Fire Lily
London, United Kingdom | Film Short
Drama, Other
A police stop spirals into a surreal reckoning when a Black dancer is wrongfully detained by a white officer. As violence flares, reality ruptures into stunning poetry, movement, and sound. Fire Lily is a searing short film about injustice, shared breath, and beauty that blooms amid devastation.
Fire Lily
London, United Kingdom | Film Short
Drama, Other
Green Light
This campaign raised $13,165 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
56 supporters | followers
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A police stop spirals into a surreal reckoning when a Black dancer is wrongfully detained by a white officer. As violence flares, reality ruptures into stunning poetry, movement, and sound. Fire Lily is a searing short film about injustice, shared breath, and beauty that blooms amid devastation.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
"Do we see the need for a change?" - That was how I began writing in response to the murder of George Floyd. That one horrifying moment seemed to hold a message that resonated on so many different levels:
On a personal level: having experienced abuse in my early life, I saw a highly charged enactment of an abuse of power that paralleled my experience, but on a world stage.
On a friendship level: like many others, a close friend was undone seeing this embodiment of all the aggressions he had experienced as a black man, suddenly exposed on everyone’s phones. I learned so much in that time, especially with this parallel that gave me a connection to his grief.
On a societal level: it provided a gruesome personification of systemic racism and injustice. A man who, as a human being, should have cared enough to move when he heard, “I can’t breathe”, but worse, as a police officer was bound by law to protect, ignored the cries from beneath his knee, silencing them with asphyxiation.
On a global level: it reached across so many barriers because of COVID. People were dying, gasping for breath in hospitals and at home. Having to wear a stifling mask meant that when we heard a voice crying, “I can’t breathe”, it echoed so distinctly, connecting us intimately to this black man’s struggle on the asphalt in Minneapolis.
Then, eerily, on a planetary level: wildfires in California, Australia, the Amazon - even the Earth’s lungs were choking. Oxygen was under threat, and without it, none of us would be able to breathe. It sounded the alarm of climate crisis once more; we should be protecting our planet, but because of our worship of power, a shout of “I can’t breathe” was calling out from beneath where we had bent our knees.
All these levels had one voice, and someone needed to listen. That is why I spent the days following May 25, 2020, furiously writing a sprawling poem, The Human Race, which has now become this film, Fire Lily.
Yes, it exposes power abuse, which is more prevalent now than ever, but beyond that, it finds raw, empowering hope. And it starts with a number. The simplest number: one.
On a tense night, when the world feels like it's ending — pandemic, riots, wildfires — a lone black dancer, Nehemiah, is wrongfully detained by police as he walks home.
But when Officer Paulie tackles him, their shared breath becomes a threshold: time slows, reality ruptures, and the asphalt melts into ancestral ash.
The city dissolves. In its place: haunting poetry, visceral movement, raw music, stunning cinematography. All building with heart-pounding momentum into a revelatory, breathtaking, soul-shaking dance.
Confronted by their inherent roles in a broken system, they are given a searing glimpse of the power of their common humanity, and emerge — transformed.
______
After I had written Fire Lily, my film THE STUPID BOY hit the festival circuit and began winning a host of awards, screening in cinemas to thousands of people all over the world, and eventually qualified for BAFTA and Oscar® consideration in 2024. It showed me what a simple story told well could do.
But every time another black person died in police custody, every time another wildfire raged, every time since where we have witnessed again and again abuses of power at every level, it has been like an insistent knock on the door. Fire Lily is a story that urgently needs to be told.
It's a 15 minute short film. A stone to fell Goliath. A seed, that like its namesake the Fire Lily flower, only blooms in the devastation after wildfire. What could be more hopeful than that?
For a film like this to have integrity, the WAY we make it has to line up with what we are saying. That’s why I want the story behind the lens to be just as powerful and inspiring as the one we tell in front of it. I want the creation of the film to bring people together from across different geographies, ethnicities, ages and backgrounds to make something - sustainably and ethically - of one voice.
We are making this film an engine of change; transformative on screen and off it. And you can be part of it. This is more than a story. It’s a movement.
