Leslie Jones has come aboard Faces Within, the poetic transgender short film from writer-director Kareem Ferguson, as executive producer. The Emmy winner spent five seasons on Saturday Night Live and has starred in Ghostbusters and Coming 2 America.
Set in small-town Virginia and suburban Ohio, the story follows a Black transmasculine man and his cisgender wife, bound together by the aftermath of a sexual assault, as they search for closure. Per the film’s logline: a Black trans and cisgender wife and husband can’t heal from a sexual assault until he returns alone to their small Virginia hometown to seek out the man who did it.
The cast is led by newcomer Jerzey Saint Wilson, son of actor and comedian Tommy Davidson. Wilson plays DaJon Phillips, who leaves his young son and wife Tisha, played by Janeva Sharps, to confront his assailant, Streetz, played by John C. Sweet.
Jones praised the film’s structure, describing it as intentionally layered. “This film is layered with purposeful misdirection, what is not said but shown holds the audience’s attention, and the reveal in the last scene changes what you thought you watched,” she said.
“Faces Within” wrapped production in Washington, D.C., and Prince George’s County, Maryland, and will be positioned for the 2027 festival season. The short is written and produced by Dwayne Vernon and Ferguson, with additional producing from Malcolm Bodon and Dennis Bailey. Thomas M. Harting, CSC, serves as director of photography.
The production was supported by the D.C. Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment and the Prince George’s County Film Office, and was produced under a SAG-AFTRA agreement.