H.P.V. — Her Pretty Vagina Is the Short Film Black Women's Health Has Been Waiting For
The provocative and necessary short film makes its world premiere at ABFF 2026 on May 30—and it's already a conversation starter.
The title alone will stop you mid-scroll. HPV—Her Pretty Vagina is not intended to be comfortable, and that's precisely the intention.
The short film—intimate, darkly funny, and unsettling in the best way—follows Kaleigh, a young woman whose body is sending signals no one around her seems to take seriously. Her pain is real. Her endometriosis is undiagnosed and untreated. Additionally, she is silently bearing the emotional burden of contracting HPV from her live-in partner, while also facing the systemic and racial obstacles that have made every step of her health journey more challenging than necessary.
Sound familiar? For far too many Black women, it will.
The film makes its world premiere at the 2026 American Black Film Festival (ABFF)—one of the country's most respected platforms for Black storytelling—screening Saturday, May 30, at 8:40 p.m. in Screening Room 2 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. A Q&A with the film's creator will follow the screening.
The Women Behind the Work
Her Pretty Vagina was written, directed, and produced by Kiah Clingman, best known to audiences from Hulu's hit legal drama Reasonable Doubt, The Resident, and Color Book. This project, however, is deeply personal—the kind of story you make because you have to.
Starring alongside her is Taylor Polidore Williams, the breakout star of Netflix's acclaimed series Beauty in Black (also known from Reasonable Doubt and Snowfall), who steps into the role of Kaleigh and also serves as executive producer. Together, Clingman and Williams bring not just their talent to the screen but also their lived experience—telling this story with craft, care, and the kind of unflinching honesty that's been missing from mainstream conversations about Black women's health.
"This film is about what happens when we stop being polite about women's health," Clingman said. "So many women are walking around with pain, shame, fear, and abnormal test results they don't quite understand… silently suffering. This film starts the conversation out loud—in public, with honesty, comedy, and a bit of surreal chaos."
Why This Film Matters Right Now
The health issues at the center of Her Pretty Vagina—HPV, endometriosis, and cervical cancer—are common. What's also common? The silence surrounding them. Cultural stigma, medical dismissal, and racial bias in healthcare all work together to keep Black women from speaking openly about their bodies, seeking care, and trusting that they'll be heard when they do.
This film doesn't approach those realities from a safe distance. It puts you inside them—through character, through story, through the kind of raw, honest filmmaking that doesn't let you look away.
The title is intentional. The conversation it demands is long overdue.
The world premiere is just the beginning. The creative team has made clear the film is part of a larger campaign to bring Her Pretty Vagina to the audiences who need it most.
Her Pretty Vagina is executive produced by Kiah Clingman of KiahClan Productions; Taylor Polidore Williams, Alex Woodruff, and Abijeet Achar of Pineapple Cut Pictures; Rennard West; and Marcella Arthur. Producers include CJ Sykes, Breanna O'Conner, Sue-Ellen Chitunya, Pink Maxwell, Amer-Marie Woods, and Annie Jacob.
Follow the film:@KiahCanProductions on Instagram | KiahCan Productions on YouTube
Cup of Soul Show is covering the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) 2026 in Miami Beach, May 27–31.