We have partnerships with non-profits Women In Film and TV (WIFT) Ohio, Tender Heart Crusades, and LoveArts in the UK, through which we are already working with young people from underserved communities in Cleveland and in London (photos below!), training them in filmmaking, and offering opportunities for industry experience. Through WIFT we are aiming for a majority female crew when we shoot.
We’re already deep in Pre-Production, with an incredible team of producers, including the most Oscar-decorated short film Producer in the world, Kim Magnusson, and Emmy Winner, Obadiah Baker as Exec Producer.
We have a Juilliard-trained dancer, Nehemiah Spencer, as one of our leads. We also have our amazing cinematographer from THE STUPID BOY, Mario Genovese, and its composer Thomas Bell, who both were critical in its success.
The script is written. Storyboards are drawn. Shotlists have been made. Schedules have been drafted. The budget has been spreadsheeted…
We have raised $5,000 to date, and we were recently awarded an equipment grant by Cleveland Camera Rental which will cover a good portion of our kit needs.
Now we need to cover the rest of the production costs, and they have to be in place before the end of the summer if we are going to meet our production window of November.
We are raising $15,000 in this campaign, but we need $65,000 overall to shoot the film and pay everyone involved. So if we surpass our goal here, you know where the extra money is going!
Since our last film qualified for the Oscars, we are aiming for an Oscar-qualifying film festival as a World Premiere to start our run, followed by as many high level festivals as possible. And we are also approaching distributors through our Producer Kim Magnusson.
As you can see, so much is already in place, and it is very, very exciting! – The seed for Fire Lily is in the ground, and your spark can be what triggers it to rise from the ashes. (see what we did there?)
Join us - amid so much devastation in the world right now, we can make a work of art that will bring transformative hope.
____________________
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast and Crew
Costs $5,000
Can't make a film without them! And we don't believe that people who make great cinema should work for free
Equipment & Rentals
Costs $3,000
We have got an equipment grant, which will get us most of the way to the kit we need, but this will cover the last important items!
Production Design & Locations
Costs $2,500
Some of the locations we will film in will require a fee and permits. We also need some props (eg. handcuffs) and visual fx (eg. smoke)
Travel
Costs $1,500
We have raised some money to cover travel already but this little extra will make sure it's all covered.
Hair, Make-up & Wardrobe
Costs $1,500
We need police uniforms, bespoke dance costumes... and also hair and make-up on the shoot is always important!
Catering
Costs $1,500
Feeding a large crew and the cast for a 7 day shoot doesn't cost peanuts!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
TEAM:
Proven storytellers. Global acclaim. Unmatched vision.
KIM MAGNUSSON
Producer
Three-time Oscar® winner, seven-time nominee. The most Oscar-decorated producer of short films globally. Credits include Helium, This Charming Man, I Kill Giants, Election Night, I'm Not A Robot.
PHIL DUNN
Writer / Director
BAFTA and Oscar®-qualifying, multi award-winning filmmaker and poet. Director of The Stupid Boy (55 awards, Oscar & BAFTA-qualified). Known for genre-blending, emotionally resonant work. Chair of LoveArts.org - a charity that works to improve the lives of young people in under-served communities throughout the UK and provide opportunities for young people to work in related film projects about important social issues affecting their generation and the wider community.
OBADIAH BAKER
Executive Producer
Emmy-winning filmmaker, composer, and founder of Tender Heart Crusades - a 501(c) (3) non-profit. A US Army veteran and social impact leader with over 18 films to his credit, including The Shadow Between Us.
NEHEMIAH SPENCER
Lead Performer / Choreographer
Juilliard-trained dancer and choreographer. Emmy-featured artist in The Shadow Between Us, with major stage and TV credits. Artistic Director at Reflections Dance Theater.
THERESA GODLY
Producer / Actor
Award-winning British actress and writer/producer with roles in Bridgerton (Netflix), Avenue 5 (HBO), and Motherland. Plays Officer Fernandes in Fire Lily. Trustee of LoveArts.org - a charity that works to improve the lives of young people in under-served communities throughout the UK and provide opportunities for young people to work in related film projects about important social issues affecting their generation and the wider community.
