Lil’ RED is RIDING the wrong way in the HOOD!, 8min., USA
Directed by Venus Jones
This short film with a long title is a Hip Hop twist on a classic cautionary tale starts with an adventurous little boy getting lost on the wrong side of town. Childhood labor and public safety may sound like heavy topics, but they’re presented in an approachable manner in this timely and important project.
Get to know the filmmaker:
It began as a novelty book for “woke” grandmas and after it was rejected by some traditional publishers. l learned about an individual artist grant and I was interested in doing something new to elevate my work. I wrote my proposal to turn my poetic narrative based on a classic tale into a film and l won. I spoke of partnering with a nonprofit organization on the front line of the human trafficking epidemic. The funding inspired me to create the animation for Lil Red is Riding the Wrong Way in the Hood. I’m the first on record to make the main character a boy because the safety of boys has historically been overlooked in comparison to little girls. I also made the characters African American because our communities are presently reimagining public safety.
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