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Osirika - Black Champagne

Queen Suraya and King Jamari are the leaders of the magical Nemanyo civilization and derive their powers from an ancient lotus flower that was brought to earth from their ancestors thousands of years ago. Envious of their sacred power and magic, the Nemanyo fall under siege by the Czar of Chezidak and his horde of militants. Left for dead, Suraya and Jamari rise from their war-torn sunken city to reclaim their power and set their beloved people free.

Black Champagne is the first episode of the Melanogenesis animated music video series. Parts II and III are currently in production and titled "Dispel The Darkness" and "Heaven", respectively.

  • Jeremiah Williams
    Director
  • Jeremiah Williams
    Writer
  • Kenya Crawford
    Writer
  • Karahn Crawford-Cole
    Writer
  • Fadjar Kurnia
    Producer
  • Rafico Lingga
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Music Video, Short
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Family
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 24 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 25, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Indonesia, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Spark Animation Film Festival
    Vancouver, B.C.
    Canada
    October 24, 2019
    Winner - Best Music Video
  • British Animation Film Festival
    London, UK
    United Kingdom
    July 18, 2020
    Winner Best Music Video
  • Shoreline Short Short Film Festival
    Seattle, WA
    United States
    February 8, 2020
    Seattle Premiere
    Winner Best Picture
  • LEEDS International Film Festival
    Leeds
    United Kingdom
    November 16, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Portland Film Festival
    Portland, OR
    United States
    October 18, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Jaipur International Film Festival
    Jaipur, Rajasthan
    India
    January 17, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Austin Music Video Festival
    Austin, TX
    United States
    December 14, 2019
    Official Selection
  • LUSCA Fantastic Film Festival
    Guaynabo
    Puerto Rico
    October 18, 2019
    Official Selection
  • La Guarimba International Film Festival
    Amantea
    Italy
    August 8, 2020
    Italian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Berlin Sci-fi Filmfest
    Berlin
    Germany
    November 29, 2019
    Official Selection
  • San Francisco Black Film Festival
    San Francisco, CA
    United States
    August 2, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Seattle Black Film Festival
    Seattle, WA
    United States
    July 10, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Columbus Black International Film Festival
    Columbus, OH
    United States
    August 29, 2020
    Winner - Best Music Video
  • AfroComicCon Film Festival
    Emeryville
    United States
    October 18, 2019
    Winner - 3rd Place
  • International Animation Film Festival - Gdansk
    Gdansk
    Poland
    November 8, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Kapow Intergalatic Film Festival
    North Hollywood, CA
    United States
    September 14, 2019
    Official Nominee
  • Denton Black Film Festival
    Denton, TX
    United States
    January 25, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Pensacon Short Film Festival
    Pensacola, FL
    United States
    February 29, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Oxford Film Festival
    Oxford, MS
    United States
    March 19, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Magnolia Independent Film Festival
    Starkville, MS
    United States
    February 29, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Las Cruces International Film Festival
    Las Cruces, NM
    United States
    March 4, 2020
    Official Selection
  • Mesa International Film Festival
    Mesa, Arizona
    United States
    October 18, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Marina Del Ray Film Festival
    Marina Del Ray, CA
    United States
    October 18, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Hollywood North Film Festival
    Belleville, Ontario
    Canada
    November 9, 2019
    Official Selection
  • International Film Festival of Shimla
    Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
    India
    October 5, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Oniros Film Awards
    Saint-Vincent, Valle d'Aosta
    Italy
    August 31, 2019
    Winner Best Music Video - August 2019
  • Asian Cinematography Awards
    Manila
    Philippines
    August 31, 2019
    Winner Best Music Video - August 2019
Distribution Information
  • Vimeo
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Video on Demand
Director Biography - Jeremiah Williams

Jeremiah Williams is an independent music producer, songwriter, sound engineer and animation director from Seattle, WA and specializes in producing urban music and animation content highlighting stories, narratives and characters from people of African descent.

Much of his inspiration for creating animated films stems from his childhood fascination with the 80s Japanese animation series Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamato). He also developed a love for anime style films such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell, Akira etc. that have played a significant role in his approach towards filmmaking.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In July of 2018, I found myself in a major upheaval. I was working as a Data Analyst in Seattle and taking home a decent paycheck, but I was extremely miserable and recall coming home from work each day feeling like I had just ran a marathon. After three months of what felt like a living nightmare, I had saved up enough money to last for a while and promptly gave two-weeks notice. Without much of a plan ahead of me, I booked a flight to the Philippines, got rid of most of personal belongings, and shipped the remaining items (including music/recording equipment) in freight boxes.

I arrived in the Philippines on October 1st, 2018 after over 24 hours of travel time, but it was well worth the discomfort. I soon settled in to a beautiful creative zone and fresh new song lyrics visited me frequently and abundantly. I rushed to capture the rapid stream of ideas onto my iPhone 5C notes app and once my music equipment arrived, I setup shop in Baguio City, Benguet and began bringing these new song ideas to life.

Concurrently, I was surprisingly inspired by an unreleased song called "Black Champagne" that my friend Kenya and her sister Karahn recorded many years ago. To my ears, it still sounded as fresh as the day they first recorded it and I went to work and created a new version. The new remix sparked a flurry of brainstorms between myself and Kenya and I took all of our ideas and combined them into a screenplay for an animated music video. I was lucky enough to find a two-person animation team in Indonesia to produce the Black Champagne music video on a minimal budget and we released it in July of 2019.

We soon realized that this was just the beginning of a bigger story as we weren't able to fit the entire screenplay into one music video and quickly began conjuring up ideas for Parts II and III using additional unreleased song material. The story continues to be written and we hope you will continue to enjoy the fruits of our labor which span across genres, mediums, decades, eras, time-zones, oceans and countries.