JOYCE ALLEN
Cleveland Producer / WIFT Ohio Liaison - Director of Programming at WIFT Ohio. (Women in Film & TV)
Cleveland-based producer and actress with credits including Judas and the Black Messiah and White Noise.
ASHLEY COLE
Producer / Actor
Award-winning LA-based actress and producer. Creator of TIME and producer of The Wake (Best Short, SoHo Int’l FF). Plays Carlyn in Fire Lily.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
"Do we see the need for a change?" - That was how I began writing in response to the murder of George Floyd. That one horrifying moment seemed to hold a message that resonated on so many different levels:
On a personal level: having experienced abuse in my early life, I saw a highly charged enactment of an abuse of power that paralleled my experience, but on a world stage.
On a friendship level: like many others, a close friend was undone seeing this embodiment of all the aggressions he had experienced as a black man, suddenly exposed on everyone’s phones. I learned so much in that time, especially with this parallel that gave me a connection to his grief.
On a societal level: it provided a gruesome personification of systemic racism and injustice. A man who, as a human being, should have cared enough to move when he heard, “I can’t breathe”, but worse, as a police officer was bound by law to protect, ignored the cries from beneath his knee, silencing them with asphyxiation.
On a global level: it reached across so many barriers because of COVID. People were dying, gasping for breath in hospitals and at home. Having to wear a stifling mask meant that when we heard a voice crying, “I can’t breathe”, it echoed so distinctly, connecting us intimately to this black man’s struggle on the asphalt in Minneapolis.
Then, eerily, on a planetary level: wildfires in California, Australia, the Amazon - even the Earth’s lungs were choking. Oxygen was under threat, and without it, none of us would be able to breathe. It sounded the alarm of climate crisis once more; we should be protecting our planet, but because of our worship of power, a shout of “I can’t breathe” was calling out from beneath where we had bent our knees.
All these levels had one voice, and someone needed to listen. That is why I spent the days following May 25, 2020, furiously writing a sprawling poem, The Human Race, which has now become this film, Fire Lily.
Yes, it exposes power abuse, which is more prevalent now than ever, but beyond that, it finds raw, empowering hope. And it starts with a number. The simplest number: one.
On a tense night, when the world feels like it's ending — pandemic, riots, wildfires — a lone black dancer, Nehemiah, is wrongfully detained by police as he walks home.
But when Officer Paulie tackles him, their shared breath becomes a threshold: time slows, reality ruptures, and the asphalt melts into ancestral ash.
The city dissolves. In its place: haunting poetry, visceral movement, raw music, stunning cinematography. All building with heart-pounding momentum into a revelatory, breathtaking, soul-shaking dance.
Confronted by their inherent roles in a broken system, they are given a searing glimpse of the power of their common humanity, and emerge — transformed.
______
After I had written Fire Lily, my film THE STUPID BOY hit the festival circuit and began winning a host of awards, screening in cinemas to thousands of people all over the world, and eventually qualified for BAFTA and Oscar® consideration in 2024. It showed me what a simple story told well could do.
But every time another black person died in police custody, every time another wildfire raged, every time since where we have witnessed again and again abuses of power at every level, it has been like an insistent knock on the door. Fire Lily is a story that urgently needs to be told.
It's a 15 minute short film. A stone to fell Goliath. A seed, that like its namesake the Fire Lily flower, only blooms in the devastation after wildfire. What could be more hopeful than that?
For a film like this to have integrity, the WAY we make it has to line up with what we are saying. That’s why I want the story behind the lens to be just as powerful and inspiring as the one we tell in front of it. I want the creation of the film to bring people together from across different geographies, ethnicities, ages and backgrounds to make something - sustainably and ethically - of one voice.
We are making this film an engine of change; transformative on screen and off it. And you can be part of it. This is more than a story. It’s a movement.
We have partnerships with non-profits Women In Film and TV (WIFT) Ohio, Tender Heart Crusades, and LoveArts in the UK, through which we are already working with young people from underserved communities in Cleveland and in London (photos below!), training them in filmmaking, and offering opportunities for industry experience. Through WIFT we are aiming for a majority female crew when we shoot.
We’re already deep in Pre-Production, with an incredible team of producers, including the most Oscar-decorated short film Producer in the world, Kim Magnusson, and Emmy Winner, Obadiah Baker as Exec Producer.
