Through the Night, directed by Loira Limbal and produced by VC member Jameka Autry

An extraordinary film about the labor of love. THROUGH THE NIGHT is an intimate cinema verité portrait of three working mothers whose lives all intersect at a 24-hour daycare center: a mother working the overnight shift as an essential worker at a hospital; another holding down three jobs just to support her family; and a woman who for over two decades has cared for the children of parents with nowhere else to turn. A tender portrait of titanic strength, love, and selflessness, THROUGH THE NIGHT showcases the multiplicity of “women’s work” -- paid, underpaid, and unpaid; emotional and physical; domestic and career-oriented -- all while negotiating the terms of a dignified existence under the three arrows of racism, sexism, and capitalism in America., in the work of an overnight child carer.

Watch the full film on PBS.

Nubia Way, Timi Akindele-Ajani

NUBIA WAY speaks to love of community and space. Built in the 1990s by Fusions Jameen, Nubia Way was London's first Black housing co-operative in Downham, Lewisham. Constructed using the principles of Walter Segal, self-builders were offered long-term discounted rents in return for building the homes. Through interviews with the original self-builders, historians, architects and economists, this new documentary from the Architecture Foundation celebrates the legacy of Nubia Way and examines self-building as an act of resistance against the housing discrimination faced by Black British Communities.

The Freedom Singer, Alexandra Travis and Jennifer Smart

A film about the love of song, and singing as an act of hope and call to action. In the early 1960s, the Freedom Singers traveled across the country to raise funds for the civil rights movement and spread a message of hope.

Rebyrth, Cydney Tucker

On loving life and honoring the act of creation. Rebyrth is a film about an Atlanta-based doula working to save the lives of Black mothers as they journey from their pregnancies into motherhood. The role of a doula is to act as a guide in each stage of childbirth, tethering mother and baby to the earth as they move together through space and time. It’s a connection that goes beyond the physical realm. The work of a doula is an ancestral and spiritual process that culminates with the world’s greatest gift — LIFE.

Engraved, Tiffany Jiang

On grief, and what it means to love something you've lost. Galvanized by devastating events early in their lives, this film shoes two New Yorkers who find ways to channel their grief into acts of kindness.

Currently on the film festival circuit.

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