Blackness is Everything
Director: Alba Roland Mejia
Cast:Rhandi Purnell , Diontae Burden, Sarah Stewart, Vincent Stewart, Julie "Jewelz" Williams, Kadia Bah, Josh Sanders, Lance "Space" Selleaze, Brandon Davis, Sabaa Zareena
Crew:Writer: Donté Clark. Producers: Amasha Lyons-Clark, My-Hanh Lac. Director of Photography: Jon Warfield Harrison; Editor: Arash Malekzadeh; Film Composer: Ambrose Akinmusire
Email:studio@baycat.org
Web:baycatstudio.org
Synopsis
Blackness is Everything is an experimental/performative short film that celebrates the diversity of the Black diaspora in The Bay Area. Produced by BAYCAT Studio with funding from the Skoll Foundation.
Trailer
About the director
Alba Roland Mejia is a writer, producer, and director based in Oakland, CA. She has an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University (SFSU) with a focus in directing narrative. Alba's work focuses on the African diaspora and strives to capture the true essence of storytelling by pulling from real life experiences.
Filmmaker's note
"When I was approached to create this project I knew I had to keep it raw - in order to stay true to the message - so I felt that shooting on 16mm film would be the best route to take."
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Shooting on film allows us the space to focus on texture - which is extremely important to black identity. Not only is black & white an unofficial stamp for Bay Area film but I wanted nothing to distract from our mission - to bring attention to the black faces of The Bay