Sundance and meaningful conversations
This being my first Sundance panel, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Walking into the filmmaker lodge yesterday for the “Black in America” panel, I could feel this was going to be good. When Danny Glover entered the room, the talking stopped and everyone waited with anticipation for the discussion to begin (we still had 5 minutes to go!). This I’d never seen.
What ensued was a powerful, passionate, meaningful conversation about being a Black filmmaker in America - from what responsibility that brings to making change on capitol hill through film rather than boring state department documents, it became abundantly clear that movies do change minds.
One of the most moving moments was when Katrina Brown, director of the brave documentary, Traces of the Trade, quietly spoke about her film. Upon discovering that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade. Katrina hopes to gain and share a new perspective on the black/white divide with the rest of America.
The trailer gives you a glimpse into the challenges she and her family face as they travel the globe and face history, personal and national. I wept and the shift in the audience was palpable. This is Sundance at its best. Katrina has promised to share the trailer with us very soon. Stay tuned.
