Support Amandla's Very First Narrative Short Film

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What “For Peace of Mind” Is About

For Peace of Mind is a short film about a Black Muslim mother who follows her daughter across the country just when it seems like the world is about to end. This film is about reconciliation, survival, and love between Black mothers and daughters.

World

The world feels like it is ending. The wind whistles as though it warns us. The waves thrash, hinting at an angry ocean. Trees sway in wild motion. The radio warns of hurricanes and the warm tint of the sky is from a lingering disaster. Why? Because even through the journey to healing our interpersonal traumas, we still have environmental crises looming in the distance, threatening our safety.

Why

I wrote this film because I wanted to examine the Black American trauma inherited by a lot of Black women in this country, and passed down from generation to generation. I wanted to examine what kind of people this trauma makes and what kind of person it takes to break the curse. Conventionally, this trauma has carbon copied and pasted the same kind of person and told us that was what strength looked like. But this film is written to challenge that. It is meant to get us quiet in that pain and sit with the mask in hand. The need to seem strong often leaves us forgotten. It often leaves us abandoned. Now imagine trying to break that curse with the person who passed it to you still present. Imagine being tasked with the Odyssey and having Polyphemous riding along. In a lot of ways, healing is like having the antagonist on the journey with you. So deep listening is required.

There is a whole world that exists in silence. I want this film to take us into that world. When you’re quiet you hear the earth. We are exhausting her. And if we don't change now, she will need to get rid of us. My listening has told me to accept what is and allow it to destroy me if it needs to. My hope is in togetherness, even if that means relying on people who may not be familiar. Even if that means flipping this entire world on its head and starting bottom up.

What’s Next

We’ve already cast Cleo Reed and Dee Freeman as our leads. We found some beautiful locations. And we confirmed our incredible DP, Daisy Zhou. But we are still raising funds, hence the Godfundme :). Please feel free to share what you can. It seems as though the world is in so much pain. It’s impossible to ignore. While we want to make this film for the most amount of money that we can, I am also pledging to give 20% of the full amount raised here to an organization working to improve environmental racism. The organization of choice will be announced later in the month.

CAST:

DEE FREEMAN AS "GIGI" (THE MOTHER)