NOMMO
48 Hour Film Project (competition submission)
RELEASE DATE: 10-15-2025
Show, Ticket, & Voting Details
Jax 48 Hour Film Project Screening Group C
Team Name: Juan Kurtis Productions
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025.
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Location: WJCT Studios 100 Festival Park Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32202
About
Dr. Nommo Payne was searching for the next step in human evolution. What he found was a power unlike any other. . . the ability to bend minds with a single word. But every gift has a price.
When his colleague, Dr. Wesley Mender, gains unimaginable strength and an uncontrollable jealousy, a rivalry ignites that threatens to tear their world apart.
Guided by a mentor, tested by betrayal, Nommo must discover the limits of his power — and uncover the truth about what makes a hero.
(Some powers can be explained. Others… must be revealed.)
Credits
Director: Tajuan “Tj” Griffin
Assistant Director: Jessica Griffin
Producer: Juan Kurtis Productions
Director of Photography: Joshua Jamison
Starring: Ernest Glenn, Cody Griffin, Debbie Barker, Pharaoh Kayex, Don Allen Vander-Heyden, Benjamin Lamasters, Laura Phelps, Hallie Harold
Director's Note
Nommo is more than a superhero origin — it’s a story about the power of words and the purpose of healing. In Dogon tradition of West Africa, the word Nommo translates to “the power of the word.” It embodies the creative and spiritual force of speech — the power to bring order, to transform, to make whole. That idea became the heartbeat of this film and Nommo’s powers.
While working under the intensity of the 48 Hour Film Project, I wanted to go beyond spectacle and action. Nommo Payne’s journey reflects something deeper: the need to heal anger, to confront injustice, and to believe in oneself. His powers are extraordinary, but his true gift is what he represents — resilience, justice, and balance.
This film is the beginning of his story, but also a statement: the spoken word has power, and healing is a form of heroism.
