This is installment #9 of Shadow And Act’s #ShortFilmShoutout series.

If you’re spiritual on any level, you probably recognize the idea that the ancestors inform us, even when we aren’t aware. This idea is embedded in Vernon Jordan, III’s short film, See My Dreams Come True.

In the film, a young artist (Cypress Green) struggles with creating art. Having a creative block, he takes a nap, as a lot of anguished artists do. That nap provides him with inspiration in the form of a young ancestral boy (Sage Green) and a young ancestral girl (Mahogony Collins) from the 19th and 20th centuries. They visit him in his sleep and, after waking, the young boy feels like he knows what he wants to do with his artistic talent.

If you’re a fan of experimental work a la Terence Nance, then this short film will be up your alley. It’s atmospheric and quietly showcases Black youth free and happy, and how that happiness, an emotion Black youth aren’t always allowed to show in this country, can transpire into tremendous art.

In other words, Black lives do matter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of the beauty we see in the world.

READ MORE:

#ShortFilmShoutout: ‘The Water Phoenix’ Chronicles The Story Of A Black Mermaid

#ShortFilmShoutout: ’00:11:45′ Presents A Black Girl’s Journey Through A Zombie Apocalypse

#ShortFilmShoutout: The Animated Film ‘Felix’ Is A Sweet Tearjerker

#ShortFilmShoutout: ‘The Dispute’ Is ‘B.A.P.S.’ Meets ‘Atlanta,’ With A Focus On Friendship And Laid Edges

#ShortFilmShoutout: ‘Malcolm’ Imagines What Malcolm X Would Say About 21st Century Racism

#ShortFilmShoutout: Ifeoma Nkiruka Chukwuogo’s ‘Bariga Sugar’ Follows An 8-Year-Old In Lagos

Black Filmmakers, Submit Your Film To #ShortFilmShoutout

Photo: Vernon Jordan, III/Screencap

Mahogony Collins

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