Spark is a 1998 psychological thriller film directed by Garret Williams in his directorial debut. It stars Terrence Howard, Nicole Ari Parker, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, and Brendan Sexton III. The film centers on a Black couple who become marooned in a backwater desert town after their car breaks down. Williams workshopped the film at the Sundance Filmmaker Labs.^[1][2]

Spark had its world premiere at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and also screened at Berlinale.

Byron and Nina, a young Black couple from Chicago, are driving a BMW en route to Los Angeles, where Nina will be attending college. They are driving through a desert when they experience a car breakdown after accidentally hitting a dog. Mooney, a sullen teenager and son of a local mechanic, befriends the couple and tows them to a small town where they are charged $500 for repairs. When the BMW dies again, Byron and Nina are forced to stay overnight in a motel, but the situation grows increasingly grim as Byron starts spending more time with Mooney, whose true colors start to reveal a disturbing town story.

Spark premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival in the American Spectrum section.^[3] It also screened at Berlinale in February 1998.^[4] At the 1998 Urbanworld Film Festival, the film was awarded the prize for Best Director for Garret Williams.^[5]

Spark was released on DVD by Warner Bros. as part of the American Black Film Festival series on May 15, 2007.^[6]