When They’re gone
Black Film Space is proud to serve as the fiscal sponsor for the short film When They’re Gone.
When They’re Gone has been chosen after careful evaluation from our board, and we believe it supports our mission to provide career advancing opportunities for Black filmmakers.
All donations are tax deductible and go 100% towards the making of this film. 7% of every contribution going directly to Black Film Space.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
PROJECT TYPE: Short Film
GENRE: Drama
PROJECT STATUS: Pre-Production
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Glynn Turman
DIRECTOR: Ragan Henderson
DIRECTOR/ WRITER: Lauryn Darden
PRODUCER: Gabriyèl Barlatier
CO-PRODUCER: Elizabeth Kurtz
LOGLINE: After an abrupt encounter at a graveyard, two elderly men form an unexpected bond over the grief and love of their late wives.
SYNOPSIS: Cece sits in a graveyard beside a tombstone, tears streaming as he stares at the sky, when he's interrupted by a screeching sound. He charges toward the source of the sound and finds Ricky, another older gentleman, singing Sweet Love by Anita Baker. He's pitchy to say the least.
Cece confronts Ricky about making a ruckus in the graveyard outside of graveyard access hours. Ricky is lighthearted and definitely not down for a fight. He responds to Cece's confrontations with grace and humor, before asking Cece if he'd like to get breakfast with him.
Cece stubbornly declines, but Ricky is persistent, and the next thing you know they are sitting across from each other in a diner booth, discussing their wives.
The differences between the two men are stark. Cece warms up to Ricky as the two men get to know each other through getting to know one another’s wives. They're at very different places in their grief; Ricky's wife has been dead for 30 years, and Cece's wife has just passed a few months prior. Cece excuses himself to the bathroom where he breaks down, and Ricky talks him down through the bathroom door.
They make a pact to honor their wives' wishes by loosening up and meeting new people, which is what led them to sharing a meal with a stranger in the first place. Deciding that enjoying Easter Sunday with a 9am drink at the bar is a good start, they sit in each other’s comfort singing along to Sweet Love by Anita Baker, both of their wives’ favorite songs.
Meet the Team
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Glynn Turman
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Glynn Turman is attached to play Calvin “Cece” Carr and serve as Executive Producer, bringing his expertise to the project.
Glynn began his career on Broadway at just 13, starring alongside Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun (1959). He is best known for his roles in Cooley High (1975), The River Niger (1976), Gremlins (1984), A Different World (1988–1993), The Wire (2004–2008), In Treatment (2008), Queen Sugar (2016–2022), How to Get Away with Murder (2019–2020), Fargo (2020), Bumblebee (2018), and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020).
A Primetime Emmy winner, Turman is also a seasoned director and producer, having helmed episodes of A Different World, The Wayans Bros., and The Parent ‘Hood. With a career spanning over six decades, he brings an unparalleled legacy to our film.
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Ragan Henderson
DIRECTOR
Ragan Henderson is a New York-born creative, specializing in directing and image making. She is fueled by telling stories that humanize those deemed stoically inhuman in society, as a form of knowledge for herself and anyone who consumes her art.
Her photographic and directorial work has been showcased at the MET Museum, on billboards across New York, Los Angeles, London, and Australia, and throughout publications including Vogue, Variety, GQ, Forbes, Rolling Stone. Additionally, she has shot for Nike, Gucci, Coca Cola, and Vera Wang, and more.
Ragan earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film & Television Production from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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Lauryn Darden
DIRECTOR/WRITER
Lauryn Darden is a screenwriter-director committed to telling stories that help expand people’s understanding of diverse Black narratives and experiences. Much of her work centers the perspectives of older Black people - a perspective that is woefully underrepresented in film.
Darden graduated in 2022 from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a focus in dramatic writing. Her feature screenplay The Later Years, a coming-of-age film that follows an elderly Black woman after she leaves her husband of 40 years has won the National Black Film Festival for Best Original Script, Best Undergraduate Screenplay at the Fusion Film Festival, and was a Quarter Finalist for Final Draft’s Big Break Competition. Every story Darden writes and directs is created with an intention to provide a safe entertainment haven for Black people to feel seen, heard, and comforted through honest, gracious, and nuanced storytelling.
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Gabriyèl Barlatier
PRODUCER
Gabriyèl Barlatier is a Haitian-American producer and filmmaker deeply drawn to honest, resonant stories. Determined to rid the world (or at least her inner circle) of the recycled narratives often overplayed, she began producing in search of more voices to champion. Inspired by André Bazin’s belief that “cinema has not yet been invented,” due to the lack of representation, Gabriyèl is committed to creating space for stories historically sidelined.
Her work includes producing on Konpa (Tribeca 2023, Miami Film Festival Winner 2024, New Orleans Film Festival Audience Award Winner 2023) Fou, (New Faces New Voices Winner 2022). As of late, she’s honored to have associate-produced Luther: Never Too Much (Sundance 2024, Tribeca 2024, NAACP Image Award Nominee 2025), which has screened in theaters nationwide.
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Elizabeth Kurtz
CO-PRODUCER
Elizabeth Kurtz is an independent producer with her shorts being official selections at New York Shorts International, Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, Indie Short Fest, Big Apple Film Festival, Boston Asian American Film Festival, and more.
She holds a BFA from New York University Tisch School of the Arts in Dramatic Writing and a minor in producing through Stern School of Business. She’s worked or studios like HBO Max, AppleTV+, Annapurna, and Amazon Studios. Her last produced short was with NAACP Image Award nominee Camryn Garrett.