FLM FWD Festival Barrington RI is a Small-Town Film Festival in a context conceived to encourage community building, showcasing family-appropriate content to promote the understanding of diversity.
The Inaugural FLM FWD Festival Barrington accepted film submissions where the content promoted the understanding of diversity and the lived experience of BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and otherized individuals/communities.
SUBMISSIONS FOR 2021 ARE CLOSED. WE GRATEFULLY THANK ALL OF OUR FILMMAKERS FOR THEIR SUBMISSIONS! PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR A LIST OF ALL OF THE FILMS THAT ACHIEVED SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND WERE SHOWN AT THE FESTIVAL.
We have completed our 2021 Inaugural Event: Walk in my Shoes.
For more information about our selection criteria please see below.
The following films were selected for showing and have won the prize of 'Special Recognition, 1st Annual FLM FWD Festival'
Fear Of Darkness
Director Shubham Gosalia
Running Time - 7:13
A man suffers from agoraphobia in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing.
Farewell Motivational
Directors Jeremy Lee, Amyna Price, Kiana Sheryl
Running Time - 4:04
A man with a speech impediment dreams of becoming a talk show host.
Bubby & Them
Director – Hazel Field, Je’Jae Cleopatra
Running Time - 1:10
Bubby & Them is a docufictional short about the relationship between two members of the Lower Eastside Orthodox Jewish community: Je’Jae a genderqueer college student, and Razi, their adoptive grandmother. The movie examines how the two female-identifying individuals support each other in their struggles, share space, and create a chosen family.
Fragmented Interpretations
Directed By – Greg W. Locke
Running Time – 7:50
A sleepy filmmaker and a giggly scholar attempt to make a film supporting an academic paper.
Hope Secured
Directed By – Eric Bailey Jr.
Running Time - 9:58
Based on the spoken word piece, “My Chest,” written by Tamara Faith, Hope Secured is a story of a woman who takes back her power as she wrestles with emotional abuse, the voices of well-meaning others, and her own insecurities.
Devoted To An Ideal
Directed By – Peter Mulligan
Running Time - 5:00
Peter Mulligan talks about his basketball journey into NYC’s prestigious St. Raymond High School Hall of Fame and facing everyone’s expectations that he would become another Black professional athlete. Despite not meeting those expectations, this former athlete walks tall.
Delayed But Never Denied: Juneteenth 2021 – Cleveland, Texas
Director - Gordon Scott Williams
Running Time - 10:50
In the town of Cleveland, Texas, north of Houston, a local organization holds a Juneteenth celebration that unites the community. This documentary shares the sights and sounds of the festivities, participants share the meaning of the day, and the importance of Juneteenth being recognized as a national holiday.
Manitas
Directed By – Elvia Susana Rubalcava
Running Time - 12:00
Two fangirl sisters travel to Oakland to attend a weekend writing retreat with Isa, the older sister, shero. Although excited to spend a weekend writing, Isa panics at the idea of sharing her writing in front of others and especially her shero.
Dance (Animated)
Director – Andrea “Andy” Mangano
Running Time – 1:10
After seeing a video of a beautiful dancer, a sweet young girl decides to become a dancer as well. However, she is very shy…
Thank You, Come Again
Nirav Bhakta
Running Time - 11:11
After the trigger of a hate crime, an undocumented Indian American convenience store clerk comes crashes into his subconscious as he grieves the passing of his father during an attempted border crossing.
Jubilee in the Jungle
Director – Louric Rankine
Running Time - 26:02
A young girl deals with the disappearance of her older sister by envisioning herself as a spy on a mission to save her.
The following films were invited for showing and have won the prize of 'special invitation, 1st annual FLM FWD Festival'
These Truths
Director – Don Mays
Running Time: 9 minutes
A response to the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed in the summer of 2020.
