An absolute must as my favorite film from the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) for 2026 is the refreshingly stylized romantic comedy Black Burns Fast. This feature-length debut film from Sandulela Asanda shines a rose-colored spotlight on the underrepresented awkward Black Lesbian experience and journey of finding love, but more importantly, finding herself.
Asanda takes us on a visually entertaining ride with a delightful spread of cinematography choices that keep the audience in the shoes and mind of our main character, Luthando. Some of those captivating moments include Luthando (Esihle Ndleleni) showcasing her lovestruck life choices with a stylized UI video-game aesthetic that involves her budding crush on Ayanda (Muadi Ilung). What surprised me the most, and found somewhat comforting, is that while the film takes place in South Africa, there is a connection that transcends country and continent, which is navigating race politics and heteronormativity.
Black Burns Fast knows its intended audience and does not spend too much time describing the current political landscape, which would otherwise turn the tone down to tense and somber. The film provides nuggets of insight that show the awareness that the girls have when they navigate their spaces.
Two of the rules for success as a Black girl at this boarding school? 1). Travel in small groups, and 2). “No mentioning racism because it makes the Reds nervous,” particularly in relation to Apartheid. The lighthearted approach amongst the gals gives the necessary context for how it impacts their day-to-day life, without lingering, because they are all so much more than how white people feel about them. What we do spend time focusing on is how Luthando unpacks her heteronormativity in a space where that is all that is afforded to her.
In a world where being straight is the default for the majority, there is awareness of being gay, but never a thought that it could be oneself. Particularly in this world that Asanda has created, we are understanding how discovering one’s sexuality can be done in light of religion, where that may have been taught otherwise, even within the world of abstinence.
While that topic at hand can typically evoke negative feelings, this film should be considered the entry-level, digestible film when it comes to religion and sexuality, in a space that feels like a warm hug with a small love tap upside the back of your head. What Asanda understands and portrays, I’d say perfectly, is that while discovering your sexuality, you are discovering yourself as a whole. There is a journey to realizing that you are a Lesbian, especially as a Black woman as well, that is an identity as a whole that the world outside of that bubble will never understand. There is a new sense of confidence, being sure of yourself, and realizing your self-worth that comes with unlocking your sexuality — similar to unlocking the hidden character in a video game.
The journey of self-discovery does not happen without bumps in the road, which keeps this story grounded and rooted in realism, but ultimately is the necessary light-hearted Black sapphic film we have been begging for amongst the sea of films rooted in pain. Black Burns Fast is a film that needs to be screamed from the mountaintops: everyone should be checking this movie out!
Review Courtesy of Des Mack
Feature Image Courtesy of Seattle International Film Festival