UWHFF25 Program

SM91T ANlt SWEET FILMS PRESENTS:

JUNE 21TH, 2125!

It AITS,

RUN OF SHOW 5:00 -5:45: DOORS OPEN, NETWORKING & DRINKS 5:46 -5:59: MC WELCOME 6:00 -7:15 -ACT 1 7:15 -7:30: INTERMISSION 7:31 -8:40 -ACT 2 8:45 -9:45: VOTING, PANEL DISCUSSION, Q&A 9:45 -9:50: WINNERS ANNOUNCED & REMARKS 9:50 -10:30: PICTURES & DRINKS 10:30 -2 AM: After Party!

Ebony Roberts

Jeta simone

Festival director

festivival Assistant director

Colin Pawlowski

Onyx Roberts

Technical director

Internal operations manager

UWHFF25

UWHFF

UWHFF25 2025 Sponsors

GroundFloor Studios (GFS) provides a space for collaboration and accessibility where makers can bring professional-level creative visions to life while making a social impact. This multi-purpose media production studio exists as a partnership between ChatterBlast Media and Big Picture Alliance – made for creatives by creatives. Centrally located and in close proximity to multiple modes of transportation, GroundFloor grants convenience and flexibility in addition to a vast collection of high-end production equipment. GroundFloor also serves as a workforce incubator and source of social impact, allowing for the personalization of the creative process from inception to completion while cultivating a diverse pipeline of emerging young creatives, all in one place.

ChatterBlast Media. is a Philly-based digital agency blending strategy, storytelling, and sharp creative to move audiences and elevate brands. Since 2009, they’ve led campaigns across business, nonprofit, and government sectors. ChatterBlast delivers impact through social media, content, and digital strategy. Known for people first thinking and award-winning work, ChatterBlast brings bold ideas to life with purpose and precision.

At the core are co-founders Evan Urbania and Matthew Ray. Evan steering the vision as CEO, and Matt injecting cultural savvy and fearless creativity as Chief Creative Officer.

Together, they’ve built an agency that doesn’t just follow trends, it sets them.

UWHFF25 2025 Sponsors

Cashman & Associates is a full-service lifestyle marketing and communications agency with a client base comprised of some of the most reputable and well-known global brands.

For more than 20 years we have built a reputation as the go-to agency in the region for strategic public relations campaigns, crisis communications, influencer marketing & engagement, social media management, experiential marketing, community immersion, special events, project management, brand marketing, and graphic design.

Our firm specializes in connecting upscale lifestyle brands to their consumers in the hospitality, food & beverage, travel & tourism, fashion & retail, sports & entertainment, real estate, civic, and non-profit industries.

Cashman & Associates is headquartered in Philadelphia with a network that extends through all major media markets including New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Boston and Las Vegas.

Master of Ceremonies: Deante kyle Deante Kyle is what happens when your favorite cousin who always knows what time it is gets a mic, a message, and a million people ready to listen. A cultural critic with the cadence of a southern griot and the precision of a poet, Deante is the creator and host of the critically acclaimed Grits & Eggs Podcast — a sonic sermon for the people, by the people, with just enough cussin’ to make your auntie say, “But he right though.”

Born with a velvet voice and a velvet rope intuition for what’s real, Deante’ doesn’t just talk, he testifies. With over 300,000 TikTok followers and a podcast audience that turns reviews into love letters, his work thrives at the intersection of truth-telling, comic relief, and cultural accountability. Although he’s gone viral for championing Black women like it's his full-time job (which it kind of is); he’s not here to go viral, he’s here to go deep.

Whether he's breaking down Kendrick bars like a sermon on the mount, checking patriarchy, or reminding folks that Black love & joy is Black resistance, Deante’ brings soul, wit, and clarity to the chaos of this digital age.

Award-winning, widely streamed, and spiritually aligned with every living room, barbershop, and group chat, Deante’ Kyle is not just a voice for the culture, He’s a mirror, a megaphone, and sometimes, the whole altar.

Come hungry for them Grits & Eggs.

Our Jury: Wwhitney Roberts Whitney Alese, Digital Creator - “I don’t want to be famous. I want to be impactful.” Whitney Roberts may have a big following, an NAACP honor, and features in Wired Magazine, i-D Magazine, and NBC, but if you ask her, she only ever wanted to be impactful for her community and use her voice for good. Whitney honed that voice running her blog, The Reclaimed and subsequent podcast, The Reclaimed podcast where is, in her words, “just a Black girl out here trying to help everyone do better, including and especially herself.” She is also a writer whose work has been featured in Shondaland, Insider, The Black AIDS Institute, and Parents. Whitney is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She is married to Earl Roberts II and are blessed to be parents of their daughter, Emerie.

