DaeQuan Alexander Collier explores the complexities of Black boyhood and its diminishing freedoms. What does it mean to feel #Blackboyjoy? To dream? To just be….free.
“I wanted to create What If Black Boys Were Butterflies because I wanted to highlight an American experience. Growing up as a Black man I found that while other boys can enjoy a childhood of freedoms, for many reasons, “Black boyhood” is a brief, complicated existence. W.E.B. Dubois wrote about this in Souls Of Black Folk, saying, ”Throughout history, the powers of single Black men flash here and there like falling stars, and die sometimes before the world has rightly gauged their brightness”, which I believe so poetically describes this idea and is included in the film. At an early age, Black males are often labelled as violent and troublesome, over-policed in their communities, and forced into hyper-masculine gender norms. Showing these young Black men enjoying their youth and seeking liberation from these complexities through vérité footage, alongside the intimate off-screen conversation between the two Black men, I wanted to capture what so often feels unimaginable, what true freedom could look like. Freedom to live without question.” – DaeQuan Alexander Colliere
#film #mocadadigital #africandiaspora #liberation #blackboyjoy
