a young woman’s sleepover earned her festival nods around the world. She has an uncanny ability to be vulnerable in her work and her consistency is nothing short of amazing. She has not one, but two films accepted into the National Film Festival for Talented Youth and another on the way. Be on the look out for her next film “Pure” hitting screens sometime in the future.
Rashan Allen & Ali-Han Ibragimov
While most filmmakers are scrambling for distribution, Rashan Allen & Ali-Han Ibragimov were creating their very own platform. MOORvision is a streaming service in which subscription revenue will be used to fund original content and other select projects by independent content creators globally. Don’t get it confused though, these guys are artists first and from the look of their debut film “Bompton had a dream”, its only a matter of time before the world takes notice.
Landon White
We’ve covered Landon before as a musician/photographer, but as of recently he’s been really putting it all together as a full fledged filmmaker. Landon was nice enough to give us an early screening of his debut film “Nappy Heads” and to say this film is gorgeous would be a criminal understatement. White’s music and photography backgrounds mesh seamlessly as every frame bursts with color and sound. The coming of age film has a hang out, improvisational feel to it with visuals that will go down as his signature look. Calm those Google fingers down though, “Nappy Heads” will release to the rest of ya in 2020.
Phillip Youmans
Youmans bursted onto the scene like a proverbial rocket at Tribeca film festival this year with his award winning feature film “Burning Cane”. The stories were everywhere: Just 17 at the time, he wrote, shot and directed the film which was put together on a shoestring budget. It went on to be picked up by Netflix and is available to stream there currently. Now a student at NYU, Youmans already has a leg up on most of his peers. With Burning Cane being such a mature work in terms of pacing and context, we can only imagine what he has in store next.