Actresses Ashley Shante and Squeaky Moore are hoping their new film Father's Day? will encourage discussion about what they call "the elephant in the room" -- the absence of black fathers from an alarming number of African-American homes. The short film is scheduled for release in March 2012.

"We want to hit them with a story to understand the emotional impact," Moore told the Huffington Post.

"I wanna see this topic become popular," said Shante. "I want it to be popular, to where it's on TV, to where it's talked about so much that it puts shame on anyone who isn't acting accordingly."

If the trailer is any indication, shame is exactly what the film emphasizes. Fatherless children and adults stare into the camera and testify about the pain of rejection and the lasting impact of fatherlessness. All are tattooed with the number 64, which the producers say represents the percentage of black children who grow up without their dads.

Is the negativity necessary to get the point across? Or will this depressing and accusatory angle only serve to put black men -- and the black community as a whole -- on the defensive?

Read more at the Huffington Post.

In other news: VIDEO: The Black Women of Occupy Wall Street.

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