In honour of Black History Month, Metro Cinema is pleased to present this free curated program of Canadian shorts. Featuring three documentaries, two poetry films, and spanning four decades, this collection only touches on the true diversity of the black diaspora across the Canadian landscape. From the early black loyalist settlers in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, to the recently displaced family of Nasra’s SHEA, these films are tied through their depictions of vibrant and resilient communities, and characterized by a profound sense of interconnection.
24 Days in Brooks
Director: Dana Inkster
Year: 2007
Runtime: 42 Minutes
Synopsis: Over the course of a decade Brooks, Alberta, transformed from a socially conservative, primarily white town to one of the most diverse places in Canada as immigrants and refugees flocked to find jobs at the Lakeside Packers slaughterhouse. This film is a portrait of those people working together and adapting to change through the first-ever strike at Lakeside.
24 Days in Brooks, Dana Inkster, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
Black Mother Black Daughter
Directors : Sylvia Hamilton & Claire Prieto
Year : 1989
Runtime : 29 minutes
Synopsis : BLACK MOTHER BLACK DAUGHTER explores the lives and experiences of black women in Nova Scotia, their contributions to the home, the church and the community and the strengths they pass on to their daughters.
Black Mother Black Daughter, Sylvia Hamilton & Claire Prieto, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
Shea
Director: Effy Adar
Year: 2020
Runtime: 3 minutes
Synopsis: A family displaced by greed searches for a new home in a foreign place. As they explore they discover pieces of themselves; old and new. SHEA celebrates what has always remained in Black/African peoples, an innate sense of home, luxury and interconnectedness.
Sister Sorrow
Directors: Daliso Mwanza and Salem Zurch
Year: 2020
Runtime: 5 minutes
Synopsis: SISTER SORROW is a poem by Dwennimmen, filmed by pepper’d founders (Daliso Mwanza and Salem Zurch). This interdisciplinary poetry film was shot for the 2020 Found Festival. The project brought together elements of poetry film and music (composed by Biboye Onanuga).
Biboye Onanuga Takeover – “Sister Sorrow” by Dwennimmen – October 21, 2020 from The Works Art & Design Festival on Vimeo.
We Remember Amber Valley
Director: Selwyn Jacob
Year: 1984
Runtime: 25 minutes
Synopsis: WE REMEMBER AMBER VALLEY is a documentary about the settling of the community of Amber Valley. In 1909, a group of 160 African American settlers led by Parson H. Sneed, a clergyman and mason settled the community. Amber Valley is about 100 miles north of Edmonton on the Athabasca River.