Legacy centers this spirited collection of contemporary short films from the US, the Ivory Coast and France, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Meet The Family That Sticks Together (2025)
Dir. Taylor Dews
33min; DCP
US
New York Premiere
In the early 2000s, filmmaker Taylor Dews’ grandmother’s generation gathered their extended family on Sundays for “meetings and a meal” through the Lane Family Savings Club, pooling small monthly contributions to make family trips, celebrations, and reunions possible. Years later, when Taylor returns home to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to film oral histories with her grandmother, great-aunts, and uncles, a larger story begins to emerge. During the 1940s, when segregation shut Black Americans out of many formal banking systems, Social and Savings Clubs formed among relatives, church members, coworkers, and friends who used shared funds to pay for funerals, invest in neighborhoods, organize community events, and sustain collective life. As Taylor narrates these discoveries to her younger cousins, Ty’Kari and Ky’La, the three begin piecing together their family’s story. What starts as a search through memories, photographs, and VHS tapes slowly stretches further back than anyone expected. Research in the archives of Norfolk State University reveals that their ancestor once served as treasurer of the Eldorado Social and Savings Club in 1947. Fifty years later, that same spirit of collective care would inspire their great-uncle to unknowingly carry forward a tradition that had already shaped the family’s past. As the family revisits histories of care, cooperation, and resourcefulness, the camera does more than record the past—it helps rekindle a nearly lost tradition.
Kids See Ghosts. (2025)
Dir. Daniel Thalmas
11min; DCP
Ivory Coast, France
In French with English subtitles
North American Premiere
One night, a young boy listens to his grandmother tell a poetic story about the innocence of children and the ghosts that arise within them due to the actions of adults. Through four stories, the film illustrates how these traumas emerge and leave lasting marks across generations.
The Sight Unseen (2026)
Dir. Shawn Antoine II
40min; DCP
US
The Sight Unseen is a hybrid film revisiting the miraculous events of 1971 in the Bronx, when six-year-old Sharon Wilson discovered a glowing cross in her apartment bathroom window—a phenomenon that drew crowds from across the community and became a moment of collective awe and curiosity. Now, more than five decades later, Sharon reflects on her vivid memories, interwoven with the reporting of Amsterdam News journalist Melvin Tapley, who documented the story at the time. Through reenactments, archival research, and Sharon’s voice, the film constructs an evocative portrait of faith and uncertainty, illuminating how extraordinary histories survive even as those who lived them pass on.
Director's Notes (2025)
Dir. Christian Nyampeta
21min; DCP
US, DRC
In English and French with English subtitles
US Premiere
Director’s Notes is a modular playlist exploring the ideas behind Carnets d’Amérique, a fictional film about an African writer visiting New York on a book tour, leading to adventures and encounters with collaborators, authorities, institutions, and libraries. The film is partially based on Carnets d’Amérique (1976), an out-of-print book by the prolific and illustrious Congolese-American poet, writer and philosopher V. Y. Mudimbe, known for The Invention of Africa (1998) and The Idea of Africa (1994), both key texts in contemporary African studies. Carnets d’Amérique documents Mudimbe’s first visit to America, before he settled there in 1988 as a university professor. Retracing moments from Mudimbe’s United States visit, the film expresses beauty, dreams, anguish, and the perils of dedicating one’s life to the pursuit of knowledge. It reflects vivid hope amid today’s environmental crises, social disarray, digital disconnections, and pervasive uncertainty. Set primarily in New York, the film also features overseas episodes co-directed by collaborating filmmakers and their production teams.
Followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Taylor Dews, Shawn Antoine II, and Christian Nyampeta—moderated by Stephanye Watts
Meet The Family That Sticks Together (2025)
Dir. Taylor Dews
33min; DCP
US
New York Premiere
In the early 2000s, filmmaker Taylor Dews’ grandmother’s generation gathered their extended family on Sundays for “meetings and a meal” through the Lane Family Savings Club, pooling small monthly contributions to make family trips, celebrations, and reunions possible. Years later, when Taylor returns home to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to film oral histories with her grandmother, great-aunts, and uncles, a larger story begins to emerge. During the 1940s, when segregation shut Black Americans out of many formal banking systems, Social and Savings Clubs formed among relatives, church members, coworkers, and friends who used shared funds to pay for funerals, invest in neighborhoods, organize community events, and sustain collective life. As Taylor narrates these discoveries to her younger cousins, Ty’Kari and Ky’La, the three begin piecing together their family’s story. What starts as a search through memories, photographs, and VHS tapes slowly stretches further back than anyone expected. Research in the archives of Norfolk State University reveals that their ancestor once served as treasurer of the Eldorado Social and Savings Club in 1947. Fifty years later, that same spirit of collective care would inspire their great-uncle to unknowingly carry forward a tradition that had already shaped the family’s past. As the family revisits histories of care, cooperation, and resourcefulness, the camera does more than record the past—it helps rekindle a nearly lost tradition.
Kids See Ghosts. (2025)
Dir. Daniel Thalmas
11min; DCP
Ivory Coast, France
In French with English subtitles
North American Premiere
One night, a young boy listens to his grandmother tell a poetic story about the innocence of children and the ghosts that arise within them due to the actions of adults. Through four stories, the film illustrates how these traumas emerge and leave lasting marks across generations.
The Sight Unseen (2026)
Dir. Shawn Antoine II
40min; DCP
US
The Sight Unseen is a hybrid film revisiting the miraculous events of 1971 in the Bronx, when six-year-old Sharon Wilson discovered a glowing cross in her apartment bathroom window—a phenomenon that drew crowds from across the community and became a moment of collective awe and curiosity. Now, more than five decades later, Sharon reflects on her vivid memories, interwoven with the reporting of Amsterdam News journalist Melvin Tapley, who documented the story at the time. Through reenactments, archival research, and Sharon’s voice, the film constructs an evocative portrait of faith and uncertainty, illuminating how extraordinary histories survive even as those who lived them pass on.
Director's Notes (2025)
Dir. Christian Nyampeta
21min; DCP
US, DRC
In English and French with English subtitles
US Premiere
Director’s Notes is a modular playlist exploring the ideas behind Carnets d’Amérique, a fictional film about an African writer visiting New York on a book tour, leading to adventures and encounters with collaborators, authorities, institutions, and libraries. The film is partially based on Carnets d’Amérique (1976), an out-of-print book by the prolific and illustrious Congolese-American poet, writer and philosopher V. Y. Mudimbe, known for The Invention of Africa (1998) and The Idea of Africa (1994), both key texts in contemporary African studies. Carnets d’Amérique documents Mudimbe’s first visit to America, before he settled there in 1988 as a university professor. Retracing moments from Mudimbe’s United States visit, the film expresses beauty, dreams, anguish, and the perils of dedicating one’s life to the pursuit of knowledge. It reflects vivid hope amid today’s environmental crises, social disarray, digital disconnections, and pervasive uncertainty. Set primarily in New York, the film also features overseas episodes co-directed by collaborating filmmakers and their production teams.
Followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Taylor Dews, Shawn Antoine II, and Christian Nyampeta—moderated by Stephanye Watts
UPCOMING Screenings
RUNNING TIME
104min
VENUE
TICKET INFORMATION
General Admission: $17
Members: $12
Please note: A $2 handling fee per ticket will be added to your order.
Leadership support for
BAM’s strategic initiatives provided by:
Leadership support for
BAM Access Programs provided by
the Jerome L. Greene Foundation
Leadership support for
BAM programming provided by:
Leadership support for
BAM Film provided by
The Thompson Family Foundation
Major support for programs in
the Lepercq Cinema is provided by
The Lepercq Charitable Foundation
