Black Alphabet to screen BLACK AS U R -

BLACK AS U R a micheal rice film SATURDAY, September 10th, 2022

THIS FOLLOWS THE FILM’S AWARD-WINNING Summer SCREENINGS

A Poignant Documentary Uncovering Queer and Trans-phobia In Black & Brown Communities

Chicago, IL – August 17, 2022 – BLACK AS U R, a first in the independent documentary segment dedicating a feature-length film to the misunderstandings of Black queerness and the Trans experience, screens on Saturday, September 10th @ 1 pm in Chicago at the Reva and David Logan Center located at The University of Chicago the screening will be immediately followed by a community discussion featuring the film’s director.

In June 2022, BLACK AS U R was honored at Frameline46 in San Francisco with the “Out in the Silence” award spotlighting the film for its “brave acts of visibility.” It was featured at the American Black Film Festival in Miami as an “Official Selection” in the feature documentary category and at the Black Alphabet Film Festival in Cincinnati with a special talkback session.

BLACK AS U R is directed by Micheal Rice and is his second documentary following his debut, parTy boi: black diamonds in ice castles (“Best Documentary” – Pan African Film Festival 2020). The film continues Rice’s deep dive into the often overlooked and misrepresented narratives of the LGBTQIA experience.

“I wanted my new documentary to face the realities of queer-phobia from within black and brown urban communities,” said Micheal Rice. “The film speaks to the understanding of intersectionality, affirming same-gender loving people and the fight for equality. It’s also the first documentary that covers the story of Dominque Remmie Fells, a Black transwoman whose vicious murder helped reignite the Black Trans Lives Matter movement in 2020.”

BLACK AS U R unveils the stark homophobia characterizing many Black spaces, both contemporary and autobiographical, via a look into the director’s own upbringing in the southern United States. The film brings to the forefront the all-too-often silenced conversation within the Black community for generations — Black queerness and transgender identity. BLACK AS U R explores topics that have catalyzed mental and physical violence against a subset of the Black community who have largely been the leaders in cultural expansion and the fight against racial injustice in America.

The award-winning production team behind BLACK AS U R includes Writer/Director, Micheal Rice; Executive Producer, Gerald Oxford; Producer, Edward Radford; Director of Photography, Holly Fischer; Editor, George Gordon and Photographer, Yinka Paris.

Micheal Rice is available for interviews upon request.

THE TRAILER

BLACK AS U R

https://www.blackasur.com/

ABOUT MICHEAL RICE

Micheal Rice is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, choreographer and creative director for stage and film. Rice has over ten years of experience working across multiple platforms from television to regional theatre. His debut documentary – parTy boi: black diamonds in ice castles – opened dialogue among urban LGBTQ communities of color about substance abuse and HIV infection – and was awarded Best Documentary at the prestigious Pan-African Film Festival in 2020.

SOCIALS

Instagram: @blackasurdocumentary

FB: blackasurdocumentary

ABOUT THE Black Alphabet NFP

What began as a conversation about the lack of exposure of films that explore the Black LGBTQ experience birthed the Black Alphabet Film Festival (BAFF), Chicago’s first Black LGBTQ film festival. The Founding Board of BAFF was successful in fulfilling their original vision, “to empower Black LGBTQ communities from around the world to share their stories thus creating a legacy that honors our past, highlights our present, and nurtures our future.”

Since its inception in 2013, BAFF has worked to encourage storytelling, cultivate new dialogues and educate communities about the cultural and social contributions that Black LGBTQ-identified people have made upon the world.

The founding mission, “to identify and present the stories that portray the variety of gender and sexual expressions of the Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) community through the art of film,” has sustained the organization for several years.

In 2019, the realization that there was a lack of visibility of other forms of creative artistic expression of the Black LGBT+ community, prompted the Black Alphabet team to develop a new vision, a new mission, a new brand, and a refined name.

Known simply as Black Alphabet, the organization now focuses on advocating for social equity by creating and spreading awareness of issues adversely or disproportionately impacting the black LGBT+ community. Social equity is a concept that speaks to the fair and equitable identification, provision, implementation, and impact of services, programs, and policies.

AWARDS & SCREENINGS

AWARDS

Out in Silence Award: Frameline46
Best Feature Film: Columbus Black International Film Festival
Official Selection: American Black Film Festival
Official Selection: OUFEST Fusion Film Festival

2022 FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

Massimadi Montréal Festival des films et des arts LGBTQ Afro (Canada) FEB 11, 2022
OUTFEST Fusion Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA) APRIL 9, 2022
Pan African Film & Arts Festival (Los Angeles, CA) APRIL 19 – MAY 1, 2022
Columbus Black International Film Festival (Columbus, OH) MAY 21, 2022
Black Alphabet Film Festival (Cincinnati, OH) JUNE 16, 2022
American Black Film Festival (Miami, OH) JUNE 18, 2022
Frameline46 Film Festival (San Francisco, CA) JUNE 19, 2022
AGIFF Film Festival (Toronto, Canada) JUNE 29 – JULY 3, 2022
Micheaux Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA) JULY 16, 2022
Vancouver Queer Film Festival (Vancouver, Canada) AUG 11 – 21, 2022
Black Alphabet Film Festival (Chicago, IL) SEPT 10, 2022
Queer Lisbon26 Film Festival (Portugal) SEPT 16, 2022
Montreal Black International Film Festival (Montreal, Canada) SEPT 20 – 25, 2022
Out on Film Atlanta’s LGBTQ Film Festival (Atlanta, GA) SEPT 22 – OCT 2, 2022
Silicon Valley Queer Film Festival (San Jose, CA) OCT 13 – 15, 2022
Perlen – Queer Film Festival (Hanover, Germany) OCT 21 – 29, 2022
Mix Copenhagen Film Festival (Copenhagen, Denmark) OCT 21 – 30, 2022
Teaneck Film Festival (Teaneck, NJ) NOV 13 – 20, 2022
Melbourne Queer Film Festival (Melbourne, Australia) NOV 18 – 29, 2022
QDoc Film Festival (Portland, OR) TBD