Trailer
Filmed on location at a renovated historic mill, Bernard Brown/bbmoves’ latest short film uses the lens of sugar to illuminate some of the lasting effects of colonialism on women of color. With support from a strong community, a young black woman guides us toward ascension, releasing the vestiges of oppression scattered.
“… a gorgeously shot film through which Guan and Brown expressed the cruelty and suffering that the sugar cane plantations owners hoisted onto black slaves and the perseverance they endured to survive and thrive.” - LA Dance Chronicle
"The Weight of Sugar, a study on the import and export of human beings and colonisation through the prism of sugar, was also opinionated and powerful." - Kathakali Jana, The Telegraph India
SCREENINGS
South Chicago Dance Theater’s Dance for the Camera Virtual Festival (2021)
Black Lives Rising Live|Virtual Dance Film Festival, NYC (2021) - Best Dance Film Award & Best Choreography Award
Dance Camera West, Los Angeles (2022)
Spring Dancefilm Festival, Spain (2022)
A Festival of the Arts, Sacramento (2022)
ADF’s Movies by Movers Festival, NC (2022)
Auro Appar Dance-Film Festival, India (2022) - Outstanding Direction Award
San Francisco Dance Film Festival (2022)
African Diaspora Cinema Festival, Florence, Italy (2023)
Choreoscope - Barcelona Dance Film Festival, Spain (2023)
Creative Director/Choreographer: Bernard Brown
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Jingqiu Guan
Dancers: Laila Shabazz, Cynthia Booth, Joniece Boykins,Gelline Guevarra and Jade Tabayoyong
Music and Sound Design: Karam Salem
Costume Design: Kristina Garnett of KaartKaart