BlackStar Film Festival Spotlight: 'How They Sway' — a glimpse inside a predominantly black dance company in Atlanta

The beauty of ballet — the precision, whimsical costumes and classical performances like The Nutcracker and Black Swan are well known and regaled across the globe. Black ballet, on the other hand, is an entirely different beast. Black people have long-since by excluded from the historically exclusive craft. In this tiny world of elite dance a small number of names including Alvin Ailey, Misty Copeland and the Dance Theater of Harlem reign loudly. Other brown hued dancers — those who have studied the power of point and the mastery of the pirouette often go unnoticed. In How They Sway, director Jaad Asante gives viewers a glimpse into Atlanta’s predominantly black dance company, Ballethnic. Founded in 1990 by husband/wife team Waverly T. Lucas II and Nena Gilreath, Asante turns her lens on the dancers. We watch as they prepare for their take on Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet which they’ve named The Urban Nutcracker.

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BlackStar Film Festival Spotlight: Time travel & police brutality collide in 'See You Yesterday,' exec produced by Spike Lee

Loss often feels unfathomable — a festering wound that never quite seems to heal. All-consuming at times the weight of it all bears down on you. It becomes the sole object of your focus, the pain and heartbreak demand every ounce of emotion that you have. In some instances, the overwhelming sense of sadness might cause you to do some shocking things. In his superb short film See You Yesterday, director Stefon Bristol explores the anguish of losing a loved one through the lens of science fiction. (Think J.D. Dillard’s Sleight or the Black Film & TV Collective’s web series, Keloid.)

Set in Brooklyn and executive produced by Spike Lee, the film follows quirky teen CJ (Eden Duncan-Smith) and her best friend Sebastian (Dante Crichlow). Devastated by the untimely death of her older brother Calvin (Parish Bradley), CJ is determined to fix it. She and  Sebastian build a time machine with the hopes of returning to the past and changing the course of events that led to Calvin's shocking death.

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BlackStar Film Festival Spotlight: 'The Tale Of Four,' directed by Gabourey Sidibe, starring Aisha Hinds, Ledisi & more

It is a burdensome thing to try and hold the plight of an entire community on your back. In the Black community, it's a responsibility often given to women. We are expected to stand in the thick of it all and cope, often neglecting our own psychological turmoil. From director Gabourey Sidibe, The Tale Of Four is a short-film that delves into the frequently daunting circumstances of everyday life for Black women. Inspired by the Nina Simone song of the same name, The Tale of Four confronts issues of violence, trauma and self-loathing over the course of twenty minutes.

In the midst of another monstrous case of police brutality, we meet four women— Peaches (Aisha Hinds), Saffronia (Meagan Kimberly Smith), Sweet Thing (Dana Gourrier) and Sara (Ledisi Young). These women are being crushed under the weight of duty to protect others that stems from both love and obligation. In the midst of the hashtags, news reports and a justice failing system, the four women are trying to come to terms with who they are and what’s next for them. The film also features Jussie Smolett.

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