Watch the Trailer: https://vimeo.com/1003274046?fl=pl&fe=vl
Striving for validation. Let’s be frank….we ALL want to be successful. Whatever we put our efforts into, ideally it is to make it culminate in the best possible results across the board, especially when it comes to what career path we are pursuing. We WANT to excel, to shine, to advance, to be acknowledged. AND…let’s hope that we also wish to better everyone around us to boot. However, what occurs when those whom we initially put our trust in suddenly become a burden instead of a boon? Do we falter under the weight of rejection? Or STAND UP for WHO WE ARE?
Brand ambassador and, perhaps, self-professed “influencer” Amira (Samira Beija) is one determined experimental marketing agent who is currently seeking her absolute dream position…that of tour manager for brand openings and store campaigns. Fully confident in her Afro-Latina heritage, supported by her doting mother Linda (Adargiza De Los Santos), and now on the cusp of the success she’s pushed for, what happens when the ugliness of stereotyping, misconception, and outright discrimination rear their heads against her??
One of the MANY things that I always do, and continue to, admire when it comes to the world of independent cinema is the manner in which the filmmakers within its community can just keep finding ways to take foundational concepts or themes that have been done extensively and STILL manage to bring about, for this critic anyway, inventive approaches to them that can provide both contemplation AND entertainment value. Plus, when this is accomplished via the specific medium of short film, I feel it is even more impressive. So, with this newest 13-minute effort from writer/director Asha Chai-Chang, executive producers Coco Mills and LaTasha Carter, consulting producer Via Bia, and associate producer Kiah Amara that tackles issues of self-identity, ethnic/racial prejudice, and overcoming the obstacles these create within and around us, it’s done with a beautiful combination of dramatic, compelling intent and outright, engaging wit that makes the film a complete winner across the board.
Yet again a further example of what I consistently tend to call “a needed/necessary” film, the narrative sees a vibrant and energetically ambitious Afro-Latina brand manager looking to make her bones and score the career choice of a lifetime who appears to be on that path until the powers that be attempt to shut her down for less than agreeable reasons, hence pushing her to reflect, seek guidance, and rise up for who and what she stands for. The baseline exploration of being not just a minority, but a DUAL minority in a sadly judgmental world speaks volumes in itself here, unflinchingly and with awareness-raising purpose, but ALSO with an atmosphere of comedic relief that really aids in ensuring the message is definitively there, just in a more accessible, relatable, grounded manner, making it STICK with you while enjoying some amusement as well. I think it’s a total tragedy that it IS necessary for films addressing bigotry, cultural/societal indifference, and frankly utter ignorance to be made. BUT, I therefore applaud those filmmakers who DO manifest such efforts, because their voice SHOULD be heard, acknowledged, considered, and acted upon.
Thematically, this film’s forays into how we look to titles as validation for our skills and worth, culture clashes, typecasting, overt racism, trying to stand tall for our heritage in order to honor and represent it in the face of abject misconceptions and prejudices, how we are supposedly “seen”, “heard”, and appreciated but then wholly judged when reality doesn’t match the world’s concept of HOW we should look or sound based ON our origins, striving to believe in ourselves, be PROUD of it, and PROVE what we can achieve when the RIGHT support is present and the haters are silenced, as well as a little comical nod to automated phone systems, are all showcased in only thirteen minutes, which only serves to allow the points being conveyed to hit you point blank as they should. This is another rallying cry to EMBRACE cultural identity, respect it, and allow it to shine forth, especially when have the blessing of this country to be FREE to do so, much less to foster a FAR more unified societal atmosphere as opposed to the all-too-present polarized one that exists. We want to see MUTUAL opportunities to succeed and find happiness, REGARDLESS of the ethnic, racial, color, or creed variances our melting pot this is the United States contains.
Read the rest of the review on OneFilmFan
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