Kahlil Joseph

Directing

Kahlil Joseph

Kahlil Davis, known professionally as Kahlil Joseph, is an American filmmaker, music video director and video artist. Joseph is known for creating "intellectually and emotionally dense short films" that center on the experience of African Americans in the United States.

Known For

LemonadeLemonade · 2016
Lemonade
8.42016
MovieMusicTV Movie
The second "visual album" (a collection of short films) by Beyoncé, this time around she takes a piercing look at racial issues and feminist concepts through a sexualized, satirical, and solemn tone.
BLKNWS: Terms & ConditionsBLKNWS: Terms & Conditions · 2025
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
7.02025
MovieDocumentary
Adapted from Kahlil Joseph’s renowned video art installation, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions is a distinctive cinematic experience that mirrors the sonic textures of a record album, weaving fiction and history in an immersive journey where the fictionalized figures of W. E. B Du Bois and Marcus Garvey join artists, musicians, Joseph’s family, and even Twitter chats, in a vision for black consciousness.
Sampha: ProcessSampha: Process · 2026
Sampha: Process
2026
MovieDramaMusic
Process is a striking, avant-garde portrait of Sampha using documentary-style footage to depict his roots in Morden, South London, and Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Circus MaximusCircus Maximus · 2023
Circus Maximus
6.32023
MovieMusic
Travis Scott takes his audience on a mind-bending visual odyssey across the globe, woven together by the speaker rattling sounds of his highly anticipated upcoming album "UTOPIA". A surreal and psychedelic journey, uniting a collective of visionary filmmakers from around the world in a kaleidoscopic exploration of human experience and the power of soundscapes.
WildcatWildcat · 2013
Wildcat
2013
MovieDocumentary
Filmed in Grayson, Oklahoma, Wildcat meditatively combines documentation of a Black rodeo subculture with an abstract portrait of Joseph’s aunt who helped found the event.
Fly PaperFly Paper · 2018
Fly Paper
2018
Movie
A rich and polyphonic portrait of black art and culture in New York City
m.A.A.dm.A.A.d · 2014
m.A.A.d
7.12014
MovieMusicDrama
A double screen projection film portraying the city of Compton, and a beguiling non-linear paean to everyday moments of life, death and magic — with tracks from Kendrick Lamar's album "good kid, m.A.A.d city" as the soundtrack.
Black MaryBlack Mary · 2017
Black Mary
2017
Movie
Commissioned by Tate Modern, Black Mary beautifully fuses Joseph’s documentary, performance, fiction, and music videos in a single, breathtaking presentation of the singer Alice Smith.

Filmography

Sort
Dreams Are Colder Than DeathDreams Are Colder Than Death · 2014
Dreams Are Colder Than Death
6.02014
MovieDocumentary
What does it mean to be Black in America in the 21st century? The recently formed Black American film group TNEG™ has set out to elucidate this very question. Hearing from the likes of fine artist Kara Walker and musical artist Flying Lotus, the film is based on a deceptively simple approach -- asking a refined list of black 'specialists' as well as 'uncommon folks' questions about what they think, and more importantly as lead director Arthur Jafa states, 'What they KNOW' -- the film is an unprecedented 'stream of the black consciousness' and a strikingly original and rarefied look at black intellectual and emotional life. What's so unorthodox about this simple approach is that the interviews were recorded separately from the images in the film. What results is a breathtaking, kaleidoscopic look of American black life from the dawn of three original filmmakers.

Editor