Bakari

Logline

In 1800s Virginia, a runaway enslaved man hunted after a failed escape that kills his wife must survive his pursuers—and his own shattered identity—to honor her final promise of returning home to Africa.

Format

Short Film

Genre

Drama

Comps:

12 Years a Slave

Meets

Django

With an element of

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

the Story

Set in 1800s Virginia, the film follows Bakari, a runaway enslaved man forced into flight after a failed escape attempt results in the death of his wife, Imani. Hunted by those who claim ownership over his body and spirit, Bakari must survive the pursuit while grappling with the loss of his identity, dignity, and sense of self. His journey becomes less about escape and more about whether he can reclaim his humanity long enough to honor the promise he made to his wife—that one day, they would return to Africa.

The World

The world of the film is harsh, restrained, and intimate. 1800s Virginia is depicted not as a grand historical backdrop, but as a claustrophobic landscape where land, forest, and plantation all function as extensions of control. Nature becomes both refuge and threat—offering concealment, but never safety. Visually and tonally, the world is grounded and unromanticized. Violence is present, but not sensationalized. The environment reflects Bakari’s internal state: vast, isolating, and indifferent. Within this world, Africa exists as a counter-space—spoken of, remembered, and imagined—representing a freedom that cannot be hunted or owned.

The "Story Behind the Story"

This film comes from a desire to explore enslavement not only as a historical institution, but as a lived psychological condition whose effects still echo today. Bakari’s struggle with powerlessness, pride, and displacement mirrors modern conversations about Black identity, belonging, and the inherited trauma of forced separation from home and history. In a moment where images of Black suffering are often reduced to spectacle or shorthand, this story insists on intimacy. It asks us to sit with grief, love, and the cost of survival—and to consider freedom not as a destination, but as an internal reclamation. The promise of Africa is less about geography and more about the human need for origin, dignity, and self-definition—questions that feel urgently contemporary.

Key Themes

The film explores identity under erasure. Bakari is stripped of his name, autonomy, and future, yet is still expected to survive. The story interrogates what happens when a man is denied power over his body but refuses to surrender his sense of self. Other key themes include: Freedom vs. survival — Is staying alive enough, or does freedom require purpose? Masculinity and powerlessness — How pride and vulnerability collide when agency is stolen. Grief as propulsion — Love and loss as the engine of movement. Home as memory and myth — Africa as an idea, a spiritual anchor, and an act of resistance.

the Story

The World

The "Story Behind the Story"

Key Themes

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