Tupac doc writer/producer Womack’s feature debuts at Black Harvest Festival

Ytasha Womack, a writer and producer of Sean Long’s recently released Xenon Entertainment documentary “Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake?” will screen her narrative debut for Chicago audiences for the first time at the Film Center’s Black Harvest International Festival of Film and Video on Aug. 18.

G.R. N’Namdi gallery director Jumaane N’Namdi convinced Womack to adapt the feature screenplay “Love Shorts” from her own short stories. “I wanted to take a mature look at emotions and experiences that I didn’t feel had really been explored in a contemporary sense ? themes of loneliness and not trusting love,” Womack said.

“Love Shorts” follows eight different couples at turning points in their relationships, framed by the story of a pair of troubled lovers (Heather Ireland and Simeon Woods) bickering in an elevator.

N’Namdi and Womack produced through their company Art & Ink. They financed the $25,000 budget with N’Namdi’s father, executive producer George R. N’Namdi. First-timer Jonothon Woods directed. Nigel Scotland shot on DV over four months in 2002 and 2003.

“Love Shorts” had its world premiere July 15 at the American Black Film Festival in Miami (where Parris Reaves’ local horror feature “The Evil One” also debuted).

“We had a great reaction out here,” Womack said from Miami. “The theater was packed and the audience was really into the project. They were laughing and they really felt a connection.”

Womack and her collaborators are aiming for a video release for “Love Shorts,” and hopefully a cable deal as well. They’re planning to develop “Love Shorts” into a series of films.

Womack, an editor at large for Upscale Magazine and a regular contributor to the Chicago Tribune, began making documentaries as a student at Clark State and Columbia College. She returned to film when she collaborated with Sean Long on his TV pilot “The College Box,” which led to her contributions to the Tupac doc.

“Love Shorts” editor is Gary Jenkins. Music by Star Search winner Ugoce, Nikole Mitchell and the Black Earth Ensemble.

“Love Shorts” screens Friday, Aug. 13 at 8 p.m. and Wednesday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. at Black Harvest at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 162 N. State. Reach Womack at 773/580-3427 or flylife@sbcglobal.net.

– by Ed M. Koziarski, edk@homesickblues.com