BLACK AS U R: Award Encore

With unflinching honesty, Brooklyn-based filmmaker Micheal Rice interrogates the homophobia that characterizes many Black spaces. In the same week and same city that George Floyd was murdered in 2020, a young Black trans woman named Iyanna Dior was beaten by a group of peers in a convenience store. The brutal attack and the lack of attention it received marks the opening flashpoint of this incendiary documentary.

Taking the audience from inside a New York barbershop to the open city streets, Rice records honest testimonials from Black folks across generations and looks back to his Southern upbringing and his own internalized prejudice. BLACK AS U R reflects a step toward connection and catharsis, and is Rice’s attempt to confront the African-American community about queerphobia, through the searing stories of queer Black people.

Virtual Encore available to stream 11/18-11/24

Micheal Rice