Film
I Will Follow
- 7PM
Programmer: Racquel Gates
“The themes of Black women's relationships figure prominently in Toni Morrison's body of work. Likewise, Ava DuVernay's I WIll Follow explores the unique experience of caregiving, grief, and renewal through a series of Black woman-grounded bonds and encounters, suggesting, like Morrison's work does, a universe in which Black women's experiences and emotions are central.”—Racquel Gates
Maye (Richardson-Whitfield, in a triumphant performance) finds herself at a crossroads after the death of her aunt Amanda (Todd). Inspired by her own experience, Ava DuVernay’s first feature film paints a graceful, moving portrait of loss and the difficult path forward, capturing Maye's journey on the day she moves out of Amanda's house through her encounters with friends and family members.
Intro by Racquel Gates
Go to the movies just once a month and a BAM membership pays for itself.
Racquel Gates is an assistant professor at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. Her research focuses on Blackness and popular culture, with special attention to discourses of taste and quality. She has published in Film Quarterly, Television & New Media, and the anthologies Watching While Black: Centering the Television of Black Audiences and Saturday Night Live and American TV.
A series of short films and interviews of Black women in dialogue about being Black women.
Eisa Davis hosts an evening of reflection, followed by a dance party with DJ Reborn.
These shorts offer a call-and-response style interrogation of themes in Toni Morrison’s work.