I Am Not Your Token
Ebony Hendrix is a 16-year-old, preppy Black girl attempting to assimilate to her predominantly white high school. She struggles to find her identity in her popular (and more than mildly racist) friend group referred to as Tiffany and Co. When her former best friend and proud Blactivist, Iman confronts her, Ebony is forced to reckon with herself–and her title of Token Black Girl.
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Isis GulletteWriter & Director-in-Training
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Angellic RossProducer
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Liliane CalfeeProducer
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Shane SimmonsExecutive Producer
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Reshmi Hazra RustebakkeFilm Director Mentor
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Kandace MackKey Cast"Ebony"
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Jasmine Cheri RushKey Cast"Iman"
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Dani ChmielewskiKey Cast"Tiffany"
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Kaitlyn PiotroskiKey Cast"Sasha"
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Erika RoseKey Cast"Emily"
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Runtime:16 minutes 7 seconds
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Completion Date:May 31, 2023
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Production Budget:45,000 USD
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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:ARRI Amira Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Chicago International Children's Film FestivalChicago
November 17, 2023
World Premiere
Official Selection & Winner of the PROMISE Award
Isis Gullette is an 18-year-old aspiring screenwriter and poet
born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. She discovered her passion for screenwriting while attending a CHA summer youth program hosted by DePaul University's School of Cinematic Arts.
It was in their Movie & TV Scripts intensive that she initially came up with the idea for "I Am Not Your Token," a deeply personal and almost autobiographical story for her as a Black girl currently attending a predominantly white high school.
When her script was selected to become the program's first narrative short film production, Isis was given the opportunity to also act as director-in-training. She received mentorship from two accomplished female directors of color, McKenzie Chinn and Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke.
The initial conception of this short film idea was birthed from the protests and racial conversations being held during the Black Lives Matter movement circa 2020. The protests made me further examine my own experiences as a Black girl navigating a predominantly white institution. From there, the story of Ebony Hendrix blossomed and I believe that it's a narrative that will only continue to grow with time.
I'm proud of this short piece for a few reasons. First, I wrote the script when I was only 16-years-old. Second, it was produced with professional female filmmakers of color in all key roles including my directing mentors, producer, director of photography, and sound person. It was crewed by a cohort of my peers, twelve aspiring filmmakers primarily from Chicago’s South and West Sides. It means so much to me that the story resonates with each of them and likely many others who don’t often see their lived reality on screen.