TELUS originals announce an exciting slate of films debuting this February in honor of Black History Month. Two remarkable TELUS original feature documentaries will be released in February each accompanied by a short film. All of the films showcase remarkable Black artists, people, and communities from across Canada.
“Our work in telling local stories in British Columbia and Alberta would not be complete without those from Black communities in front of and behind the camera. It continues to be a privilege to support films such as Union Street, Handle with Care, Unshook, and Out There,” says Ken Tsui, TELUS Production Executive.
The award-winning debut feature Union Street, from BC director Jamila Pomeroy celebrates the Black community in Vancouver and speaks to the challenges the community has faced historically due to systemic racism. Spanning across three generations, the feature chronicles the ongoing effects of racism, displacement, and the cultural erasure of African Canadians. While examining the systemic and political mechanisms that destroyed Hogan’s Alley in the 1960s, Vancouver’s historic Black community for almost a century is brought back into the spotlight. Train porters, speakeasies, juke joints, and a thriving community all existed in the Black neighborhood; and so did musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald. The reverberations of this thriving community and its erasure are still felt, and in the face of adversity, a new generation of Black Vancouverites work to rebuild community and facilitate Black joy. As they reclaim cultural space and give voice to black experiences in Vancouver, they also redefine what it means to be African-Canadian. Union Street will also be in theatres in Vancouver for Canada’s Black History Month at VIFF Centre alongside a selection of films programmed by Pomeroy. Launching February 20th, 2024 on TELUS Optik TV channel 8 and on watch.telusoriginals.com
Documentary feature film ‘Handle With Care’ chronicles the rise, fall, and rebirth of The Notic, an upstart streetball collective from Vancouver in the early 2000s. While their creative basketball moves brought them global fame as teenagers, it set them at odds with the status quo in a battle involving self-expression, race and rejection. Driven by a twenty-year quest to finish their mixtape trilogy, the documentary charts how a group of friends from Vancouver played outside the confines of the NBA yet still left an indelible imprint on the game forever.
Handle With Care features subjects Andrew Liew (aka Fingaz), David Mubanda (aka David Dazzle), Dauphin Ngongo (aka Delight), Jamal Parker (aka Whereyouat?), Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, Jermain Foster (aka J-Fresh), Joey Haywood (King Handles), Jonathan Mubanda (Johnny Blaze), Kirk Thomas, Muhammed Wenn (aka Goosebumps) and Rory Grace (aka Disaster) and takes a deep dive into the world of Vancouver streetball in the early 2000s. Jonathan and David Mubanda (Johnny Blaze and David Dazzle) who are featured in the film are currently releasing their new film It Takes a Village, which premieres at the Toronto Black Film Festival on Feb 17, 2024. Launching on Tuesday, February 27th on TELUS Optik TV channel 8 and watch.telusoriginals.com (in BC and Alberta only) with a wider release in March.
Two short documentary films ‘Out There’ and ‘Unshook’ will accompany the features. The first, titled ‘Out There’ sees a young woman from Fort McMurray, AB, enter a global competition for students to inspire creative thinking about science and win. Maryam Tsegaye reflects on her family, community, and sense of self, before leaving home to start a new life far away. Maryam is the first Canadian to win the international Breakthrough Junior Challenge — an accomplishment that includes a $250,000 scholarship, $100,000 for her school to build a science lab, and $50,000 for her science teacher. Altogether, her prize is worth approximately $500,000 in Canadian dollars. The short will be available from Tuesday, February 20th on TELUS Optik TV channel 8 and on watch.telusoriginals.com across Canada.
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‘Unshook’ follows René, who at 18, was ambitious to start a life of university, activism, and adulthood, until death touched his family. Taking a step back to reflect, René learns the truth of navigating grief, growth, and the nature of change. The short is available from Tuesday, February 27th on TELUS Optik TV channel 8 and on watch.telusoriginals.com (Canada only)
Source/Images provided by Pender PR
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