Black artists and figures are being acknowledged in this year’s project created by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Black Lives Black Words.
The collaboration, titled “Films for the People,” is made up of two short films created entirely by Black writers and directors. The films feature a single actor and are filmed in prominent Black businesses, such as the historic jazz club, Esther’s Orbit Room, based in the San Francisco Bay Area and Houston.
“This unprecedented project connects Black arts and the communities they serve to celebrate the talent, resilience, and presence of Black artists, leaders and communities across America,” said the organizers of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in a statement on their website.
Resident director of the OSF Lloyd Richards program, Elizabeth Carter, will launch the program this year when she debuts her film. Written by 2018 mayoral candidate, playwright and activist, Cat Brooks, the short film revolves around recurring themes they found in the city of Oakland amongst the community. Combining their interests together, the short movie also explores what it would be like if theater and film were united.
“For me as a Black woman theater director, getting to work with Cat Brooks, a Black woman playwright and activist, feels like the perfect collaboration,” said Carter in an interview with BroadwayWorld. “As we explore this hybrid project between theater and film I am eager to see what each art form yields. How do they speak to each other? What will we learn?”
In addition to Carter and Brooks, the co-founders of Black Lives Black Words, Reginald Edmund and Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway, have collaborated once again to create the second film in the “Films for the People” project. Written by Edmund and directed by Hodge-Dallaway, the short film focuses on the current race relations in Houston and shines a light on Black business owners.
Reginald and Hodge-Dallaway previously garnered attention with their critically acclaimed film Ride Share. Based on Reginald’s personal experience, the Black Lives Black Words production follows Marcus, a man who’s fired from his company just as he gets married. In order to support his new wife and himself, he takes up a job as a rideshare driver. The film follows Marcus’ experience at his new job as he meets new people with exchanges ranging from funny to dramatic.
In addition to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Black Lives Black Words, the project is being funded by streaming platform Stellar. Last year, the streaming platform created the Stellar Emerging Creators in Theatre Program. The program provides the receiver with enough money and resources to produce their project as well as a place on their site for the films to be aired.
This year “Films for the People” will first debut on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s online site, O!, on Aug. 12, 2022, before becoming available on Stellar.
