Toronto, ON – Black short film filmmakers have long been struggling to find an even playing field given the biased focus on white filmmakers by the majority of short film websites. But a rising short film website, Focal Shadow, is aimed to redefine the discriminatory trend to ensure talented Black short film filmmakers too receive their well-deserved exposure before the world. The website extends a curated platform exclusively designed to shed light on emerging and promising Black short film filmmakers.

In an exclusive interview, Neal Owusu, the founder of Focal Shadow, shared that brands, production companies, and clients today are looking for more diverse directors lately. However, lack of exposure on Black short film filmmakers is barring them from connecting to a bunch of truly promising talents in the contemporary filmmaking world, until now. Focal Shadow has pioneered a website that exclusively showcases emerging Black directors through a curated list, which also makes it easier for production companies to reach out to the fantastic pool of emerging diverse directors.

“There is no dearth of short film websites out there but they mostly showcase white homogenous stories that might not be relatable to a fair niche of the national populace. Also, the majority of short films lean on white stories and barely a few bother to showcase Black shorts. It leaves an unfair playing field for the talented Black short film filmmakers and deprives them of their right to exposure before the wider world of cinema. In fact, a large gamut of production companies today is really looking more for diverse stories and diverse directors. It’s about time to bring up the truly promising Black short film filmmakers to the fore so that they can receive an even playing field to showcase their talent and mesmerize the world of cinema with their wonderful works. This is where Focal Shadow comes to help”, stated the man behind Focal Shadow.

Focal Shadow features reviews and information about short films directed by various emerging Black short film filmmakers. The posts offer a synopsis, production details, and also a video of the short films made by these diverse directors. The website also extends interviews with emerging Black short film filmmakers, expert guides for aspiring filmmakers, insights from talented filmmakers, and more.

Speaking further, Neal stressed that Focal Shadow was launched after the tragic incident of the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

“It’s sad that it took the killing of an unarmed Black man (George Floyd) for short film platforms to shed light on Black filmmakers. But that was also a sporadic incident and the trend died down once the protests for the tragic death of George Floyd subsided down. It’s unfair by all means- and there should be a platform for Black short film filmmakers to showcase their work and receive the deserved exposure always, not only when there is a tragedy in the community.”

For more information, please visit https://focalshadow.com