Among the heartbreaking vignettes in Red Deer filmmaker Love Nwigwe’s I Can’t Breathe is a scene in which a patient storms out of a young doctor’s office because she is Black.
The actor playing the doctor sits there, bows her head and then the camera captures a look of deep sadness in her eyes.
For Nwigwe, it is a moment that strikes an emotional chord on many levels. Not only does it reflect the racism people in the Black community face all too often and in all too many ways.
But the scene hits even closer to home because the actress playing the doctor is her daughter Adaeze Nwigwe.
“During the shooting I was feeling the pain. I actually shed tears in that moment there,” said Love, who is the mother of four and a wellness consultant at a medical clinic and private practice.
I Can’t Breathe and its depiction of the pain racism leaves was inspired by the disturbing video that surfaced of George Floyd, an American Black man who died with a White policeman’s knee on his neck. “I can’t breathe” were among Floyd’s last words and became a rallying cry for those fighting against systemic racism in police and society.
It is also a phrase repeated several times to effect in the film.
The 17-minute film was produced with a $20,000 grant from TELUS STORYHIVE and is among the projects to premiere as part of the first Black Creators Edition in support of Black History Month. The film can be seen on TELUS Optik TV Channel 707 and on STORYHIVE’S YouTube channel.
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The movie is a collection of vignettes based on true stories that show the many forms that racism takes.
There are children who are taunted with racial slurs at schools and are let down by teachers who do nothing in response. At a day care, a Black worker is asked to change a Black child’s diaper because a White staffer complains it is extra smelly because of the African food the infant eats.
Another vignette has echoes of Floyd’s tragic encounter with police. A teen girl is approached in a park by two police officers, who demand to know her name because a suspicious Black person had been reported in the area. They refuse to accept that “Sally” can be her real name because it is not African enough.
Only when confronted by the girl’s angry mother do the police officers back down.
Nwigwe knows of a 14-year-old who went though the same situation, leaving her traumatized. The incident was never addressed by authorities.
“That is why I decided to put it in the movie to see if there could be a change in the justice system. When the people you think will protect you are not protecting you that goes back to the George Floyd case.
“Police were supposed to be protecting George and they killed him.”
Nwigwe got encouraging feedback on her film last November, when she had a well-attended sneak preview at Carnival Cinemas. Some audience members were in tears and she heard many positive comments.
“It gave me a sense of fulfillment that the message I wanted to pass on came out.”
That her film will now be available to a wider audience is satisfying. “I feel happy. It feels a little unreal to me because I never believed that it would go this far.”
Her filmmaking career may have only just started. Nwigwe wants to make a full-length movie to further explore themes around racism. She hopes to produce a film to share the “unheard voices” and the “untold stories” of the Black community.