Elephant!
A young Black girl befriends a wealthy but troubled classmate. Problems ensue.
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Chinwe OkorieWriterLovebites
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Chinwe OkorieDirector
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Project Type:Short
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Runtime:18 minutes
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Completion Date:October 4, 2021
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Chinwe Okorie is a multi-genre writer and a director who crafts stories rooted in reality and elevated by witty and absurdist observation. Her directorial voice is bold, mature, and exceptionally brave. Her previous film LOVEBITES was hand selected by Issa Rae to be featured on her YouTube Channel and her newest film ELEPHANT!, a dark comedy about mental health in teens, will have its festival premiere later this year.
Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. When I was eleven, a girl I knew claimed to be suicidal. When she was absent at school the next day, I casually mentioned this to my teacher and chaos
ensued. As it turned out, she was at a doctor’s appointment and her threat of suicide was a dramatic and empty gesture. However, the response and reaction I witnessed from the adults
were so darkly comical it never left me.
Now as an adult, I reflect on how mental health is unfortunately viewed as an inconvenience, something that is quickly brushed under the rug so that we can comfortably move on. My film
addresses this elephant in the room.
My childhood story helped me re-contextualize identity and mental health in ELEPHANT! as a biting satire. In my film, Amara Wright, the only Black student at an elite private school, is made to apologize after revealing the affluent girl Holly has suicidal intentions. A lot is at stake with this revelation, mostly at the expense of the school's image and reputation.
I think it’s time for a film to address our collective ignorance of mental health in a way that is engaging, thoughtful, and even funny.