Khalid Ggreenwayy Khalid Greenaway is a multifaceted force—an actor, model, writer, public speaker, and board-licensed mental health counselor originally from St. Croix, Virgin Islands.

A graduate of Greensboro College and Liberty University, Khalid has founded multiple therapeutic organizations including *Successful Start*, a residential home and day treatment center for at-risk youth in North Carolina, and *Hope for Change*, an outpatient mental health agency in South Carolina. His early love for the arts resurfaced through formal training at The Actors Group, Artistic Heights Academy in Atlanta, and the renowned Actors Playhouse West in Philadelphia. As an actor, Khalid has appeared in *Ghost: Power Book II*, *Queens*, and most recently portrayed Jim Mitchell in *Queen of the Ring* on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. Beyond the screen, he’s served as a clinical director, consultant, and minister, partnering with state agencies and school systems to uplift vulnerable communities—merging purpose, passion, and performance in every chapter of his life.

Ggabriel Noble Gabriel "Gabe" Noble, originally from Kannapolis, North Carolina, explored various art forms including music, dance, and creative writing throughout high school and college. Nine years ago, he relocated to New York City to chase an acting career, which led him to discover a passion for hospitality, culminating in a successful stint as a bartender in the vibrant New York restaurant scene. In 2022, Gabe decided to follow his deepest passion: film. His debut short film, "A Cup of Tea," marks his first venture into filmmaking.

Currently, he is pursuing an MFA in Film at Stony Brook's Manhattan Center for Creative Writing and Film. Gabe is also developing a short script and his first feature film, both inspired by his North Carolina roots.

UWHFF25 5 Lineup

“swerve Eli” After a major pandemic leaves a talented artist out of work, Van Xander reaches out to Remo, a former street friend for some fast cash. But Remo has something else in mind. He wants Van mentor a troubled kid trying to fit in the BMX wheelie culture of Philadelphia. An artist tries to figure it out. A kid trying to fit in. Where there's a wheel, there's a way!

Directed by:by: Xraphael xavier

Raphael Xavier- African American film maker, Producer, Writer & Editor is an award-winning artist. As a 2013 Pew Fellowship Grantee, 2016 Guggenheim Fellow and 2016 United States Artist Fellow, Xavier has been a professional stage performer/dancer for the last 25 years. He works in a variety of fields including music, photography and film.

His latest project, Swerve·Eli is currently on the film festival circuit.

Swerve·Eli has been supported by Independent Public Media Foundation 2020 & 2024.

“Internal Embers” Escaping the rising tensions in his home, a young Lebanese man has lucid visions and interactions of his deepest anxieties through the smoke of a hookah.

Directed By: Alec Tufenkjian

Alec Tufenkjian is a Lebanese Armenian Filmmaker, focused on creating animations and stories that represent different cultures and identities that can connect and resonate with viewers emotionally. Born and raised in San Diego, but stationed in San Francisco at California College of the Arts.Need

“The Village It Tookk” After Everstone University (predominately White institution) denies funding the day of the 56th Annual open mic night of the Black Student Union (BSU), BSU event planner Ozanna writes an unauthorized check out of desperation, to protect this event of community & escapism. With not enough money in the bank account when the check is deposited by the vendor, the account is over-drafted. This triggers the school to charge the BSU with misuse of funds and termination of the organization.

Compromising her close friendship with Malik (the BSU President) and the well needed community for Black students on campus, Ozanna and the Black Student Union pleads their case.

Structurally, this film tangoes with non-linear structure. This project explores themes of Black legacy and excellence, the consequences of individualism, and the power of Black unity despite differences.

Directed by:: Victoria wilcoxx Victoria Wilcox is a Philadelphia-based director and freelance photographer.

Ranging in documentaries, narrative, music videos and more. Recognized locally and internationally, Victoria has curated a portfolio of capturing moments in time rooted in evoking empathy and feeling. She has recently graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film & Narrative Directing. Over the past five years, Victoria has built a name for herself through her business Torian Studios, showcased through various publications and awarded for screenwriting, lighting, and overall in filmmaking.

“ Lespri" An unnamed narrator uses found footage from his childhood in an attempt to paint a portrait of his father and their painful relationship.

Directed by: Jard Lerebours Jard Lerebours (He/They) is a queer community oriented Jamaican-Haitian filmmaker, writer and curator who creates exploratory pieces in service of venerating his ancestors and putting image to theory. He is an active member of the Meerkat Media Artist Collective. Jard’s practice straddles the worlds of cinema and video art. He approaches filmmaking as a conversation between friends and family guided by their loving West Indian upbringing in Long Island.

