Color of Autumn

Inspired by a true story, in 1966 Chicago a sheltered Black eight-year-old is blindsided by cruel and casual racism while playgrounding with white children.

Narrative short film Color of Autumn
depicts a precocious eight-year-old Black girl who lives with her hardworking parents and her adoring, wise grandmother in a quaint house on the Southside of Chicago. Nestled within the safety of her neighborhood and focused on the comforts and stresses of her family's hard-won middle class life, Dottie Grimsby has little awareness of racial tension or the isolation of segregation. But she is about to find out.

  • Aimiende Negbenebor Sela
    Director
    As the Cookie Crumbles, Greek Philosophia and Chickens, Hermit, Longing, Utopia, A Day in the Life of Who
  • Constance Nicole Frierson
    Writer
  • Alexandra Olivia Engelson
    Writer
  • Rebecca A. Bloom
    Writer
  • Yhá Mourhia Wright
    Producer
    Don't Be Desperate, It Stays Here, #LoveMyRoomie, Working out the Kinks
  • Alexandra Olivia Engelson
    Producer
    Leylak, Solitarity, The Cab, Scarred Hearts, Dead Ringers, Dear Edward, Penguin, Bridge & Tunnel, Shock Docs
  • Rebecca A. Bloom
    Producer
  • Pamela Weiss
    Producer
    Thirsty, The Valley
  • Constance Nicole Frierson
    Producer
  • Margaret French Issac
    Producer
    The Sky is Everywhere, Stepmom
  • Philip W Hinds
    Producer
    Seasick
  • Zealyne Marchelle Williams
    Key Cast
    "Adult Dottie"
    Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story, Blue
  • Billie J. Simmons
    Key Cast
    "Mama"
    Metamorphosis
  • Ramiyah DeGray
    Key Cast
    "Young Dottie"
    Pen Pals, In Time
  • Aria Maco
    Key Cast
    "Amber"
    5 Outlaws and a Saddlebag, Thirsty
  • Jackson Horton
    Key Cast
    "Joey"
    5 Outlaws and a Saddlebag, The Case of the Missing Puzzle Box
  • Alexxiss Jackson
    Director of Photography
    Spin, Yogurt Raisin, Solo Punk, Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky, The Hair Tales
  • Joy DeMichelle
    Cultural Sensitivity Coordinator
    CBS LEADERSHIP PIPELINE CHALLENGE, THE LIGHT, THE HIGH TABLE, HEDDA GABLER & A WINTER'S TALE,A CHOIR BOY
  • Charlie Peacock
    Music
    Grammy Award Winning Musician and Producer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, History, Bipoc
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 15, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital/35MM
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Aimiende Negbenebor Sela

The film is directed by Aimiende (Aimi) Negbenebor Sela, a Producer-Writer-Director of Nigerian descent, raised by a Jewish-Israeli family from the Bronx. A recipient of the distinguished alumni award in the Arts and Humanities from her alma mater, Stevens Institute of Technology, Aimiende's award-winning films have screened at numerous festivals across the world. Growing up as that kid glued to The Sound of Music, back in Nigeria, to the adult now dazzled by the complexity of the characters in 12 Angry Men, films have always helped Aimiende make sense of the world. As a result, her work interrogates the human condition, but with empathy; as she truly believes we all live the same lives, just colored differently. Her production company, Sela Films LLC, was born out of this belief in order to help push the boundaries of innovation, inclusion, diversity, and creativity with a focus on humanism.

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