Portrait
Director: Kennedy Love-Green
Cast:Francis C. Edemobi, Aliyah Turner, Tryphena Wade, Prince Udeh, John Jordan, Kameron Brown, Dominick Hamilton
Crew:Writer: Kennedy Love-Green. Producers: Kennedy Love-Green, Jahmil Eady.
Email:Kennedylovegreen@gmail.com
Synopsis
Through the lens of his video phone and the camera's around him, a young boy grows up in South Central LA, learning to live, love and grow through the most crucial moments in his life-- defining for us all how much life truly matters.
About the director
Kennedy Love-Green is an award-winning African-American writer/director based in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from UCLA's graduate film program with a master's degree and was recognized as one of UCLA's top emerging filmmakers. She received the highest honor at UCLA's Director Spotlight and went on to receive an award from the Director's Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in the African-American category.
Kennedy believes in the power of filmmaking and is dedicated to humanistic storytelling that brings diverse stories and perspectives to the forefront of American cinema.
Filmmaker's note
Portrait is a love letter captured in a pseudo-documentary or found-footage style. Through multiple formats and cameras, this film imitates the evolution of media from the late 90s to the mid-2000s to depict the life of a young black kid growing up in South Central LA at the spark of social media. Portrait follows Isaiah Washington, a young kid raised in a tight-knit family, yet when he encounters the death of a loved one, he struggles to cope with the grief that coats the rest of his life.
Home videos, cellphone videos, and surveillance footage filmed on an iPhone, GoPro, and HDV camera capture moments of joy, triumph, and heartbreaking loss. I embraced the camera as an additional character in the film, and encouraged actors to operate and engage with the camera to create a feeling of authenticity to the screen and invite an active audience to engage with Isaiah, his friends, and his family.
What results is a poignant, emotional, and heartbreaking film about love– the love we have for those we've lost, those we have left, and the new loves that come into our lives. Portrait is an honest portrayal of the small moments that give our lives meaning and the big moments that change our lives and the lives of those around us forever.