A Red Deer-based filmmaker has chosen George Floyd’s last words — “I can’t breathe” — as title for her short film about racism for the Telus Optik channel.
Love Nwigwe said she was surprised to receive a $20,000 grant from Telus Storyhive, for a program designed with Black Screen Office, to spotlight the excellence of Black filmmakers. She thought her film’s theme would be considered too “bold” and controversial.
Nwigwe was inspired to take action against racism after viewing the disturbing video of Floyd, an American Black man who died during an arrest while a White policeman knelt on his neck in May 2020.
“I wanted to spread awareness of the troubles the Black community faces — even in Canada,” said Nwigwe, who moved to Red Deer 12 years ago with her husband, after previously residing in Italy and her native Nigeria.
I Can’t Breathe, her first film, will be made with training and mentorship from Storyhive. She is one of 30 emerging Black creators who were selected for funding from Alberta and B.C.
Nwigwe, a mother of four and a wellness consultant in a medical clinic and private practice, said her film will use actors to re-create some of her own experiences. The film will also incorporate real-life experiences of other Black residents of the Red Deer-area, who have faced discrimination in various forms.
For instance, Nwigwe knows a young Black girl who was exercising in a public park at the start of the pandemic, when she was approached by police officers and questioned about what she was doing there. The officers, who later took her home to her parents, said an area resident had complained a person of her description was “looking at cars” on the street.
The girl was only about 14-years-old at the time and was “traumatized,” said Nwigwe.
She also plans to dramatize workplace discrimination. While employed at a day care, a Black woman was asked by a White co-worker to change the diaper of a black child. Since she was in the midst of another task, she asked why she should be the one to change this child’s diaper.
Nwigwe said the woman was told that the diapers of Black children were extra smelly because of their African food.
She knows of many other incidents of workplace bias — including that experienced by a local Black doctor who’s had patients abruptly turn around and walk out of his clinic upon realizing he’s African.
Her film will also tell of some children’s experiences with being bullied because of their skin colour. As a parent, Nwigwe said she would talk to school officials about this, but knows other Black parents who don’t want confrontation, so they just tell their children to move past these incidents.
Nwigwe knows this can be hard to do as racism makes a person feel unaccepted and diminished. “It can lead to low self-esteem and depression.” That is why she always used to tell her now-adult children “today is going to be a good day” as they were leaving the house — “just in case somebody says something negative about you, that it’s not going to (impact) their identity.”
Nwigwe hopes viewers of her short film, which is expected to be completed for Telus Optik by September, will raise awareness “and bring about healing and reconciliation.”
Although she knows some people will argue that racism doesn’t exist in Red Deer — and “they have a right to their opinion” — she believes all cultures and races can be fearful of those who seem unfamiliar.
The danger of racism is it can be self-perpetuating, said Nwigwe — causing racist feelings to spring up in its victims against the culture they were hurt by.
She’s also planning to launch some community workshops about racism later this year.