“A Powerful Documentary, 12 years in the Making.“

At first gathered to create an after-school film project, ten Black middle school girls return each week to collaborate with their Black and *white mentors on a feature-length documentary about their own coming-of-age in Baltimore City. Weeks turn into years. Then, shortly before the girls’ high school graduations, a sea of misunderstanding arises about what’s to come. This self-defined ‘second family’ is left to question if their solidarity will survive the realities of living in a world of racial inequity. 

In ‘Anatomy of Wings’ both mentees and mentors show up as is and practice seeing and hearing each other without judgment. Our film is meant for anyone desiring connection to each other as women, men, girls, boys, transgender, gay, bisexual,  brown skinned, pale skinned, impoverished, wealthy, gluten-free, obese, or hairy legged. ‘Wings’ audiences include people working in nonprofits, community-advocacy organizations, schools, universities, and multicultural organizations committed to anti-Black racism, anti-racism, decolonizing curriculum, and understanding where these actions land on the continuum of ally-ship, collaboration, and solidarity. This includes those working with and within some of the world’s most challenging environments to positively impact the adverse effects of structural racism, white-heteronormative media structures, and white-supremacy. Most important, this includes those studying professionally or personally to understand the pervasive cultural trauma resulting from African-American slavery and ALL stolen from Indigenous people.

RECENT PRESS VIEW OUR EPK NEXT SCREENINGS

Our journey began in 2007 with a group of mentors, 10 young girls and video equipment. Every Thursday our collective joined together to bear witness in a classroom setting at MICA. 12 years later our collective has become a family.

Making the Film

We are witness bearing, femme filmmakers. Over ten years in the making, ‘Anatomy of Wings’ is an urgent film about young Black women’s lives that matter in beauty and authenticity. A two-fold coming-of-age story, we begin as teenage girls from the East and West sides of Baltimore who grow up on camera while our fledgling video skills program grows into a women’s collective of profound filmmaking. Our feature-length film focuses on the conditions needed for empathetic witnessing. 

As creators, both in front and behind the camera, we tell our story about Black and white people coming together across radically different zip-codes so that ten Black teenage girls feel seen and heard in their daily lives. ‘Anatomy of Wings’ offers a replicable model of mentorship emphasizing seeing and hearing without judgment. 

Even still, underserved youth’s stories such as ours can frequently be based on the competitiveness of winning or losing a scholarship. We are not interested in perpetuating the myth that scholarships are the sole means of expanding beyond one’s circumstances. Scholarships can be powerful but they are scarce regarding the magnitude of youth who deserve them. We must create a new narrative outside of the white-normative-gaze.

By speaking through this film we are expanding the definition of a worthwhile life. We are acknowledging a person’s growth in the moment of her experience versus focusing solely on the potential of future accomplishments. Even when this means having to face the stigmas associated with young motherhood, whether or not one goes to college, or where one lands in the workforce. There is beauty happening in Baltimore. There is healing, there are young women coming-of-age, breaking cycles, and improving communities one breath at a time.  

Since 2016 and across Baltimore City, ‘Anatomy of Wings’ has offered focus groups in various stages of development for young people to senior citizens. Baltimoreans from all socio economics, race, gender, class, and sexual orientation have viewed excerpts from the film-in-progress at public schools, universities, community centers, homes, and cafes. Participants have consistently reported that it is a stunning rarity to see young Baltimorean women empowered in love and light instead of being defined by a cinematic backdrop of scarcity and loss. We believe audiences are eager to engage films that are NOT about winners and losers. We believe audiences are ready for stories that are NOT about who is good and who is other. We are ready to share our story about how we want to live in this world.  ~ The Wings Women

Anatomy of Wings currently seeks an inspired Executive Producer to support us in completing the post production and promotional goals of our film. Our film is locked and is expected to release late 2020 to early 2021.