An Evening of Oscar-Qualifying Shorts From Reel Sisters

In honor of Women’s History Month, BAM hosts an evening of Oscar-qualifying shorts curated by the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series. The evening will feature four Oscar-qualifying shorts, including Reunion and Ro & the Stardust (Netflix), and one notable Best Short Screenplay award winner—all by women of color. Family bonds, faith, joy, and pride are mixed with painful truths in the Oscar-worthy stories celebrated in our showcase.

Reunion, directed by Brooklyn based filmmakers Zainab Jah and Tim Naylor, is under Academy Awards consideration for 2025. In this powerful short on forgiveness and letting go, a West African immigrant is triggered by a bestselling author and child soldier.

Founded in 1997 by African Voices magazine, Reel Sisters, the first Oscar-qualifying film festival in the nation devoted to women of color, has showcased 10,000+ films by women of African, Asian, Native American, Indian, Latina, and Arabic descent. Reel Sisters will be held in Brooklyn on October 25 & 26, 2025. For information visit www.reelsisters.org.

Film Showcase

Ro & the Stardust (2022)
Dir. Eunice Levis, 15min
Reel Sisters Best Short Narrative Award 2022 | Oscar Qualifier 2023
Producer:  Rachel K. Ofori, Elvis Nolasco

A free-spirited teen fulfills her terminally ill grandmother’s dying wish of building a rocket ship to launch her into outer space.

A Trip with Mom (2019)
Dir. Sophie Shui, 25min
Reel Sisters Best Short Narrative Award 2020 | Oscar Qualifier 2021
Producer: Chi-Fang Ting

In order to take care of his old mother (played by Liou Yin-Shang), who has lost her intelligence and is disabled, Xia Changming (Chen Yi-Wen) remains unemployed at home. The family of four has been relying on his wife Xiaoling (played by Chin Tzu-Yen), an insurance salesperson, for many years.

Ya Hanouni (2024)
Dirs. Lyna Tadount, Sofian Chouaib, 2min
Reel Sisters Best Short Screenplay Award 2024 | Curator’s Pick

While the Mom and the Dad try to put their baby to sleep, a competition arises between them: who will manage to get the baby to say the first word?

Reunion (2023)
Dirs. Timothy S. Naylor, Zainab Jah, 15min
Reel Sisters Best Short Narrative Award 2023 | Oscar Qualifier 2025
Producers: Djaka Souaré, Timothy S. Naylor, Zainab Jah
Executive Producer: Danai Gurira 
Associate Producer: Lupita Nyong’o

While watching a morning talk show, Isata, a West African immigrant living in the Bronx, recognizes the guest: bestselling author Mamadou Kargbo, who triggers in her deep memories of surviving a civil war. Had he once been the child soldier who destroyed her family? And if she finds out she is right, will she seek vengeance or grant forgiveness?

Jellyfish & Lobster (2023)
Dir. Yasmin Afifi, 20min
Reel Sisters Best Short Narrative Award 2024 | Oscar Qualifier 2026
Producer: Elizabeth Rufait

A magical-realist dark comedy/drama set within the backdrop of a gritty British care home.

When two old and terminally ill patients discover a magical pool that restores them back to their younger selves beneath the water, they are forced to reconcile with the inescapable truth of their mortality, or risk drowning in an illusion of their past.