SARASOTA – From the COVID-19 pandemic – to the protests that brought national attention to issues kept in dark; and a local film festival sheds light on the issues Suncoast residents want to see change in.
“We have a wide variety of films can be watched whenever people want to on demand, like Netflix you can watch it when you want to,” said Dr. Lisa Merritt.
Since the 2016 elections Americans began to divide themselves on party lines. Fast forward to 2020 and the country couldn’t be more torn than ever. Political values are now subject – around race, gender and family, immigration and religion.
“It’s a beautiful framework in which to share culturally relevant, political and socially element topics in a way that people who get left in the park,” said Merritt.
Merritt, Executive Director of the Multicultural Health Institute, says the Visions of the Black Experience Virtual Film Festival will engage audiences to walk a mile in the shoes of black and brown person living in present day America.
“Art speaks to humanity,” she said. “The selections we ended up with really reflects areas of interest and concerns and controversy impacting our communities and our country right now.”
Topics such as education among minority communities, to health in the time of COVID, and the ongoing debate of Black Lives Matter vs All Lives Matter.
“They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well I guess a video is worth 10,000 words cause it’s a way for people to really see it and relate to it,” said Merritt.
The virtual film festival is completely free to anyone interested and you can watch all the movies, Live Q & A’s, and sit on open table discussions which can lead to Americans reuniting and having conversations by listening and understanding one another. The virtual film festival runs through Sunday.
For more information on how to watch and bean visionsoftheblackexperience.eventive.org
