Upcoming film on anti-Black racism comes to Halifax, interviews community members
Posted Oct 17, 2021 09:10:29 PM.
Following the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Mark Holmes and Matt Cappuccitti both knew they wanted to do something to support the situation — but they weren't sure how they could help.
With Holmes' background in TV and film, the Toronto-based duo settled on creating a documentary, but they still had to come up with an angle.
After a bit of mulling, Holmes realized he wanted to focus on how the Black community is employing various methods, practices and strategies to try and interrupt anti-Black racism.
Titled Beyond The March, both Holmes and Cappuccitti have been working on their documentary for the past 15 months.
The two started travelling, filming and speaking to people in Ontario and British Columbia, but they flew into Halifax — a city Holmes calls the “epicentre of anti-Black racism in Canada” — on Wednesday to continue their work.
“It's a massive passion project but, obviously, it's one that we're going to see through,” Holmes says after admitting the project is currently self-funded. “We're learning so much as we embark on this journey.”
Over the past few days, Holmes and Cappuccitti spoke to some of the people in Halifax's Black community including activist Quentrel Provo and Africville historian Irvine Carvery.
The filmmakers wrapped up their work in Halifax on Sunday, but they left with even deeper knowledge on the issues and strength the Black community brandishes.
'I'm learning that there's a strong resilience within the Black community and we're seeing people who have gone through life-altering events,” Holmes told NEWS 95.7. “But through the strength of the Black community and through people who've paved the wave before, they're coming out on the other end and making change.
“Maybe they've been knocked down, maybe they've been victimized by the police. But now we're seeing real, real change.”
He said the film features one woman who describes going through something extremely traumatic. However, her perseverance and resilience allow her to come out on the other side as a stronger person.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people, when they think of anti-Black racism in the Black community, they just see the marches and the protests,” he said. “But what happens after those protests, signs and demonstrations and bullhorns are put down? What happens after that?
“I think a lot of people think that's just it as far as [what] the Black community does. But there's so much work that's being done, so we wanted to show that and bring awareness to that.”
In Halifax, Holmes said he hopes to shine a light on the work being done in Nova Scotia and highlight the people in the province who are doing their best to fight anti-Black racism.
While the film is still in production, Holmes said it'd be ideal for the team to finish shooting by December and have a spring 2022 release.
He said he hopes the film will impact audiences and entice more people to get involved in community activism.
“None of this is the Black community's responsibility,” he said. “But if we don't take some kind of action, nothing's going to get done.”
