Candyman
Trailer
Synopsis
This animated shadow puppet short film, directed by Nia DaCosta, explores the Candyman legend and the history of racial violence against Black people in the United States. It serves as a haunting prologue to the 2021 feature film of the same name, using paper puppets to narrate stories of injustice and trauma. The film aims to recontextualize the urban legend of Candyman within a framework of social commentary on systemic racism and gentrification.
Context & Trivia
The 2020 "Candyman" short film was a collaboration between the minds behind the 2021 feature film and Manual Cinema, who created the shadow puppet vignettes. Director Nia DaCosta, who co-wrote the upcoming "Candyman" sequel with Jordan Peele, released the short film on Twitter in June 2020. The short's release came amidst weeks of Black Lives Matter protests across America in response to police violence, making its recontextualization of the Candyman legend especially relevant. The short film uses paper puppets to depict historical instances of violence against Black people, including references to real-life crimes such as those of George Stinney Jr. and James Byrd Jr. DaCosta stated that the short and the feature film are "at the intersection of white violence and black pain," and are about "unwilling martyrs."
Puppeteers
Drew Dir, Lizi Breit, Sarah Fornace, Julia Miller, Kara Davidson, Jyreika Guest, Ben Kauffman, Charlotte Long, Jeffrey Paschal, Shay Turnage, Eunice Woods
Puppet design
Lizi Breit, Drew Dir
Puppet companies
Manual Cinema
Puppet building
Manual Cinema
Direction
Nia DaCosta
Writing
Nia DaCosta, Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld
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