"I Used to Know You" is a short film exploring how you can go from family to strangers. It is about love, grief, and the difficult work of understanding the people we once knew. But most importantly shows the slivers of hope inside any rift.
Synopsis
After twelve years apart, the Davis family is forced back under the same roof following the death of their matriarch, Josephine Davis. Hakeem, his wife Lovely, and their children Maya and Keem return to her home to grieve and pack up a lifetime of memories. What should be a simple task quickly becomes overwhelming as unresolved history and emotional distance rise to the surface, after the unexpected appearance of their estranged sibling, Kendra. The film asks one central question: How do you go from siblings to strangers?
Background
This film is deeply personal to me. This past August, my family lost my Great Grandmother Gertrude Blake. On the night of her passing, for the first time in thirteen years, all five members of my family were under the same roof. Despite sharing blood, history, and love, they felt like strangers.
I interviewed each family member about their childhoods, their relationships, and their hopes for the future. What I learned was that there is no single truth. Everyone remembers things differently. Everyone carries their own version of the past and everyone is at fault. Somewhere along the way, pride, pain, and silence created a distance no one knew how to cross.
As a Black female filmmaker, telling a Black family story with an all Black cast is incredibly important to me. These characters are allowed to be messy, vulnerable, funny, stubborn, and loving without explanation. Creating space for Black families to be fully human on screen is central to why I make films.
The funds raised will go directly toward the production of the film and creating an environment that honors the story with care and intention. If we meet our minimum goal, the excess funds will also be put towards the film, raising the quality of film we can make, production value, release, & distribution!