The feature film, Sleeping Negro, is showing at Unseen Cinema this February in honour of Black History Month.
The screening is a partnership between Unseen Cinema and Sudu Connexion with three arthouse African titles showing in the first quarter of 2024.
The Sleeping Negro is written and directed by Skinner Myers. When confronted with a series of racially charged incidents, a young Black man must overcome rage, alienation, and hopelessness in order to find his own humanity. The movie’s premiere was at the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival in 2021, as well as Champs-Elysees Film Festival in Paris, France. Tahe Sleeping Negro has since won the FIPRESCI award at IFF Mannheim Heidelberg (2021), Best Narrative Feature at FESTIC Burkina Faso (2023), and the Special Jury Award at the Diorama Film Festival in India (2023). It will be showing at Unseen Nairobi from Feb 2-6, 9-13, 16-20, and 23-27. Tickets are available here mookh.com/the-sleeping-negro.
Skinner Myers is an award-winning filmmaker who has written and directed 11 films. The Sleeping Negro is his feature film debut. Myers has studied at Columbia University, Brooklyn College, the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam.
Sudu Connexion is an international sales and distribution company of films from Africa and its diaspora, based and established in Pantin, France, since 2016. It represents a catalogue of short, medium length and feature length films. The films have been screened and awarded at major film festival such as Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Venice, Toronto, Sundance, IDFA, FESPACO, Carthage, and Durban. They are available on TV on globally available channels such as BBC, Arte, Canal+, TV5 Monde, and Aljazeera.