“Not only will I stare, I want my look to change reality.” – Bell Hooks

In this collection of six shorts, filmmakers gaze at themselves and their world, attempting to make sense of what they see reflected back. From gripping drama to heart-warming comedy, OUR RIGHT TO GAZE: BLACK FILM IDENTITIES features timely stories from Black artists that take us outside of the ordinary.

Statement from curator Curtis Caesar John (The Luminal Theater):

The “Paradox of Expectation”…it’s the idea that wanting to rid yourself of expectations is a paradox – literally the expectation of no expectation. In these six films from emerging Black filmmakers, what the protagonists experience as the world they woke up to is not the one from which they’re now appearing. Are they lying to themselves about who they are, or is the truth just not what they expect, but what they deserve?

FEATURED SHORTS:

Love in Submission by Antu Yacob & Lande Yoosuf

A Hollywood Party by Toryn Seabrooks

Nowhere by Lin Que Ayoung

The Black Banshee by Kyla Sylvers

Auntie Zariyah by Zora Bikangaga

Pandemic Chronicles by Ya’ke Smith

Content Advisory:

Pandemic Chronicles includes nudity and mature content

Nowhere includes sexual situations and relationship abuse

The Black Banshee includes police violence