As a curator, Jard’s first program “Samkofa” in collaboration with Film Diary NYC featured genre defying and experimental work by Black filmmakers. Their next program “the land of wood and water” with cinemóvil nyc provided a much needed space to showcase work by Jamaican filmmakers. Jard’s latest program “Samkofa 2” continues the important work of building community and collaboration among Black filmmakers operating outside traditional documentary and fiction.

Jard’s film work includes the Babylon Red Trilogy which consists of the short films Pandrog, Coconut and Zion. The trilogy explores gender, masculinity, Rastafarianism, Buddhism and notions of home. His work has been showcased internationally by BAM, The Atlanta Film Festival, Indie Memphis Film Festival, NFFTY, Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Southern Fried Queer Pride, Out on Film, VAEFF and others.

“The Love Machine” Inside of a sleeping ancestor’s memory or dream…

Present-day, Philadelphia. Nasir Smith, a teenage scientist, and influencer, desperately wants to challenge intergenerational trauma, by healing his family’s past to welcome back love and compassion in their home. In his family’s basement, Nasir goes Live! presenting his new invention to the world, called The Love Machine.

Directed by:

JJasmine LYnea Jasmine Lynea is a film director and writer residing in Philadelphia. Her raw and colorful evolving film work aims to redesign familiar worlds with unique possibilities. A radical dreamer, Jasmine chooses to blend fantasy and reality in her black queer narratives to escape limitations that diminish our spiritual existence and power.

After she wrote, directed, and edited the poetically driven short film The Mixtape: Stay Black, Baby in 2016, Jasmine established a new relationship with film, becoming a high-school film teacher at Samuel Fels. There she was awarded the Leeway Art and Change Grant to launch the Root and Branch Arts Festival. During this time she was also awarded the 2020 Philadelphia Media Fund to continue her work as a film director and writer for her experimental short film How to Survive a Mourning, which screened at WWCC 16th Annual Juried Art Exhibition and was granted an Honorable Mention Award in 2021.

Jasmine’s short films have been screened in several film festivals including Seattle Black Film Festival, Hip Hop Film Festival, and San Francisco Black Film Festival. More recently, she wrote, directed, and edited her short fantasy sci-fi– The Love Machine. As a fellow for their year-long Inuagral Filmmaker Lab, the short- film premiered at the BlackStar Film Festival.

Jasmine Lynea, is currently in pre-production of her next short film Della Can Fly! The project is supported by Independent Public Media Foundation.

“Flesh and Spirit" A Short film about a young graffiti artist who is preyed upon by another “emerging” artist.

Loosely based on THE TRUTH.

What’s the fate for those who continue to steal from black artist?

Directed by:y: Tiffanyy Lupien

Tiffany Lupien is an emerging storyteller and filmmaker from California who’s intention is to tell the stories we want to feel in the most artistic way.

“Futures without guns" Futures Without Guns invites the viewer to embark on a journey through three diverse artistic perspectives and tap into their innate creativity to envision a future where the threat of gun violence is a distant memory.

Futures Without Guns is a call to action that unites us in our collective determination to actively shape a brighter future.

Directed by: Kkyra knox

Kyra Knox is an award-winning director who understands the power of storytelling. Her work has been featured in Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, NPR Morning Edition, Axios, Filmmaker Magazine, and more. Driven by a passion for storytelling, Kyra transitioned from a full-time job to pursue directing.

Her directorial debut, the award-winning feature documentary "Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia," explores gun violence in her city and the community's efforts to combat it. The film premiered at the prestigious American Black Film Festival and has since garnered critical acclaim, winning honors at The Philadelphia Film Festival, The Micheaux Film Festival, the Harlem Hip Hop Festival, and more. FOX Soul and Prime Video have acquired her feature, and it has been seen by over 300,000 households (and counting) since its December 2023 debut.

Kyra's filmmaking approach fosters a deep connection between the audience and the participants of her documentaries. This stems from her belief in respecting and caring for each person's story. Her dedication has been recognized with numerous awards, including Producer of the Year at the Shorty Impact Awards, seven Shorty Impact Awards, eight Telly Awards, four Communicator Awards, a Gold Addy, and a Mosaic Award. Kyra is known for her infectious enthusiasm and commitment to creating a safe and collaborative environment on set.

1.19.22 documentary MARXELLE, goes through a life altering battle for his freedom in this short documentary.

