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Jumai Yusuf’s feature debut Cocoa Doll is being launched to international buyers at the Toronto Film Festival this week.

Co-producers and sales agents The Dazey Phase and Unger Media are shopping the horror pic about, Nora, a young Black woman who takes a caregiving job for the McNeils, a rich white family, only to discover they’re hiding a deadly secret.

Cocoa Doll was earlier selected for the Black List’s Muslim List. Yusuf wrote and and is set to direct the indie, which was inspired by caricatures of Black people from the Jim Crow era not lost to history.

“When I set out to write a horror film, I knew I had to tap into the things that truly haunt me. Cocoa Doll is my way of reminding people that Jim Crow isn’t some distant past. It’s a horrifyingly recent chapter of American history,” Yusuf said in a statement.

Pills, porno, Pokemon cards – The Three P’s! Mysterious Ways reminds us there’s more to faith than avoiding these sins of the flesh in director Tyler Eaton’s comedic and demonic feature debut. Anchored by strong performances and an equally strong message, the film asks viewers to place faith in each other above all, even if one of us is a devoted Bigfoot truther.

Mysterious Ways follows religious siblings Denise (Alyssa Sabo) and her brother Charlie (Brandon Raman) as they attempt to pick up the pieces of their congregation after their parents’ deaths. Children of a pastor, the duo find themselves embarking on much different paths. Denise desperately clings to the church, immersing herself in everything from worship group sleepovers to teen graphic novels featuring Christ crusaders fighting Satanists with Uzi’s. On the flip side is Charlie, slowly becoming disillusioned with his life, planning to escape his situation...

Set in a small coastal town in New Zealand, Mysterious Ways quietly explores what it means to follow your heart in the face of adversity. At the center of the story are Reverend Peter Simmons, the vicar of St. John’s Anglican Church, and his partner Jason, a former prisoner turned local rugby coach.

Peter is an openly loving man who believes the church’s message of acceptance and compassion. Under his leadership, St. John’s parish embraces people from all walks of life. But when Peter proposes to Jason over the radio and requests to wed in the church, it awakens reaction in their tight-knit community. Not all share Peter’s progressive values, and conservative forces within the diocese move to pressure the reverend into backing down.

Directed by Paul Oremland, Mysterious Ways follows Peter and Jason’s journey with subtlety. Shot elegantly on location around Auckland, it feels...