This week, Ta-Nehisi Coates is on Capitol Hill testifying at a congressional hearing about reparations. This isn’t the first time the possibility of reparations has come up this year; several presidential candidates have also floated the idea of offering reparations to Black citizens. With so much talk about reparations in the air, it’s the perfect timing for this new film project hilariously analyzing what Black Americans could do with a reparations check of $16,000, the lowest of the proposed amounts.

16,000 Dollars is a comedic short film that examines what reparations could look like if it actually came to pass. According to the Seed and Spark page, the film “imagines a world in which a struggling college grad wakes up to find that reparations have finally been paid to descendants of slaves in America. With this newfound capital, he will decide how best to spend his reparations, totaling a mere $16,000.”

The film is inspired by Sorry to Bother You‘s dark satirical tone and will star Brodie Reed and Ellington Wells. The rest of the cast includes Jermaine Fowler, who has not only starred in Sorry to Bother You, but has just been announced as one of the co-stars of Coming to America 2, David Gborie and Francesca Fiorentini. Symone Baptiste will direct and produce the film with Michelle Zei and Maha Thomas as producers and Wells as writer and co-producer.

The film is skewering the current election cycle, which is filled with candidates championing a reparations bill to gain votes. “The subject of reparations has become mainstream leading up to the 2020 Presidential Election,” according to the page. “Many Democratic primary hopefuls are dangling the idea of reparations to secure the Black vote. Our film poses an opportunity to respond to the fleeting current political banter. It’s a comedy film, because what’s funnier than having a shot at reparations 400 years in the making?”

You can learn more and donate at Seed and Spark.

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Photo: Seed & Spark

Maha Thomas

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