Synopsis
“No taxation without representation!”
Cool slogan… unless you’re a free Black or Indigenous man in 1779. Then you’re paying taxes to the colonies and they definitely don’t want you voting.
Meet Paul Cuffe: nineteen years old, ambitious mariner, smart enough to survive the British prison ships in Brooklyn, but still stuck paying colonial taxes. He and his brother-in-law Michael Wainer are hauling food to Nantucket, because the British have it blockaded – no food in or out -and the people are starving.
They have to out maneuver the British patrol boats but they also have to deliver a grandfather clock to their wealthy Quaker patron, William Rotch Sr. The clock delivery means a paycheck and that paycheck keeps Paul out of tax jail.
When the patrol boat closes in survival means tossing something overboard to lose weight and gain speed, Paul faces the ultimate choice: Save the clock, keep his patron happy and pay his taxes or save the cargo and feed the people.
Spoiler: Paul uses wit sharper than a cutlass and finds a way to turn loss into victory.
Based on a true story, CUFFE: TAXED flips the script on Revolutionary history, shining a light on
Black and Indigenous men risking everything to save white colonists. With humor, irreverence, and a sharp modern edge, the film takes aim at the myths we inherit about freedom, sacrifice, and who gets remembered in history.
Funny, fearless, and long overdue.
Key Personnel
Anita Allison
Writer/Producer/Director
Anita Allison has had a successful production career. She has written, produced and directed at SundanceTV and agencies where she worked with the hottest celebs for the slickest brands. She had a long stint at Bain & Company where she directed the world’s top business minds and developed and ran two prolific Global departments that produced and distributed thousands of videos across multiple platforms.
Today, Anita is devoted to telling stories that align with her core beliefs and experiences as an interracial American woman. Her stories aim to correct the common narrative, examine racial biases and promote anti-racist thinking. Her ultimate career goal is to find and use her voice while lifting the voices of others.
Duke Riley
Producer/Creative Consultant/Animation Design
Duke Riley is a Brooklyn-based artist, seafarer, and provocateur whose work dives headfirst into the murky
waters between history, myth, and rebellion. He has had solo exhibits at the Brooklyn Museum, the Sydney and Havana Biennales, Queens Museum of Art, and MOCA Cleveland.
Raised along the coast of Massachusetts, Riley grew up with the legacy of Paul Cuffe. For over three decades, Riley’s art has reexamined American history through the lens of the marginalized and the mythical. His work seeks out the stories buried beneath the dominant narrative, illuminating how those erasures continue to shape our cultural present.
Ayana Barka
Cinematography
Ayana is an Emmy-nominated cinematographer and one of the few Black women in IATSE Local 600. Her work spans documentary, commercial, and immersive storytelling, with credits including In the Arena: Serena Williams (ESPN+), Uncharted (Tribeca 2023), United Skates (HBO), and The Hunting Ground (Sundance).
She is also the creator of Greenwood Avenue, a VR experience about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Known for her intimate visual style and meticulous attention to lighting and skin tone, Ayana brings a deeply human lens to every frame. She is the founder of Edamame Films and a graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Cristiano Meira
Visual Effects Supervisor
Cristiano is a senior visual effects artist and compositing supervisor with over 20 years of experience in film, television, and advertising. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, he moved to Los Angeles to study Nuke compositing at the Gnomon School before working across major studios in San Francisco, New York, and beyond.
His credits include Severance, The Gilded Age (HBO), The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix), and The Walking Dead (AMC). He currently leads compositing at Chicken Bone FX in New York, where he continues to bring cinematic worlds to life with precision and artistry.
Kathy Gatto
Editor
Kathy is an award-winning editor with over 20 years of experience across commercial, scripted, unscripted, documentary, and narrative feature work. Her films have screened at SXSW and Tribeca, including Oxyana (Tribeca winner) and Wild Magic (Artistic Vision Award, Big Sky 2025).
Her commercial credits include campaigns for Airbnb, Google, Nike, and Etsy, with recognition from Cannes Lions, ADDY, and One Screen. Her work is also featured in permanent museum installations at the Smithsonian, the 9/11 Tribute Museum, and the World War II Museum.
Kathy is a member of the International Documentary Association, the Alliance of Documentary Editors, and Women in Nonfiction.
Alyssa Botelho
Associate Producer
Born and raised in a small New England town by the sea, Alyssa Botelho’s love for storytelling began in a 19th- century library, where she discovered a deep connection to history. Driven by a fascination with the untold stories of the past, her films blend historical depth with elements of suspense, existentialism, and dry humor. Her work has been recognized at the national level, including by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and frequently highlights overlooked figures in history, from a 17th-century accused witch to Afro-Indigenous Station Master Polly Johnson.
Excited to contribute her experience in writing, directing, producing, and acting, Alyssa is thrilled to support the telling of Captain Paul Cuffe’s powerful story. Alyssa Botelho
