One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2023 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there's always more we can learn about them as people. This year, we decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our Backstory questionnaire!
Before Tari Wariebi found filmmaking, he kept an active list of all the things he didn't want to do as a career. That practice was abandoned after he became a McNair Scholar as an undergrad at Syracuse University. My grad assistant introduced me to an alum from my high school. He was Black, grew up in my same neighborhood, played on the basketball team like I did, and had now forged a legitimate career in the film and TV industry, recalls Wariebe. At that moment, I knew I could truly pursue filmmaking and find tangible success.
His decision to make films has also yielded something less tangible, but equally real and important. Every time I [make films], it requires me to grow and stretch, and I feel like a better and more expansive human being after every process.
Wariebi's latest project is We Were Meant To, which screened as part of Short Film Program 2 at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The 27-minute short, directed and co-written by Wariebi, follows young Akil as he comes of age in a world where Black men have wings and undertake their first flight as a rite of passage. Below, discover the short film's unconventional casting process, how Wariebi's childhood inspired the project, and why stories of empowerment are vital in the shadow of systematic oppression.
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