Seattle Black Film Festival 2026

When the Young Call the Rhythm Youth Shorts Block - Virtual Screening

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12 films in package
Corporate Mystery 3
The president's daughter has been kidnapped. The Corporate 3 are called in to solve the crime.
DEADLY THIRST
Christina fails to make the cut for the school track team. She decides to take matters into her own hands.
Unsuspected
A group of students decide to ditch school and go to an abandoned warehouse to play. Everything goes wrong when one of the students ends up dead.
WALK IN MY SHOES
Children relentlessly make fun of their school janitor. One of the students shares the elevator with the Janitor and something weird happens.
WHAT I MISS
Residents at Echo Glen Children’s Center reflect on what they miss about being “out.” Created through the SHARE screenwriting program at the juvenile detention facility in Snoqualmie, Washington, this short combines images and poetry from students at Echo Glen High School with voiceover performances by students from Renton High School - a collaboration designed both to protect Echo students’ identities and to build an emotional bridge between youth who might otherwise never connect.
SPLIT SECOND
At Echo Glen High School, a juvenile detention facility in King County, WA, students examine the fragile moment between good and bad decisions while building community, as the voiceover traces one student’s early struggles with incarceration. Voiceover performed by a student at Shoreline College.
Closed captions available
Stero
A Kung Fu prodigy navigates school with his imaginary Sensei following one simple rule: What would Bruce Lee do?
"Blessed"
Khaiya, a teen black girl, just wants to have a normal body and fit in like everyone else her age, but she has an overdeveloped body and struggles to deal with it. Some people her age wished they had her body, but she hates it, and she dreams of being normal.
FLOAT
A teenage competitive swimmer's passion for the water turns to fear as relentless comments about her weight from her male coach erode her confidence — until an unexpected friendship with an older woman learning to float helps her to remember what makes her body great
Who I'm Trying To Be
When Derrick Coney learns in childhood that the man raising him is not his biological father, it sets him on a journey of identity, belonging, and gratitude. Through candid conversations with his mother, grandparents, and stepfather, Derrick reflects on what it means to be a son, to inherit culture, and to search for roots. While questions about his Puerto Rican heritage and absent father linger, the film celebrates the love and resilience of the family who chose to stay, revealing that fatherhood is defined not by blood, but by commitment.
Ways to Fly
When her barrettes mess up her pirouettes, an excitable, hyper-focused Black girl must power through the distractions — and her mother’s expectations — to fly like the ballerinas do.
Closed captions available
LIMITLESS
A shy, but spirited middle school singer-songwriter must conquer her fear of “last time” and push past her classmates’ criticism in order to create a new song and audition for her school’s variety show with confidence
Closed captions available
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The school janitor is constantly getting disrespected by the students. They tease him about smelling bad and compare him to trash. One day one of the students enters the elevator with the janitor. The student holds his nose implying that the janitor stinks and throws empty cup on the floor. As the elevator ascends...it stops all of the sudden, and the lights begin to flicker. The elevator resumes and opens to a teacher belittling the janitor telling him to wipe the counters and mop the floor. Confused, the student exits the elevator and with the mop. He goes into the restroom and looks in the mirror. To his surprise, he's now the janitor. Confused, he begins sweeping the floor. He takes his mop and is waiting for the elevator. While he waits, some students come by to make fun of him. He enters the elevator and the lights begin flickering again. All of the sudden, he sees the janitor in front of him. The janitor bends down to pickup the plastic cup he dropped, but the student picks it up for him. The student then extends his hand to shake the janitor's hand.

  • Year
    2025
  • Runtime
    2:25
  • Language
    English
  • Country
    United States
  • Genre
    Sci-Fi, Supernatural
  • Director
    Loyal Alexander & Mekhi Codrington
  • Screenwriter
    Loyal Alexander, Mekhi Codrington
  • Cast
    Jaylen Chambliss, Ezra Codrington, Mekhi Codrington, Christina Belt, Issah Kamara, Payton Ticeson,
  • Cinematographer
    Ezra Codrington
  • Editor
    Loyal Alexander, Terelle Conner
  • Music
    Spyda
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