Private Project

SOULS

When Hattie, an 60-year-old ex-NASA scientist develops Alzheimers, her daughter-in-law Sinea and granddaughter Kai are left with the remnants of who she once was. Kai (8) discovers for the first time the meaning of mortality through her grandmother’s declining health. When faced with the ultimate decision to say goodbye, Kai instead retreats into the safety of her cardboard spaceship and her memories of her grandmother. Here, she journey’s across the stars in search of her grandmother’s soul. If she’s successful in finding her grandmother’s soul, then surely – she can help her grandmother cheat death.

  • MALAKAI
    Director
  • MALAKAI
    Writer
  • Anna Hashmi
    Producer
  • Stephen Love
    Producer
  • Marquita Bradley
    Producer
  • Johan Beckles
    Key Cast
    "Hattie"
  • Nia James
    Key Cast
    "Kai"
  • Tabitha Brown
    Key Cast
    "Sinea"
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    fantasy, drama, sci-fi
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:3:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - MALAKAI

Based out of Los Angeles, Malakai is a director & creative vested in visual storytelling that empowers those with a voice. The goal for Malakai is to be all things fearless. Founder the non-profit Made In Her Image, Made In Her Image is a non-profit based towards educating girls of color within media and technology. Launched in 2018 in Phoenix and Los Angeles, Made In Her Image has already collaborated with the likes of giants such as Disney and Paramount.By providing opportunities of exposure, the girls emerge from the program curating their own films, scripts & content. Malakai is an award winning creative who is invested in giving back to her community. As a black woman, she knows that the current industry is sparse with a lack of representation and diversity. Because of this, she forges forward by creating narratives for the bold and the brave. Her short documentary film Black Girls Code has been showcased within the Cannes Film Festival’s, Langston Hughes AA Fest, Miami SciFi Fest, Chelsea Fest, Focus Forward and other additional festival platforms. The film had special screenings at some of the top tech companies: Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Salesforce.In 2014 Malakai was awarded and honored as an “Extraordinary Woman of Color”, live on (ABC 15). In 2015 she was tapped as the “filmmakers voice” to speak on a panel for SXSW Interactive on Instant Gratification, Media and technology. Her short documentary on instant gratification also screened with this panel experience. In January 2016, Malakai was awarded at Sundance Film Festival through the Horizon Award. Within the Horizon Award, she was mentored by Cassian Elwes, Christine Vachon and Lynette Howell . The Horizon Award empowered Malakai so much that after leaving that experience, she immediately started to work on the development of her first episodic and feature length projects.Recently Malakai just directed the short film,”Souls”, Executive produced by Emmy Award Winning Producer, Anna Hashmi of the Cornershop. Malakai is currently in development for two feature length projects. ‘Continue’, executive produced by Cassian Elwes and Metal & Dust, produced by Maya Emelle & Epicenter. Malakai’s goal is to create, to inspire and to develop revolutionary media and to change the way women of color are scene behind the scenes within film and media.

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Director Statement

My name is Malakai and I am a true believer.

I believe that with vision, comes endurance. This is the endurance that is centered and structured around the unwavering belief that somehow, someway - SOULS will make the impact we've been pushing for.

I am asking you, on behalf of myself, my team, and my ancestors - please help me celebrate this film, that was made to honor my great grandmother who passed away. She was the matriarch.

This film gave life to a legacy that is near and dear to my own heart. Souls is the culmination of mortality. When we look at the futurism that is rarely highlighted within cinema often times - those narratives rarely reflect the images of people of color. Souls creates showcases mortality within Afro-Futurism. It pushes forth the boundaries of innovation from the eyes and perspective of people of color. Souls is the narrative of livelihood and innocence through the eyes of a child. It's the mortality we've all felt with each oncoming moment. With Souls, we view mortality through an Afro-futurist glance, we see life through the eyes of a child who has made her own vision into a reality.