FRANCOPHONE COHORT

NOIR: COUPABLE & INNOCENT / BLACK: GUILTY & INNOCENT

Ernst Pierre – Canada – 2021 / 8’ – French

On the evening of January 28, 2021, the evening of Kwadwo Yeboah, a lawyer member of the bar, was interrupted by a routine verification by the SPVM which turned into a nightmare. During his arrest. Yeboah tries to express his innocence, but in vain. The police ridicule him. His rights are violated. Through Mr. Yeboah’s experience, this documentary questions Systemic racism within the justice system and police forces. Can he get justice?

QUI SE RESSEMBLE, S’ASSEMBLE? / BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER?

Jenny Jean-Baptiste – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – French

Through the lived stories of 2 adults of Burundian and Ghanaian descent, this documentary sheds light on the rivalries and tensions that exist in Montreal’s Black communities, but which seem to be overlooked and overlooked in anti-racism conversations.

LOUDER

Maëlle Bonnegrace – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – French

How many of you could imagine going to an unknown country at 18 years-old, alone, with the unique certainty of your passion? Canada’s immigration has as many faces as it has stories. It is through the vision of Yannick alias Hypnotic Beatz, a Guadeloupe multi-platinum producer that we discover what it is to live to the rhythm of music.

NOUS NE TRAHIRONS PAS LE POÈME / WE WON’T BETRAY THE POEM

Matthieu Pierre-Canel  – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – French

As we live in times charged with racial tensions, editor, writer and poet Rodney Saint-Éloi guides us through his memoirs and offers us his philosophy on diversity and openness. The founder of the publishing house Mémoire d’encrier shares its experience with us.

NOIR COMME MON ART / BLACK LIKE MY ART

Nkosi Phanord – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – French

Since 2010, the creative scene in Montreal has emerged from the unknown and especially for Black artists.  Naskademini, Joanna Chevalier et Kevin Calixte are all creators who made their name through this new wave. Naskademini is an international photographer who’s worked with some of the biggest names in fashion & lifestyle brands. Joanna Chevalier is a creative director who’s sought after by the most prestigious museums in the city meanwhile Kevin Calixte is a content creator and show host who made the transition between the web and television. The dynamic trio may be divided by their respective perception of the world but yet they are so much alike when it comes to what it took for them to succeed.

MON RÊVE DU CANADA / MY DREAM OF CANADA

Tani Balourd – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – French

Three immigrants who left their homes for Canada, the land of the future, tell their story. However, for some of them, the promotion of the country abroad does not always live up to these promises. What are the dreams, the difficulties and the little-known journey of these newcomers? A film offering a different and nuanced perspective on the experience of immigrants in Canada.

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ANGLOPHONE COHORT

rántí

Aduke Babalola – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

rántí (“remember”) is an exploration of the void that follows a move away from the home one has always known. The filmmaker – with the voices of her matriarchs – explores her recent move to Montreal in light of her family’s history of migration from Nigeria to Canada. She resonates with that experience by themes of loneliness and longing, and the communication technology that tethers one to the people and places they love. Through this, she discovers what it means to follow in their footsteps, while treading a path of her own.

OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR

Chris Henny-Nyanguila – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

Objects in the Mirror is a reflexive documentary about social and mental health issues that arise in youth-sports. In this short doc, Chris Henny-Nyanguila plays pickup basketball with some of his old friends after years of not playing competitively due to mental and physical health reasons. Chris shares laughs with his former teammates and competitors while being transparent about the hard realities of life after basketball.

THE COLOURED WOMEN’S CLUB

Hamda Elmi – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

The Coloured Women’s Club is a story about Canada’s oldest Black women’s organization created for and by Black women. In this short historical documentary, we are taken back to 1902 when the club was first created in Montreal. With the help of current president Shirley Gyles, we discuss the many ways this group has impacted the community throughout the years with their charitable work.

MY CULTURE, MY HOME

Mikael Romulus – Canada – 2020 / 9’ – English

For most migrants, finding a new sense of home and comfort in the country where they’ve moved is the most important thing. Haitians have flown away from their country to escape its crumbling political environment in the hopes to find a new home, free of the issues that they’ve faced back in Haiti. They may have grown there, but their children will have spent most of their lives growing up in Montreal. While this is where the cultural gap often begins between the children and the parents, the true cultural clash that comes with this different environment comes at a later age when the children become adults and have their own responsibilities. My Culture, My home intends to bring light on the cultural clashes and the conflicts that it may cause. 

BLACKADEMIA

Roy Kingsley – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

The documentary follows Sheri, a recent graduate and her experiences during her high school career. The story will examine the importance of diversity in private schools as well as the challenges that come with being a minority in these institutions.

