Columbia native Frankiee Veney will bring his award-winning short film BLOODED home for a screening at the South Carolina Black Film Festival October 10 at the South Carolina State Museum. Film screenings begin at 3:30 p.m.
Veney is the founder of Nine Ninth, a creative collective that develops culturally grounded work across film, digital media and live entertainment. His credits include serving as writing supervisor for Tubi’s Beyond the Quad, producing The Outlet with Pretty Vee and developing sold-out stage productions. His scripted projects have generated more than one million views.
Written and produced by Veney and directed by Tyla Barnes, BLOODED was visually shaped by visual art director Nina Tran, also a Columbia native.
The film follows two brothers and their cousin as buried jealousy, resentment and unspoken truths begin to fracture their bond. After a life-altering decision changes the family forever, they are forced to confront how far blood can bend before it breaks.
Columbia played an important role in bringing the film to life. Veney intentionally created opportunities for people from the city to contribute both behind the scenes and on screen.
Other Columbia talent and community members involved in the project included Ivan McCullough, Taylor Brown, Cierra Solange, Ankia Walker, Kamaria Mosley and Krystal Veney. Their involvement makes the film’s South Carolina Black Film Festival screening a return to a community that helped shape its creation.
“BLOODED is about the battles people fight within themselves and what happens when those battles spill onto the people they love,” Veney said. “Bringing this story back to Columbia makes this moment especially meaningful.”
BLOODED has received recognition at several film festivals, including an official selection at the Urban Film Festival in Miami, Florida, an Audience Choice Award at the Charlotte Black Film Festival and an official selection at the North Atlanta Film Festival. The film was also nominated for Film/Production of the Year at the Southern Entertainment Awards.
