Author's Biography:
TERRANCE DAYE is an award-winning poet and filmmaker from Long Island, New York. Daye received his bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College and his MFA in filmmaking at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His film -Ship: A Visual Poem won the Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Daye has received support from filmmakers and institutions such as Spike Lee; Roger Ross Williams; Sundance Ignite; Sundance Episodic Labs; and Film Independent’s Project Involve. In addition to Sundance, Daye has been awarded by NewFest, Outfest and TheWrap’s ShortList Film Festivals. Daye has assisted Kyle Patrick Alvarez on his DISNEY+ film, Crater; worked as a staff writer on the NETFLIX drama, Forever; and the 3x Emmy-nominated BET+ sitcom, The Ms. Pat Show. Daye’s upcoming directorial debut film, Mandingo, was selected top 10 in 2024's AT&T Untold Stories Competition.
Script Synopsis:
Our story takes place in present-day Baldwin, NY in a small forgotten township on Long Island. It begins with the return of JAFRI PARKS, an HIV-positive, ex-con, and our 32-year-old protagonist, who has spent the last ten years in prison for recklessly exposing sexual partners to HIV. Jafari’s family has been preparing diligently for his arrival. SABRINA PARKS, his hardened mother and a Registered Nurse attends weekly counseling meetings for families of incarcerated persons. OMARI PARKS, Jafari’s dutiful older brother, has gotten Jafari a job working alongside him at a local Foundry. Jafari’s desire to continue pursuing his once-promising wrestling career sounds productive to his brother but distresses his mother who knows that Jafari’s public image is permanently tarnished. Despite this, Jafari rejoins his local wrestling club and commits himself to training hard to restart his wrestling career. After Sabrina doubles-down on her concern that Jafari is pushing himself too far, too fast and not taking his HIV medication, the family’s altering views around Jafari’s sexuality, status and past come to a head. Leaving Jafari caught in the middle, learning to navigate his changing family, the new realities of a modernizing world and a life-long dream that is fading faster than he can reach for it.
Director's Statement:
My father grew up in the rough streets of East Brooklyn without a father. He’s a caretaker at heart but he’s roughened, principled and not the easiest person to talk to. When I came out he cried and asked if someone “touched” me as a kid. It was a surprisingly hurtful question. But it immediately brought to mind my cousin (just two years my senior) and the “games” we played as kids where we stripped naked and cuddled in bed together. Did those seemingly innocent interactions make me gay or was I gay because I looked forward to them? I wanted to ask my cousin what he thought, but we’d grown apart as we got older. He got into sports, I got into poetry and our “games” stopped suddenly and inexplicably. With no one else to speak to, I turned to writing to ask these questions; to interrogate my own sexuality; and the strange alienation that I felt as a result of it. Talking about uncomfortable issues with loved ones remains incredibly hard. That’s a universal fact that will always be relevant and relatable. My hope is that this movie can be a blueprint for some audiences. That it’ll help others find language for the hard questions in their lives. And, like the characters in Mandingo, find a road to healing on the other side of those language barriers; and perhaps, even just beyond that, better lives worth living as a result.
Author's Email Address:
livelovedproductions@gmail.com