Defund (film)

Defund
Directed by	Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah Araya Mengesha
Written by	Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah Araya Mengesha
Produced by	Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah Araya Mengesha J Stevens
Starring	Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah Araya Mengesha Karen Robinson
Cinematography	J Stevens
Edited by	J Stevens
Music by	Denise De'ion
Release date	September 10, 2021 (2021-09-10) (TIFF)
Running time	14 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

Defund is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah and Araya Mengesha and released in 2021.[1] The film stars Roberts-Abdullah and Mengesha as a sister and brother who have been in isolation in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic, and must confront the complexities of political activism when they are motivated to get out into the streets during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.[2]

The film's cast also includes Karen Robinson, Vivien Endicott-Douglas, Getenesh Berhe, Nickeshia Garrick, Richard Lam and Anand Rajaram.

The film premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival,[3] and was subsequently screened at the 2021 Vancouver International Film Festival.

The film was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list for 2021.[4]

References

1. Heather Taylor, "DEFUND at TIFF21: Making Films That Matter When They Matter". Script, September 9, 2021.
2. Courtney Small, "TIFF 2021: DEFUND Review". That Shelf, September 10, 2021.
3. Joshua Freeman, "Toronto talent on display at TIFF 2021". CP24, September 10, 2021.
4. Norman Wilner, "TIFF announces Canada’s Top Ten films of 2021" Archived 2021-12-06 at the Wayback Machine. Now, December 6, 2021.

External links

• Defund at IMDb