We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda “iiritu” Morell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Amanda “iiritu” thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’m currently in the early stages of production for my short film, Colors We Made, a deeply personal sci-fi narrative inspired by the tragedy and lasting impact of Maternal Mortality.. At its core, the film explores memory, grief, and love through the lens of a young man navigating the cosmic aftermath of losing his partner and their unborn child due to healthcare negligence. It’s a story that transcends time and space while remaining grounded in the harsh realities faced by Black and Brown families within the U.S. healthcare system.

We recently hosted a powerful table read this past March that affirmed the emotional weight and resonance of this story. Since then, we’ve been growing our audience steadily, fostering a community around the themes of the film, grief, healing, and the power of memory.

We’ve also secured Fiscal Sponsorship through Black Film Space, and with their support, we’re preparing to launch our fundraising campaign in late May.

“Colors We Made”, is a Sci-Fi love story centered on Jace, who is overwhelmed by grief after the devastating loss of his lover, Ember and their unborn child. To confront his pain, Jace sets off on a transformative road trip with friends, Ryan and Mel. Along their journey, Jace is pulled into significant memories of Ember, revealing her tragic death due to healthcare negligence.

These memories echo the cosmic phenomenon of a black hole’s formation, symbolizing both Ember’s passing and Jace’s emotional collapse. Despite the weight of his grief, Jace moves towards acceptance by visiting the lake where his happiest memories with Ember were shared. This film is a meditation on grief, memory, and survivor’s guilt.

This story is deeply personal to me as it was inspired by the resilience and love of my friends as they navigated the devastating loss of their baby girl, Jay-Natalie. Their strength in the face of such profound grief inspired me to explore the complexities of love and loss in a narrative that transcends time and space. Their story opened a portal within me, prompting me to reflect on the human capacity to choose love even amidst immense pain. Writing this film became my way of grappling with the question: how does one find the courage to move forward after such heartbreak?

Inspired by science fiction classics like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “2001: A Space Odyssey,” my goal is to blend scientific theories with this intimate love story. The narrative follows Jace on a transformative road trip from the Bronx to Upstate New York, where he drifts in and out of memory portals, reconnecting with his lost lover, Ember.

This film also serves as a call to action. It highlights the urgent need for safe birthing practices for Black and Brown women, using the story to foster conversations about maternal mortality in our communities.

Amanda “iiritu”, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Amanda Morell, also known as iiritu, and I’m a Bronx-born Afro-Caribbean filmmaker, editor, and land steward of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage. I work at the intersection of storytelling, ancestral memory, and community care, focusing on films that center healing, safeguarding children, and reclaiming land-based practices for collective liberation.

As a writer and director, my creative work is deeply personal and guided by the spirit of remembrance. My most recent project, “Colors We Made,” is a sci-fi love story that explores the grief of maternal loss and the transcendent nature of memory.

This film is not just about loss, it’s about the cosmic weight of grief, brotherhood, and the urgent need for safe birthing practices for Black and Brown women. Through non-linear storytelling and astrophysics, it invites audiences to reflect on how memory shapes our present, and how grief, if nurtured, can lead to transformation.

As a Co-director, I also recently completed “hija de Florinda,” written by Shenny de Los Angeles, is a short film rooted in ancestral healing and climate justice. It honors matriarchal wisdom and the cyclical connection between land and lineage. That project, like much of my work, focuses on reclaiming stories often erased or misrepresented, especially those of Black, Caribbean, and Latinx women, birthing people, and healers.

In everything I create, I’m led by a mission to uplift ancestral practices, protect land, and center maternal health. I’m also a proud member of Ceiba Arbor, a collective of QTBIPOC land stewards and artists who recently acquired 16.8 acres of land in Salem, Connecticut. Our goal is to build regenerative futures where storytelling, farming, and education are inseparable from healing. Whether I’m editing a film, writing a script, or cultivating crops culturally significant to migrant communities, the thread that connects it all is liberation through care.

What sets my work apart is its sincerity and its rootedness. I’m not here to just entertain; I’m here to shift culture, honor the unseen, and restore our collective imagination around what it means to be whole.
I want potential collaborators, funders, and audiences to know that my art is an offering. It’s for the children we lost and the future generations we fight for. It’s for the midwives, the curanderas, the birth workers, and the land protectors. It’s for those who still believe in the power of storytelling to repair, reimagine, and reclaim.
If you’re aligned with creating work that heals, that disrupts harmful systems, and that nourishes community at every level, then we’re already in conversation.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to think I needed the right connections, a degree, or funding in place before I could start making films. But one thing I’ve learned deeply is that if the urge to create exists, you must act on it.
Don’t let fear, lack of access, or the unknown lull your dreams to sleep.

I’m a woman who’s never stepped foot in college, but at 19, I felt the undeniable pull toward filmmaking. I had no idea how I’d enter the space, I just knew it would happen. So I began gathering friends and making micro-budget short films and music videos, learning by doing, building as we went.

Eventually, I got the chance to take the Made in NY Post Production course, and that opened up new doors. From there, I began cutting short films, then working on bigger studio projects as a Post PA, and later getting promoted to Edit Room Assistant. Those roles taught me what it really takes to make a film, from pre-production to post.

Even while navigating all those phases of learning and working, I never stopped making space for my personal projects. I wrote Colors We Made, and called in my own spiritual warriors, the team that will help me bring this story to life.
Because filmmaking is not just about the individual, it’s about the village you choose to build the story with.

You must act.

Trust yourself.

Trust your team.

And trust the process.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Growing up in a family that was silent about their pain, addictions, and familial traumas, I found myself falling through the cracks of the system. Despite dropping out of high school, I discovered healing through storytelling.

As a Caribbean woman, my work seamlessly blends elements of nature and emotion while exploring the cyclical nature of memory and its enduring impact on individuals.

Sharing my experiences was a deep ancestral practice that lived within my body and found its way out through creative endeavors.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iiritufilms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_iiritu_/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-morell-6b3094177/
• Other: https://www.ceibaarbor.com – Salem CT, Farm Collective

Image Credits

Photography by: Stephanie “Cherry” Ayala