Known for Directing
Kahlil Davis, known professionally as Kahlil Joseph, is an American filmmaker, music video director and video artist. Joseph is known for creating "intellectually and emotionally dense short films" that center on the experience of African Americans in the United States.
Filmography
22 films


Sampha: Process
2026 · 37m · UK
Process is a striking, avant-garde portrait of Sampha using documentary-style footage to depict his roots in Morden, South London, and Freetown, Sierra Leone.


BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
2025 · 1h 50m · US
Adapted from Kahlil Joseph’s renowned video art installation, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions is a distinctive cinematic experience that mirrors the sonic textures of a record album, weaving fiction and history in an immersive journey where the fictionalized figures of W. E. B Du Bois and Marcus Garvey join artists, musicians, Joseph’s family, and even Twitter chats, in a vision for black consciousness.


Circus Maximus
2023 · 1h 16m · DK
Travis Scott takes his audience on a mind-bending visual odyssey across the globe, woven together by the speaker rattling sounds of his highly anticipated upcoming album "UTOPIA". A surreal and psychedelic journey, uniting a collective of visionary filmmakers from around the world in a kaleidoscopic exploration of human experience and the power of soundscapes.


BLKNWS
2018 · 30m · US
A conceptual and collaborative approach to contemporary journalism and entrepreneurship. It uses media as an ongoing work of art in the form of a two-channel video installation. The project explores the dimensionality of the news media format, interrogating the possibilities of truth while being aware that truth is also the foundation of ideology. News can be more than just current events and human interest stories. It can be a non-linear event, such as in the way Sesame Street delivers information to toddlers or ESPN to sports fans. BLKNWS is for people who have had enough of politicians, pundits, talking heads, oligarchs, and fear mongering.


Fly Paper
2018
A rich and polyphonic portrait of black art and culture in New York City


Black Mary
2017 · 6m
Commissioned by Tate Modern, Black Mary beautifully fuses Joseph’s documentary, performance, fiction, and music videos in a single, breathtaking presentation of the singer Alice Smith.


Arcade Fire: Live at Earl's Court
2017 · 1h 51m
Arcade Fire released their live film recording 'Live at Earls Court,' in 2015. It was recorded during the band's shows at Earl's Court in London, during the Reflektor Tour in 2014 and it features some of the most fan-appreciated tracks.
Alice™️ (you don't have to think about it)
Alice™️ (you don't have to think about it)
2016 · 18m
In this portrait, Kahlil Joseph takes us into an enchanting recording session by musician Alice Smith. Audio and video are not synchronous but blend to form an intimate portrait of a singer and a filmmaker, in deep concentration, engaged in a creative process.


Lemonade
2016 · 1h 5m · US
The second "visual album" (a collection of short films) by Beyoncé, this time around she takes a piercing look at racial issues and feminist concepts through a sexualized, satirical, and solemn tone.


Arcade Fire - The Reflektor Tapes
2015 · 1h 15m · CA
Arcade Fire’s first feature film is called 'The Reflektor Tapes'. The project is “a unique cinematic experience, meeting at the crossroads of documentary, music, art and personal history.”


m.A.A.d
2014 · 15m
A double screen projection film portraying the city of Compton, and a beguiling non-linear paean to everyday moments of life, death and magic — with tracks from Kendrick Lamar's album "good kid, m.A.A.d city" as the soundtrack.


Wildcat
2013 · 7m · US
Filmed in Grayson, Oklahoma, Wildcat meditatively combines documentation of a Black rodeo subculture with an abstract portrait of Joseph’s aunt who helped found the event.
The Mirror Between Us
The Mirror Between Us
2012 · 12m · UK
Two young women embark on a dream-like adventure through the islands of the Maldives after an event turned both their worlds upside down.
The Model: Marcello in Limbo
The Model: Marcello in Limbo
2010 · 4m
A one-take affair that follows Jorge as he weaves through a cliff-side mansion in the Hollywood Hills – showcases three cover songs from the album (Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves The Sunshine,” Martinho da Vila and João de Aquino’s “Cirandar” and Kraftwerk’s “The Model”) and features the members of Almaz (Lucio Maia and Pupillo from stalwart Brazilian band Nação Zumbi), producer Mario C and keyboardist Money Mark.
The Model: Oshun and the Dream
The Model: Oshun and the Dream
2010 · 8m
This film – loosely based around Almaz’s cover of Kraftwerk’s “The Model” – captures Jorge as he delves into his subconscious to examine the figure of a recurring dream: a woman – a model – who taunts and arouses; comforts and scares; perplexes and completes him.