While attending Bethune-Cookman University, Denzell Dandridge realized his law enforcement studies actually stemmed from his enthusiasm about cop shows on TV. Ironically, his first name hadn’t forecast that he would catch the acting bug, but after traveling to LA, Detroit and Atlanta, he found his footing in the industry in 2019.

In June Dandridge can be seen in the American Black Film Festival’s (ABFF) 2025 lineup with a supporting role in “The Secret Between Us,” alongside Michael Jai White and Lisa Arrindell. But as a young Black emerging talent, he salutes the films featured as part of the Black & Unlimited Fatherhood Project, which celebrates its third year at ABFF. Acclaimed director George Tillman Jr. will participate in the project as a mentor to three filmmakers chosen as winners of the director competition and initiative celebrating Black male leadership.

Dandridge says strong mentoring by Michael Foxx, an athletic trainer from Dandridge’s native Detroit, helped give him the courage to pursue acting with only “a headshot and a dream.”

“With football, he trained me, but he also trained me in the game of life,” says Dandridge, 31.

The 2025 Black & Unlimited Fatherhood Project’s winning short films feature similar themes of determination including:

• “Laundry” – A man whose son suffers a tragic accident battles to save his marriage and his sanity. A chance encounter shows him that healing and hope are possible, even in the midst of grief. Directed by Okema T. Moore and written by Alterik Miller, the 19-minute film’s world premiere will be at ABFF.

• “Reconciliation” – Also a world premiere, the 16-minute story portrays a young man’s reconnection to his father after many years of distance. Ian Phillips is the writer, director and producer.

• “ Again.” – A 50-year-old pursues his dream of attending college, which occurs at the same campus his daughter attends. The 20-minute documentary is directed by Aji Bass, son of the student, Lenny Bass.

The three directors whose films were chosen will screen their shorts at ABFF and win $10,000, along with industry mentoring. Each film will also be featured on the festival’s online platform, ABFF PLAY, and Walmart’s YouTube channel from June 16-24.

Tillman, who directed “Notorious,” “Soul Food,” ” Men of Honor” and other films and TV series, will share industry insights and feedback during his participation at ABFF, and Dr. Brandon Frame will moderate an onstage panel discussion after the screenings of “Laundry,” “Reconciliation” and “Freshman. Again.”

While Dandridge describes having worked on “The Secret Between Us” with White and Arrindell as a “master class,” he says support from his late mother Linda Moorlet and dad Dezvon Dandridge guided his journey, along with Foxx’s mentoring: “He taught me basically how to be a man. He said, ‘No matter what you do in life, give it your all.’”