Brief Tender Light

Ukrainian-Ghanaian filmmaker and MIT alumnus, Arthur Musah, explores the personal journeys of four African students—Sante (Tanzania), Fidelis (Zimbabwe), Billy (Rwanda) and Philip (Nigeria)—as they pursue engineering degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world’s most prestigious technological institutions. Coming from diverse backgrounds across the continent, the students arrive with a shared hope of catalysing tangible change in their home countries. However, they soon encounter the complex realities of adapting to a foreign culture and managing academic pressure, whilst sustaining ties to their families and home, and confronting the weight of their own expectations. Filmed over several years, Musah parallels their experiences with his own journey as an African student at a foreign university, navigating American culture from the peripheries of society. Brief Tender Light is a coming-of-age story rooted within a layered reflection into growth, identity and the meaning of success, as the students navigate the tension between personal aspiration and collective hope, in search for their greater purpose.