By Shaniece Nicole (IG: @shaniece_nicole_)
LOS ANGELES, CA — Nate Parker, founder of the Nate Parker Foundation and leading man in films such as Beyond the Lights, Red Tails, Great Debaters, and Pride, is establishing a new home for African Americans where healing, storytelling, faith and ancestry are permitted. The 2022 Pan African Film + Art Festival is a space that celebrates the homecoming of African Americans and the home-going of trauma. Through film, so many lives are depicted, seen, and heard. Voices are discovered, and freedom is flourishing. The festival is home to many.
Parker, who is respected for exploring the roots of racism, police brutality, and justice in prominent films like American Skin continues to fulfill his purpose as an educator and mentor.
The Nate Parker Foundation is a film school that bears the weight of its ancestors and uplifts the voices of young people. Parker understands that his legacy is embedded in expression. The foundation is producing future storytellers that are devoted to giving black voices a name, identity, and home.
The platform embraces the imagination of young Black storytellers and examines the vividness and complexity in creativity and is committed to change. It serves as a pipeline and has birthed up-and-coming directors and writers such as Shemar Yanick Jonas.
While Parker is known for his riveting on-screen performances, his heart for talent is just as impressive. As the first film from the Alumni Film Accelerator Program of the Nate Parker Foundation, Jonas’ Sweet Thing honors the plight of Black women with an uplifting ending.
Jonas makes one remember that while the journey has had its disadvantages, Black women’s determination and fortitude stems from their roots in faith. Sweet Thing tells the story of a widowed single-mother who finds herself knee-deep in poverty while facing life changing circumstances after her daughter “Blue” is taken away from her. Like so many other black women who rest at the intersection of survival and strength, there is a gentle reminder in this film that teaches us that all things work together for the good of those who love God.
It’s imperative to highlight stories that have light at the end of the tunnel. Pain can often feel everlasting for a Black woman when one stops in the middle of a break-through. Sweet Thing shows its viewers what happens when you “break through” your break-through, as the mother and daughter were reunited at the end of the film.
The screening also included a five minute video detailing the mission and goals of The Nate Parker Foundation followed by the thought-provoking short film Troubled Water, an ideological analysis of Black culture’s relationship with water. The foundation ended their celebration with an intimate Q & A session and a chant (call and response) that amplified every voice in the room.
The Nate Parker Foundation Summer Film Institute is scheduled for Norfolk State University this year. They are currently accepting applications.
