Brown Girl Begins (2018)

Trailer

Logline

It’s 2049 and a druglord owns the streets of The Burn. Young Ti-Jeanne must choose between her fear of dying like her mother, or harnessing the power of the Caribbean spirits to save her people.

Synopsis

It’s 2049 and Toronto the Good has been taken over by the wealthy. A wall has been built around the city and the poor are expelled to an island off the coast, known as The Burn. The segregated Burndwellers have been forced to scrape out a living by bartering, recycling, and farming. Mami is the unspoken leader of the Burn, sharing her Caribbean herb lore and leading her followers in an ancient spiritual practice. Ti-Jeanne turns 19 and the time has come for her to succeed her grandmother and become a Priestess. When Mami tries to prepare her to take part in the same possession ritual that killed her mother, Ti-Jeanne refuses. She flees with her young love Tony to the other side of the Burn in hopes of leaving the spirit business behind. Until – out of the ashes of The Burn, a drug lord rises to take control of the remaining population and uses his right hand, Crack, to torment the Burn dwellers and prepare them for sale to mainlanders as smart slaves. When Crack begins torturing the children of the Burn, Ti-Jeanne can no longer refuse her other-worldly powers as a priestess. She is the only hope to save them. Can Ti-Jeanne handle the power of the spirits she has been so afraid of and save her people, or will her fear kill her?

Details

Feature (70mins) Narrative Fantasy, Sciencefiction

Language: English
Distributor: FILMCO

Production

Cast

Allison Augustin
Danielle Ayow
Measha Brueggergosman
Hannah Chantée
Alli Chung
Rachael Crawford
Joey DeCarle
Sonia Dhillon Tully
Leon Elkaim
Dorett Emanuei
Charles Fowler
Franckie Francois
Howard Gord
Elijha Hammill
Kiki Hammill
Brittany Johnson
Amrit Kaur
Keeya King
Sy Jin Lee
Andy McQueen
Nadin Rizk
David Rudder
Peter Sacco
Ryan Singh
Patrick Sue-Chan
Cameron Switzer
Ronald Tang
Allen Zarnett

Awards

NOMINEE, BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Canadian Screen Awards, 2018
NOMINEE, ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP: Canadian Screen Awards, 2018
WINNER, BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Houston Black Film Festival, 2018
NOMINEE, BEST FILM, YOUTH JURY: Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, 2018
NOMINEE, BEST FIRST FEATURE FILM: Pan African Film Festival, 2018
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Black Future Month Tour- Vancouver International Film Festival’s Black Film Series: Vancity Theatre, 2018
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Timehri Film Festival, Guyana, 2018
FFICIAL SELECTION: Durban International Film Festival, 2018
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Cinemigrante, Argentina, 2018
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Bloody Mary Film Festival, Toronto, 2018
WINNER OF AWARD OF MERIT SPECIAL MENTION IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CATEGORY: Indiefest, 2017
NOMINEE, OUTSTANDING WORLD CINEMA: Urbanworld Film FestivaL, 2017
NOMINEE, BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM: Montreal International Black Film Festival, 2017
NOMINEE, BEST FEATURE FILM: ReelBlack Awards, 2017
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Urbanworld Film Festival, NYC, 2017
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Montreal International Black Film Festival, 2017
OFFICIAL SELECTION: Urban Mediamakers Film Festival, Atlanta, 2017