black enuf*

About the film

Extras

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2016

• Short

• 23 min

Animation, Documentary, LGBTQ

Directed by Carrie Hawks

A queer oddball seeks approval from black peers despite a serious lack of Hip-Hop credentials. The quest for undeniable acceptance of their racial identity takes them from Missouri, to New York, and halfway around the world in this animated documentary.

Twist Seattle Queer Film Festival, Out on Film, Ann Arbor Film Festival, St Louis International Film Festival, Fringe! Queer Arts & Film, CinemAfrica, Black Star Film Festival, New Voices in Black Cinema, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival, Manchester Queer Media, Scottish Queer International Film Festival, Milwaukee LGBT Festival, MIX Queer Experimental Film Festival, Queer Women of Color (San Francisco), NY Feminist Film Week, Gary International Black Film Festival, Martha's Vineyard African-American Film Festival, Mixed Remixed Festival, First City Film Festival, The People's Film Festival, Queens Museum: Set on Freedom Screening, Brooklyn Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum

About the film

Extras

Director's statement

I don’t see enough of stories that reflect my identity. Black Atheists, Black Queers, Black people who love synth pop and dress Goth. I often felt the need to prove my Blackness and my Queerness. I found similar struggles in the lives of my parents, my brother and even in my great-grandmother. We need multiple narratives because there are so many ways to be Black. Digging into my own insecurities, I use humor and animation to bring the viewer inside my experience. black enuf* was inspirated by the cheeky humor of Monty Python and the brilliant storytelling in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Ethiopian Christian paintings guided the character style, big eyes and heads that evoke empathy. The film started out as live-action interviews, and animation offered a way to bring the memories to life. My family had conversations on camera that about race and identity that we’d never explored previoiusly. My hope is that the audience walks away seeing themselves as enough.

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Reviews

In “black enuf*,” Carrie Hawks recalls the journey for acceptance

New York Times

The documentary doesn’t just cover blackness, queerness and feeling like an oddball. It covers depression and cutting, too. Creating a dialogue will help ease the burdens so many teens carry.

Kansas City Star

Carrie Hawks' autobiographical documentary mixes animation with family interviews and dry humor to explore their lifelong journey to qualify their Blackness and LGBTQ identity with White and Black peers alike.

Colorlines

But while “black enuf*” is a monologue, it is never preachy; rather, Hawks takes a charming approach, using a disarming voice-over to recount their life story with humor and heart.

Philadelphia Gay News

Their tongue-and-cheek humor and honesty made this film resonate.

Black Girl Nerds