Nailah Jefferson

Nailah Jefferson is a native New Orleans filmmaker intrigued and inspired by the enduring human spirit, whose films span fiction and nonfiction. Nailah’s recent work includes Donyale Luna: Supermodel (HBO 2023), Commuted (NOFF 2023, PBS 2024), and Descended from the Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street (DOC NYC 2021). Her acclaimed work has been distributed domestically and internationally on the film festival circuit, theatrically and televised. Nailah’s debut documentary Vanishing Pearls: The Oystermen of Pointe a la Hache, told the story of the little known African American oyster fishing community in Louisiana in the aftermath of the 2010 BP Oil Spill. The film was streamed on Netflix and the Urban Movie Channel. In 2017, Nailah’s short documentary for Essence Magazine’s Black Girl Magic Episode 4, was nominated for a National Magazine Ellie award. That same year, Nailah’s first narrative film Plaquemines was chosen as an American Black Film Festival HBO Shorts finalist and is currently available on HBO/ Cinemax platforms. Nailah’s work has been supported by organizations including the Tribeca Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Films, Black Public Media, ITVS and Firelight Media.

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ABOUT Commuted

In 1993, Danielle Metz was labeled a drug kingpin and sentenced to triple life in California, many miles away from New Orleans and her two children. Metz's sentence was commuted 23 years later. Now back home, she is stepping into a different reality. The film traces Metz's journey in confronting the wounds of incarceration, and to finding purpose, love and unification with her two grown children.

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Film