Beyond the Mask
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Filmmaker — Frederick Lewis
Running Time: 1:45
Beyond the Mask is a documentary on the life and legacy of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the first African American to achieve national fame as a writer. Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), is best remembered for his poem, "We Wear the Mask.” Dunbar’s story is also the story of the African American experience around the turn of the century.
June 27, 2022 will mark the 150th Anniversary of Paul Laurence Dunbar's birthday. The film has screened nationwide including the Rhode Island Black Film Festival, Brown University Center for Multicultural Studies and United States Library of Congress.
Our CATEGORY REQUIREMENTS:
Extra credit was given to films made by filmmakers who are BIPOC, LBGTQIA, or from otherized communities.
The film submission categories included, Feature (narrative/documentary), Short Film (narrative/documentary) and Short Form Student Films (narrative/documentary/web) and 'Films by current/former Barrington Residents (narrative/documentary). Please see descriptions below.
Films selected for the Inaugural festival were not in formal competition, however, selected films will receive our Jury's 'Special Recognition' Prizes, and will be linked to the FLM FWD Festival Barrington website, and a selection of these films will be screened at the festival and/or at our partner location at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence, RI.
Films had to be in the English language or contain English-language subtitles.
FEATURE (Narrative/Documentary)
Accepting domestic and international film submissions that are a minimum running time of 72 minutes. Films that have TV, streaming, or theatrical distributions may still qualify.
Filmmakers must be 18 years of age or older.
SHORT FILM (Narrative/Documentary)
Accepting domestic and international film submissions that are a maximum running time of 30 minutes. Films that have TV, streaming, or theatrical distributions may still qualify.
Filmmakers must be 18 years of age or older.
SHORT FORM STUDENT FILMS (Narrative/Documentary)
Accepting Local Barrington and East Bay student film submissions that are a maximum running time of 12 minutes.
The writer, director, or producer must be under 18 years of age.
Special category: FILMS BY CURRENT/FORMER RESIDENTS (Narrative/Documentary)
As part of the festival, we are creating a ‘Local’ forum. Here, filmmakers who have a connection to Barrington can be recognized and their work brought to the attention of our whole community. Our festival invites submission of all local films on the subject matter. Appropriate films will be included in an on-line database, receive public recognition, and may also be screened locally -covid restrictions permitting. These films can also be simultaneously submitted in any of the above categories. If you have MADE a film that you would like to submit to this forum, please contact us at submissions@flmfwdfestival.org and we will send you details.
About our Jury:
Our Film Festival Director, Don Mays, artist, educator and activist:
Don’s work: These Truths (2020) a short produced during COVID and motivated by the murder of George Floyd was screened at the Wilbury Theater/WaterFire collaboration, ‘Decameron’ a series of covid-safe performances held in August of 2020 and named for the original Decameron, a plague-themed script written by Italian monks at the end of the black plague. We will be screening These Truths on one of the two nights of our festival.
Writer, Filmmaker, Director, and Photographer based in Providence. As a filmmaker, Mays has one feature film, one HBO short film, a documentary and several short films and scripts to his credit. As a theatre director, Mays has worked with several local theaters including The Providence Black Rep and The Wilbury Theatre Group, where his film work appeared in Decameron, Providence, and as Director of Hype Man: a break-beat play and the Group's 2020 production of the musical Miss You Like Hell. Currently Mays has used his photography skills to document the uprising in association with the Black Lives Matters movement.
In the late nineties, Mays became personally involved with the Barrington community through his work with the Substance Abuse Task Force. Working with the town’s administrative office and both the middle and high schools, Mays was able to connect with community assisting in the facilitation of positive programming and community building activities. Don is a Providence resident.
Our Jury. FLM FWD Festival is pleased to welcome the following esteemed jury members to our Inaugural festival, 2021.
Roderick D. Giles (filmmaker)
Andy Russ (film editor)
Karen Baxter (former Artistic Director of Rights and Reason Theatre)
April Brown (educator, ordained minister, poet, singer and actor)
For more information on our jury, please see the section 'Jury' on this website.