The Collaborative Film "Intersections" explores issues of racism and homophobia through a surreal narrative film structured through metaphors and vignettes where the roles are played by people from queer and racialized communities in North Carolina. The film interconnects both the civil rights movement and current queer issues through the writings, love letters,interviews and speeches of the lost prophet, Bayard Rustin. Some of the topics include the history of segregation, the Woolworth Sit-Ins , the Jim Crow laws, The Greensboro Four, Amendment 1, and the repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law. This is the result of a residency by Emilio Rojas and Jeremy Harris at Elsewhere Museum, in Greensboro, North Carolina that attempted to collectively generate a creative space for reflecting on these vital issues.
Artist Statement (Emilio Rojas)
This project intersects my practice as an activist and artist, in what I would call an artivist, but also my background in film and working with the QMC (Queer Migration Collective). Although I studied film, my practice has concentrated in performance, video, sculpture and installation, but my interest in film has not diminished, and in this project I was able to bring together all of these interests. The impact of this project in my practice has been immense, it has expanded my definitions of collaboration, working with queer and racialized communities, and increase my understanding of the relations of gender, race, and sexuality and the ways in which they intersect. Diving into history and finding the points where we are all in this together fighting for human rights.
Artist Statement (Emilio Rojas)
This project intersects my practice as an activist and artist, in what I would call an artivist, but also my background in film and working with the QMC (Queer Migration Collective). Although I studied film, my practice has concentrated in performance, video, sculpture and installation, but my interest in film has not diminished, and in this project I was able to bring together all of these interests. The impact of this project in my practice has been immense, it has expanded my definitions of collaboration, working with queer and racialized communities, and increase my understanding of the relations of gender, race, and sexuality and the ways in which they intersect. Diving into history and finding the points where we are all in this together fighting for human rights.
