Brief Tender Light

Name: Brief Tender Light
Director: Arthur Musah
Released: 2023
Duration: 93

13 PG

Four African students at MIT confront culture shock and personal growth as they strive to turn youthful ideals into lasting impact back home.

V&A Waterfront Tickets Bioscope Tickets

Awards

Newburyport Documentary Film Festival (2023) – Winner: Best First Time Filmmaker

Roxbury International Film Festival (2024) – Winner: Best Documentary Feature

Tacoma Film Festival (2023) – Winner: Best Documentary Feature Film

East Lansing Film Festival (2023) – Winner: Audience Award: Best Documentary Feature

Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival (2024) – Winner: Best First Feature Documentary

St. Louis International Film Festival (2023) – Nominated: Inspirational Film Award

Urbanworld Film Festival (2023) – Winner: Jury Prize: Best Documentary Feature

Urbanworld Film Festival (2023) – Winner: Audience Award: Best Feature

United Nations Association Film Festival (2023) – Winner: UNAFF Youth Vision Award

Rockport Film Festival, US (2023) – Winner: Audience Choice/Best of Fest

13 PG

Feature

African

African Premiere

Award Winning

Screenings – CT

Ster-Kinekor V&ATue 24 June 6.15pm

Screenings – Jozi

BioscopeSun 22 June 3pm

Director(s):

Arthur Musah

Country:

United States

Year:

2023

Duration:

93 min

Language(s):

English | French | Shona | Swahili

RATING:

13 PG

Official-Poster_Brief-Tender-Light Poster — Film Poster

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.