“You might, at first, think that Blackwaters is a film about fishing: the poster image of five serious-looking men, standing midstream with waders and fly rods, evokes The Right Stuff, transported to the Alaskan Outback. Although a fly fishing trip provides the scaffolding for this tale, what it really is about is an encounter with what it means to be a black man in America. Blackwaters is at times, funny, emotional, and, always straight from the heart. The scenery has the immensity of a starlit sky. A scene of an angler playing solo sax in a trackless wilderness resonates like the prayerful echo of a church chorus. And, yes, some fish get caught along the way.”
Peter Kaminsky
Outdoors columnist for the New York Times and author of The Catch Of A Lifetime, Moments of Flyfishing Glory
Blackwater encompasses the power of five Black men whose paths have been challenged with loss, defeat, fear, and pain by life’s ups and downs and social injustice challenges black men and black boys face every day. They have fallen into an “endangered species”, only surviving day to day. Through surviving life’s trials, each man has found grace and success in the outdoors, healed and mended by nature’s medicine to the soul, embracing the art of fly fishing and building brotherhood. Blackwater is an expedition of a journey in the Gates Of The Arctic Circle National Park, adventure, a vision quest, and a fly fishing adventure that surpasses the color of their own skin connecting to the fundamentals of nature’s, the poetry of life, and prosperous joy. Like indigenous communities, they find self-fulfillment in being outdoors. They find their own representation, and hold space for everyone, especially inspiring young Black boys. It is a dual survival between black boys who can not make the connection to a black man in the outdoors due to lack of representation and black men finding representation in wild spaces to call their own. Hopefully, these youths can see themselves, and be inspired to embark on their own journeys into the outdoors. The concept is a tactically crafted story in dialogue and adventure, with emphasis on dismantling the fear for BIPOC and inspiring BIPOC to pursue their journey in the outdoors and uplift black boys’ lives in green spaces.
This story is told in 5 directions; 5 lives and 5 perspectives wrap into a heavy dialogue discussion in nature tackling the heavy topics of masculinity attempting to answer questions such as “ Where do I as a black man fit in nature?” and “ How do we hold space in nature as anglers paving the road for our next generation of young men so they could see us and know this space is for them just as much as for everyone?”
Blackwater encompasses the power of five Black men whose paths have been challenged with loss, defeat, fear, and pain by life’s ups and downs and social injustice challenges black men and black boys face every day. They have fallen into an “endangered species”, only surviving day to day. Through surviving life’s trials, each man has found grace and success in the outdoors, healed and mended by nature’s medicine to the soul, embracing the art of fly fishing and building brotherhood. Blackwater is an expedition of a journey in the Gates Of The Arctic Circle National Park, adventure, a vision quest, and a fly fishing adventure that surpasses the color of their own skin connecting to the fundamentals of nature’s, the poetry of life, and prosperous joy. Like indigenous communities, they find self-fulfillment in being outdoors. They find their own representation, and hold space for everyone, especially inspiring young Black boys. It is a dual survival between black boys who can not make the connection to a black man in the outdoors due to lack of representation and black men finding representation in wild spaces to call their own. Hopefully, these youths can see themselves, and be inspired to embark on their own journeys into the outdoors. The concept is a tactically crafted story in dialogue and adventure, with emphasis on dismantling the fear for BIPOC and inspiring BIPOC to pursue their journey in the outdoors and uplift black boys’ lives in green spaces.
This story is to in 5 directions, 5 lives and 5 perspectives wrap into a heavy dialogue discussion in nature tackling the heavy topics of masculinity, where do I fit as an black man in nature and how do we hold space in nature as anglers paving the road for our next generation of young men to see us and to know this space is for you as well that is shared with everyone.
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Date of Film:
May 26, 2023
Location:
Portland, Oregon
Premier:
Billy Frank Jr Conference Center
721 NW Ninth Ave Second floor
Portland, OR 97209
Time:
1pm – 5pm
Upcoming Showings
Portland, Oregon
August 26-28
Madison, Wisconsin
September 15-17
Atlanta, Georgia
September 29 – October 1
Stephensville, Texas
October 13-15
San Antonio, Texas
December 8-10