Inspired by a true event, CINNAMON follows a seven-year-old Chinese girl and a young Black boy whose lives collide after a bullying encounter on an elementary school playground.

When the children hurl racial slurs they barely understand, a moment of confusion and hurt forces them to confront the meaning and consequences of words they have absorbed from the world around them.

As hostility gives way to curiosity, the children begin to see one another beyond the assumptions and prejudices they have inherited.

Their unlikely connection becomes a tender exploration of race, cultural difference, identity and childhood, revealing how early prejudice can take root and how empathy can begin to undo it.

Starring XIAOWAN JIN as EMILY, ZYLEN DREW ARNAUD as TREY and introducing AYLA MARGAUX as JULIE,  the 21-minute drama was written by Pp Hsiung, Tymaine Clay and SANDRA LORD, produced byTYMAINE CLAY and SANDRA LORD, and directed by TYMAINE CLAY and QIANIAN ALICE SUN. The film's original title song was created by recording artist and protégé of the legendary Jackie Jacons of the Jackson 5, D.B.L. and producer and multi-instrumentalist TRA'ZAE CLINTON, extending its message of connection through music.

At once thought-provoking and deeply human, CINNAMON examines prejudice through the unfiltered perspective of childhood, finding hope in the possibility that understanding can be learned just as surely as hate. As of August 2026, CINNAMON is an Official Selection of the LA Shorts International Film Festival and BronzeLens Film Festival, both Academy Award-qualifying festivals.