We have a Juilliard-trained dancer, Nehemiah Spencer, as one of our leads. We also have our amazing cinematographer from THE STUPID BOY, Mario Genovese, and its composer Thomas Bell, who both were critical in its success.
The script is written. Storyboards are drawn. Shotlists have been made. Schedules have been drafted. The budget has been spreadsheeted…
We have raised $5,000 to date, and we were recently awarded an equipment grant by Cleveland Camera Rental which will cover a good portion of our kit needs.
Now we need to cover the rest of the production costs, and they have to be in place before the end of the summer if we are going to meet our production window of November.
We are raising $15,000 in this campaign, but we need $65,000 overall to shoot the film and pay everyone involved. So if we surpass our goal here, you know where the extra money is going!
Since our last film qualified for the Oscars, we are aiming for an Oscar-qualifying film festival as a World Premiere to start our run, followed by as many high level festivals as possible. And we are also approaching distributors through our Producer Kim Magnusson.
As you can see, so much is already in place, and it is very, very exciting! – The seed for Fire Lily is in the ground, and your spark can be what triggers it to rise from the ashes. (see what we did there?)
Join us - amid so much devastation in the world right now, we can make a work of art that will bring transformative hope.
____________________
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast and Crew
Costs $5,000
Can't make a film without them! And we don't believe that people who make great cinema should work for free
Equipment & Rentals
Costs $3,000
We have got an equipment grant, which will get us most of the way to the kit we need, but this will cover the last important items!
Production Design & Locations
Costs $2,500
Some of the locations we will film in will require a fee and permits. We also need some props (eg. handcuffs) and visual fx (eg. smoke)
Travel
Costs $1,500
We have raised some money to cover travel already but this little extra will make sure it's all covered.
Hair, Make-up & Wardrobe
Costs $1,500
We need police uniforms, bespoke dance costumes... and also hair and make-up on the shoot is always important!
Catering
Costs $1,500
Feeding a large crew and the cast for a 7 day shoot doesn't cost peanuts!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
TEAM:
Proven storytellers. Global acclaim. Unmatched vision.
KIM MAGNUSSON
Producer
Three-time Oscar® winner, seven-time nominee. The most Oscar-decorated producer of short films globally. Credits include Helium, This Charming Man, I Kill Giants, Election Night, I'm Not A Robot.
PHIL DUNN
Writer / Director
BAFTA and Oscar®-qualifying, multi award-winning filmmaker and poet. Director of The Stupid Boy (55 awards, Oscar & BAFTA-qualified). Known for genre-blending, emotionally resonant work. Chair of LoveArts.org - a charity that works to improve the lives of young people in under-served communities throughout the UK and provide opportunities for young people to work in related film projects about important social issues affecting their generation and the wider community.
OBADIAH BAKER
Executive Producer
Emmy-winning filmmaker, composer, and founder of Tender Heart Crusades - a 501(c) (3) non-profit. A US Army veteran and social impact leader with over 18 films to his credit, including The Shadow Between Us.
NEHEMIAH SPENCER
Lead Performer / Choreographer
Juilliard-trained dancer and choreographer. Emmy-featured artist in The Shadow Between Us, with major stage and TV credits. Artistic Director at Reflections Dance Theater.
THERESA GODLY
Producer / Actor
Award-winning British actress and writer/producer with roles in Bridgerton (Netflix), Avenue 5 (HBO), and Motherland. Plays Officer Fernandes in Fire Lily. Trustee of LoveArts.org - a charity that works to improve the lives of young people in under-served communities throughout the UK and provide opportunities for young people to work in related film projects about important social issues affecting their generation and the wider community.
JOYCE ALLEN
Cleveland Producer / WIFT Ohio Liaison - Director of Programming at WIFT Ohio. (Women in Film & TV)
Cleveland-based producer and actress with credits including Judas and the Black Messiah and White Noise.
ASHLEY COLE
Producer / Actor
Award-winning LA-based actress and producer. Creator of TIME and producer of The Wake (Best Short, SoHo Int’l FF). Plays Carlyn in Fire Lily.