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Logline

An anthology film exploring contemporary Black existence across the diaspora: a collegiate football star scrambles to save his career after a devastating injury; a Ghanaian single mother desperately evades deportation after being unjustly fired from her job; the lead of an up-and-coming sitcom must decide between financial prosperity and fighting for better on-screen representation.

Synopsis

In the 1990s, Krzysztof Kieslowski wrote and directed Three Colors, a trilogy, a trilogy in which the primary theme of each piece directly correlated with the “political ideal” behind the associated color on the French flag. Three Colors: Pan-African is a remix of this Academy Award-nominated concept that instead utilizes the Pan-African flag as its thematic reference point, weaving three short stories about contemporary Blackness into an anthology feature film.

Red:
Black men are often taught that our existence is monolithic. We must be physically strong and emotionally isolated. We must be providers. Our only path to success is through the use and abuse of our bodies. RED/Liberation subverts these generation-spanning mindsets, relaying that it is okay to be vulnerable and to seek success for yourself outside of athletics.

Black:
The Black community is bonded by our perseverance against oppression and our unbreakable sense of collective culture. A persistent notion amongst us is that you must pull yourself up by your own bootstraps; receiving help is akin to receiving a handout. BLACK/Unity rejects this notion by exploring the possibilities for growth when we support our kinfolk. Drawing on the strong tradition of African mythology, Black will invoke the colorful imagination of a child in a story about affirmation through community.

Green:
The word prosperity immediately invokes ideas of wealth, but GREEN/Prosperity questions whether financial success is truly the highest form of prosperity. In a hyper-digital society, media representations have become the dominant mode in which we understand the world around us. Because representations of Black people have historically been negative, a warped view of who we are has permeated the public consciousness. Through the lens of the sitcom, Green looks to the history of these depictions to elucidate the path towards stronger on-screen representation: putting Black authors behind Black images.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Elijah Davis — Director (“Red”)/Executive Producer/Creator
Elijah Davis is an independent film director, producer, and writer focused on telling stories about Black masculinity in the form of interpersonal dramas. Trained in Cinema and Media Studies by USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Elijah seeks to tell dynamic and progressive stories that engage wide audiences while simultaneously paying reverence to the vast breadth of cinematic history that precedes him.

His films have been recognized at festivals such as the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Blow-Up Arthouse Film Fest in Chicago.

His writing has been recognized by his acceptance into USC’s Cannes Classics Program, as well as his admittance into the African American Film Critics Association.

Allison A. Waite — Director (“Black”)
Allison A. Waite is an award-winning director and cinematographer. She obtained her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in Film & Television Production with a cinematography concentration as a George Lucas Foundation Scholar. Allison studied cinematography at AFI’s inaugural Women in Cinematography Intensive. She also obtained a B.A. from Hampshire College and maintained an interdisciplinary major in Film/Video production and Africana Studies. Allison has received recognition, including the DGA Directorial Achievement Award and a Student Academy Award for her film “The Dope Years.”

Her most recent work for Delta Airlines is a selection for the Tribeca X Awards in 2024.
Filmmaking is her activism tool of choice; she aims to give unresolved stories a voice and spark connections within her community.

Tyler Ocasio Holmes — Director (“Green”)
Tyler Ocasio Holmes is a Black American and Puerto Rican filmmaker from southern Virginia and a Columbia University graduate. After transitioning from a demanding Wall Street career to the arts, he built a thriving career capturing stories through photography and videography. Now based in Los Angeles, Tyler is in his final semester at USC’s MFA Film program.

Tyler has created and collaborated on projects across genres, including drama, thriller, comedy, and documentary. Beyond narrative filmmaking, he directed a music video for Motown under Universal Music Group and was awarded a $40,000 grant to collaborate with Johns Hopkins University on a seven-episode animated series.

He was awarded the Annenberg Fellowship at USC for his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and was selected for the NAACP Editing Fellowship in partnership with Adobe in the summer of 2024. Through this fellowship, he received mentorship from Emmy-winning editor Stephanie Filo. Tyler further honed his craft at Parallax Post Production, working alongside Oscar-winning editor Paul Rodgers and Kahlil Joseph, a renowned film director and visual artist.

Set to graduate in spring 2025, Tyler is dedicated to creating impactful stories and building a transformative career as a writer and director.

Peyton Alex Smith — Actor (“Red”)
Peyton Alex Smith is an American actor, best known for his role as Damon Sims in the TV series All American: Homecoming as well as Rafael Waithe in The CW series Legacies and Cedric Hobbs in the TV series The Quad.

Stephen Bishop — Actor (“Red”)
Stephen Bishop is an American actor and former baseball player best known for his portrayal of David Justice in Moneyball. He was a regular cast member in the television series The Equalizer, Being Mary Jane, Imposters, and Run the World. Bishop also appeared in the films Friday Night Lights and The Rundown.

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Contact

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