All of his pain comes from how this situation is hurting his Wife, children, family, and loved ones.

In this self written, directed, & edited display of heart, MARX makes a parallel for anyone who is, has, or will go through ANY time of turmoil: "learn from the hell you go through...the lessons bring HEAVEN."

Directed by: Marxelle becton Marxelle Becton is a rising voice in Chicago’s creative scene. Part filmmaker, part musician, all soul. His storytelling has a fresh, fearless perspective behind. With a sharp eye for human nuance and a commitment to telling overlooked stories, Marxelle is carving out a lane all his own in the indie film world.

Beyond the lens, he’s also a musician whose work echoes the same honesty and depth. Music that feels like memory and motion, grounded in Black expressive tradition. Whether capturing raw footage or crafting verses, Marxelle moves with intention: amplifying truth, challenging silence, and creating space for healing through art. His voice may be emerging. but it’s unmistakably his own.

“Laundry” "Laundry" follows Darius and Bree Williams, a couple whose lives are shattered when their 6-year-old son Hunter suffers a severe oxygen-depriving accident. The story begins with the family enjoying a peaceful evening at home before the parents discover Hunter tangled in bedsheets, unconscious. Despite their frantic CPR efforts and paramedics' intervention, Hunter survives but is left significantly changed.

Three months later, Darius and Bree are emotionally estranged, each silently blaming themselves and each other for what happened. Their marriage has deteriorated into silence and resentment. After an argument, Darius leaves to do laundry and encounters a mysterious older woman named Elodie at the laundromat. She offers him wisdom about grief, healing, and second chances.

written by: Alterikk Miller

Alterik Miller is a multi-talented creative from Newark, New Jersey with an insatiable hunger for artistic expression, he has honed his craft as a filmmaker, musician, and visual artist. As a producing partner with Deck of Cards Entertainment, he has an unwavering passion for storytelling and has worked alongside an impressive roster of up-and-coming actors. Achieving critical acclaim and a legion of viewers, Alterik’s groundbreaking thought-provoking proof-of-concept, "MOONLESS NIGHTS” has garnered numerous accolades.

In addition to producing “BY DECEPTION,” a psychological thriller (now streaming on Peacock, Redbox, The Roku Channel, Sling TV and Tubi), the home invasion thriller, “ONE WAY OUT” in which he wrote and also produced will be released in the Spring of 2025, Alterik continues to push the boundaries of his artistry, always looking to captivate audiences with his bold and unflinching storytelling as he sets his sights on even greater creative heights.

“"Fatherhood: A Road Paved with Intention"” Black fatherhood is more than a title—it’s a commitment, a responsibility, and an act of intentionality. Fatherhood: A Road Paved with Intention is a heartfelt short film that explores the depth, challenges, and triumphs of Black men stepping fully into their roles as fathers. Through intimate storytelling, it highlights the importance of presence, purpose, and breaking generational cycles to redefine what it means to lead, nurture, and protect.

From teaching self-love and cultural pride to instilling values that shape the next generation, this film is a love letter to Black fathers everywhere—honoring those who walk this road with intention, ensuring their children grow up knowing they are seen, loved, and empowered.

Dircted by: darryl wyrick Darryl Wyrick is a creative storyteller, aviation advocate, and digital strategist dedicated to amplifying Black voices and fostering intentional community impact. With a background in educational leadership and corporate project management, Darryl has spent years using his platform to highlight the intersections of Black identity, wellness, and professional development.

As a former higher education practitioner turned aviation professional, he has been a visible force in digital media.

His work centers on empowering Black creatives, sharing untold narratives, and building spaces where authenticity and representation thrive.

Now, as a new father, Darryl’s creative lens has expanded to include a deeper exploration of Black fatherhood— documenting the lessons, challenges, and intentionality that come with shaping the next generation. His latest short film, Fatherhood: A Road Paved with Intention, is a testament to that journey, offering a heartfelt reflection on what it means to show up with purpose, love, and vision for the future.

“Searching For god”

A boy searches for God while battling his thoughts on religion.

During a silent yet loud meltdown, he confronts his inner turmoil, ultimately discovering what faith means to him.

Directed by:

Chemlahyah yisreal

Born an raised in 3 cities of Ohio, I am 1 of 12 siblings, the first of them to pursue a career in the arts , an that I enjoy , a child of God. I can also do a backflip.

UWHFF255 After Party!

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO: Our Filmmakers

Our Jurors & MC Underground Arts

Our Volunteers Black Soul Summer

OUR BEAUTIFUL AUDIENCE!!

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!