âPaper Shadowsâ is a surrealist, nonlinear satire about the creative & emotional angst shared by an elderly black man and a young white female art student. Shot on 35mm black and white film using anamorphic optics for the 2:35.1 aspect ratio, the central characters represent the racial, class, gendered, and generational gaps and complexities in society. The film, through image and sound manipulation, explores ideas and identity that are rarely explored and contrasted in mainstream narrative films. The characters indulge in a Walter Mitty type fantasy involving a grant fellowship competition, mysticism and espionage intrigue within the fictional philanthropic organization that effects both characters as they unite to oppose and combat.