IT’S THE SMALL THINGS

Yzaih Phénix-Alphonse – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

It’s The Small Things is about Dorothy, a young journalism student, and how she faces the microaggressions that come with being a black woman in that educational environment.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

CJ Mayers – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

Knowledge Is Power conveys the clear lack of black education in Canada. We get to meet Taijah, Kathy and Idris who, in their own way, have all done incredible work in dismantling the current eurocentric system. We are also introduced to the characters of Jerome and Jessica, as they come to realize that the education system is mainly to blame for their lack of self-identity. Simultaneously, the issues explained from the trio, overlay the storyline of the couple before blending into a beautiful conclusion of how powerful knowledge truly can be.

THE IDEA OF THE BLACK DOLLAR

KhaRå Martin – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

Chronicling the lives of Black female entrepreneurs navigating sustaining their first brick and mortar’s during a global pandemic; and a government that has had a record breaking amount of shutdowns. The Idea of the Black Dollar takes an in depth look at preserving money spent within Black communities in hopes of starting what would be an economy for the next generation. Is a Black wall street possible in a society where people of the African diaspora make up roughly 4% of the population?

GOOD BLACK

Marc Samuels – Canada – 2020 / 9’ – English

What black is good black? A pair of sibling child and youth workers interview local professionals, youth and celebrities to ask what versions of black culture are acceptable in Canada and why?

FOR BLACK MUSLIM GIRLS

Niya Abdullahi – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

This documentary is about what it means to be Black and Muslim in Toronto and it takes viewers into their journey to find what home is for them, a journey towards a sense of self, their own rite of passage.

BORN IN SIN

Rennae Byfield – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

It’s The Small Things is about Dorothy, a young journalism student, and how she faces the microaggressions that come with being a black woman in that educational environment.

FRAMEWORK

Deborah Castrilli – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

What does it mean to be fully seen? What is the value of sharing and holding space within one’s community? These are the questions director Deborah Castrilli looked to explore in her short film Framework, which centres the queer black lens in Nova Scotia. Glimpse into the lives of Robert Wright, Chloé Bramble, and Amber Zaza, as they shed light on the nuances of the queer black experience, and share in conversation around spirituality, building community, and the dreams they have for the future.

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE

Guyleigh Johnson – Canada – 2020 / 9’ – English

Scratching the Surface touches on the visibly invisible experience of mental health struggles within African Nova Scotian communities.

FINDING A WAY OUT

Jodell Stundon – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

A self portrait of Jodell’s current life, how dealing with depression and incarceration, living a certain lifestyle brought him to a changing point. Through photography and videography he found his way out of a lifestyle and a system he felt he was trapped in.

WASHED UP

Tyus McSween – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

Washed Up is a story of a young black man from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. In this story, a former hockey player who had potential of fulfilling his dreams as an NHL athlete, dealt with failure and disappointment in the sport he loved, along with complicated family issues constantly being brought to his attention. Finding him tackling a situation of identity, where who he wants to be is conflicted with the reality of who he is. Tyus, along with his family and friends, each explain their personal points of view of his life’s ups and downs from an aspiring athlete to years of incarceration. Will his decisions lead him to a successful happy life? Or will failure push him to remain a victim of his own mind?

LE PÈLERIN

Bénédicte Bélizaire – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

Le Pèlerin is a story about what it means to be an immigrant in Canada. After 18 years in Ottawa, Arrlan Bélizaire, a worker in the gig economy, longs to return to his home in Haiti. Spending the workday with Arrlan, we learn of his journey from the Caribbean to North America.

FINDING MY WAY BACK TO YOU

Kamika Bianca Guerra-Walker – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

Finding My Way Back To You is a participatory-style documentary that follows Kamika’s journey growing up as a half-jamaican, half-chilean young girl in polarizing communities of Calgary whilst dealing with her father’s diagnosis of Schizophrenia.

I AM ABLE

Ryan Wilkes – Canada – 2020 / 9’ – English

Larissa Crawford, a Canadian woman of mixed Jamaican and Métis descent, fights for climate justice and representation in the national environmental movement to preserve the planet for future generations while battling a chronic pain disability. In this film, Larissa recounts the story of struggling to balance raising her young daughter with self-care, fighting for climate justice, representation, and anti-racism, while reconnecting with and exploring her indigenous and afro-caribbean heritage. Larissa takes us on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance as she learns to continue her important work while living with a disability.

HOME

Sarah Uwadiae – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

A young woman reflects on her journey as an immigrant, what home means to her, and her road to finding home and community in a foreign land in spite of the obstacles.

NORTHEAST 2.9

Shae Kubur – Canada – 2021 / 9’ – English

Kim Chambers is a 23 year old woman living in the Northeast community of Calgary. She has been living in Calgary’s NorthEast since she was 12 years old. She watched her siblings grow up in this community and have made friends in this community as well. Kim is also an immigrant, born in Jamaica and coming to Canada when she was 2. She joins Shae Kubur, in NorthEast2.9, to speak on what it means to be a black, an immigrant in Calgary. She speaks on her childhoods, her school life, her neighbourhoods, and how that shaped her to the young woman she is today.