Sanaa Lathan will serve as a Curator for the ESSENCE Film Festivalat ESSENCE Festival of Culture

Among the films playing at the 2026 Essence Film Festival during Essence Festival of Culture (Convention Center from July 3 through July 5) are the following:

Narratives:

Threads of Us

Funny Feelings

93’ Til

A Story About You

Unveil

Documentaries:

A Portrait Of A Postman

Not Your Average Girl

Altadena: Rising From The Ashes

Shorts:

Switches

Please Return Your Cart

Ella

ChickaBoom

Social Impact:

Reclaimed: Beyond The Braid

Freelance

Inspire The City: What’s The Name Of Your School

Screenplay:

Silk

The Woods Don’t Leave Their Children

The Conclusion of Kwame

Exodus

Verticals:

Faceplant

Girl Dinner

Mechanical Pencil

Community Favorite

Victory

Narratives:

Threads of Us

Cast: Anna-Sharé “Sevana” Blake, Shomari Downer, Owen “Blakka” Ellis, and Jo Anne Williams.
Director: Mykal Cushnie.
Writer: Donisha Prendergast.
Producers: Direct Shoot Edit Jamaica in association with Humanity Ova Vanity and the Bob Marley Museum.
Executive Producers: Kady Edwards-Campbell and Horane Henry
Production Partners: Kaemedia Entertainment, Fareye Film Productions, iKon Media & Films, Goal Post.

Funny Feelings

Cast: Vena “Pretty Vee” Excell, Tristan “Mack” Wilds, Terri J. Vaughn, Pastor Mike McClure Jr, Etienne Maurice, Danielle LaRoach, Dasan Frazier, Chadwick Farley, Kinyumba Mutakabbir
Director: Rhonda Baraka
Writer: Je’Don Holloway-Talley
Producers: Roderick McClure, Joshua Ferrell, Morgan McClure Kokaram

A decade after building a comedy empire on their electric “are-they-or-aren’t-they” chemistry, two performers are forced to confront their unresolved feelings when a career-defining special unravels their act—and their truth—on a viral stage.

93’ Til

Cast: Petey McGee, Sophia Lucia Parola, LaRoyce Hawkins, Keith Arthur Bolden, Kris D. Lofton, Taryn Delanie Smith and Jason C. Louder
Director: Alterik Miller
Writer: Alterik Miller
Producers: Alterik Miller, Richard Lee Noel, Petey McGee, Alicia Turner, LaRoyce Hawkins, Romar Bennett, and Sophia Lucia Parola

Two struggling Philadelphia artists meet at a job fair and spend one perfect day falling in love—no phones, no filters, just presence—before a toxic ex and a violent robbery tear them apart, forcing them to search the city to find each other again and choose love despite uncertainty.

A Story About You

Cast: Shannon Wallace, Pernell Walker, Denise Yolén, Shiree Nicholas Christopher, Adwoa Duncan-Williams, Monique Lindsey
Director: Joseph E. Austin II
Writer: Denise Yolén
Producers: Denise Yolén, Joseph E. Austin II, Jeremy Harris

A man is forced to come to terms with his past as he navigates his week with various love interests.

Unveil

Cast: Key Symone, Sencere Brown, Schelle Purcell, & Conphidance
Director: Leslie Hardeman
Writer: Leslie Hardeman & Conphidance
Producers: Conphidance

In a dangerous 1970s town, a teen girl falls for a charming stranger, only to find herself trapped in a web of danger far deeper than she imagined.

Documentaries:

A Portrait Of A Postman

Director: Chris Charles Scott
Producers: Joe Martin, Lisa Adams Odom, Uma Sanasaryan

A Portrait of a Postman is the astonishing true story of Kermit Oliver, a reclusive genius who spent decades working the graveyard shift at a Texas post office, while secretly creating masterpieces that would hang in the Smithsonian and designing million-dollar scarves for Hermès. His colleagues never knew they stood beside one of the greatest living American artists. Oliver’s life seemed destined for legend — until a tragic murder derailed everything, pushing him further into the shadows. Stranger than fiction yet profoundly human, this documentary unravels the mystery of a man whose brilliance was hidden in plain sight, ensuring that history will finally place him where he belongs — alongside Warhol, Pollock and the greats.

Not Your Average Girl

Director: Hope Giselle

Not Your Average Girl is a cinematic journey through survival, brilliance, and becoming. It’s a love letter to every Black trans girl who was told she wouldn’t make it—and a reckoning with the world that doubted her.

Altadena: Rising From The Ashes

Director: Ethan Lader
Producers: Ethan Lader, Zaire Calvin, Samantha Stokes

After the Eaton Fire reduces Altadena, CA—a historically Black town and California’s first Black middle-class community—to ash, three childhood friends confront loss, legacy, and lead their community’s fight to rebuild.

Shorts:

Switches

Switches is an independent romantic-comedy short film starring Sinqua Walls (Jake) and Chanté Adams (Dawn). The story explores a couple navigating life after swapping minds for 24 hours, taking a comedic look at relationships through each other's eyes

Please Return Your Carts

Please Return Your Carts follows Benson Cross, a 65-year-old Army veteran, navigating the loneliness of his civilian life while working as a cart attendant at a grocery store. As he struggles to feel seen and valued, a new employee unexpectedly enters his life, and gradually, helps Benson rediscover his own worth and reconnect with the world he’s grown distant from.

Ella

Cast: Jill Scott, Destinee Rae McGinni, Jon Chefin, Tom Martin, Elisha Lawson
Director: Nikki Taylor-Roberts
Writer: Nikki Taylor-Roberts

During a Gershwin recording session, Ella Fitzgerald alchemizing pain into joy through a love song.

ChikaBOOM!

Cast: Yara Shahidi, Daveed Diggs, Natasha Lyonne, Roy Wood Jr., Tika Sumpter
Director: c. Craig Patterson
Writer: c. Craig Patterson

Chika Batstone is an aspiring young magician whose curiosity accidentally unleashes Kaboom, a chaotic magical creature, into the heart of New York City.

Social Impact:

Reclaimed: Beyond The Braid

Director: Hope Giselle

Reclaimed: Beyond the Braid is a documentary that exposes the hidden health and environmental dangers of synthetic hair extensions—particularly their impact on Black women. Told through a deeply personal lens, the film traces the beauty industry’s long-standing use of toxic materials and follows the creation of Rebundle, the first plant-based braiding hair brand. Blending science, storytelling, and activism, Reclaimed challenges the status quo and asks: What happens when Black women reclaim the very spaces where they’ve long been the primary consumers—but rarely the decision-makers?

Freelance

Cast: Jill Scott, Destinee Rae McGinni, Jon Chefin, Tom Martin, Elisha Lawson
Director: Julien and Justen Turner, aka The Turner Brothers
Writer: Julien Turner
Executive Producers: Cynthia Turner, Stephen Love Jr., Spence Moore II and KevOnStage

A young filmmaker documents his journey toward his first movie as he moves in with a friend group of ambitious creatives, all trying to support one another’s dreams in an oversaturated market. This inexperienced crew of 20-somethings takes on unorthodox jobs to build their brand and pay rent.

Inspire The City: What’s The Name Of Your School?

Director: Edward Buckles Jr.

Inspire The City: What’s The Name of Yo School?! is a short documentary and cultural tribute celebrating the resilience, joy, and deep-rooted history of New Orleans public schools. Created by InspireNOLA Charter Schools and directed by filmmaker Edward Buckles Jr., the project highlights how school pride and high school identities define the city's culture