Image+Nation
NEVER SLEEP

NEVER SLEEP

AYO TSALITHABA | CANADA | 2025 | 14 MIN | ENGLISH

AYO TSALITHABA | CANADA | 2025 | 14 MIN | ENGLISH

VIRTUALShortMADE AU CANADA

Synopsis

Muna, a timid nonbinary teen who communes with spirits through dreams, is haunted by their recently deceased father and decides never to sleep again. Overwhelmed by grief and gendered funeral rituals, a visit from an estranged relative leads them toward self-discovery.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Ayo Tsalithaba (they/he) is an award-winning Black queer and trans director, writer and actor from Ghana and Lesotho, based in Toronto whose work explores questions of home, (in)visibility, liminality and (un)belonging as they relate to Black queer and trans* African diasporic subjectivity.

Director's Statement

Never Sleep is about the unexpected connections that can form after the loss of a loved one, and the story draws from my own experiences with grief. It was important for me to tell a tender, quiet story about two Black queer characters supporting each other while navigating grief and familial obligation. I wanted to show how surrender, to a burgeoning self-discovery or even something as simple as sleep, can be achieved by being attuned to the lessons that grief is prepared to teach you.

Producer

Ladan M. Siad, Max Mohenu, Ayo Tsalithaba

Writer

Ayo Tsalithaba

Cast

  • Max Delroy-Georges
  • Kyisha Williams
  • Dorothy Atabong
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