Experiencing Interruptions?

MEDITATION 4 BLACK WOMEN

Four Black women, with unrelated lives, meditate on race and their circumstances setting off a life-saving event that allows them to breathe again.

  • RUKIYA BERNARD
    Director
    THE BLACTOR
  • RUKIYA BERNARD
    Writer
    THE BLACTOR, EL COLOR NEGRO
  • MARIAM BARRY
    Producer
    YAYE, Legacy, Rise
  • ANDY HODGSON
    Producer
    El Color Negro, El Mullato, The Blactor
  • Jessie Anthony
    Producer
    Brother I Cry, El Color Negro, El Mullato
  • Andy Hodgson
    Cinematographer
    El Color Negro, Girl In Room 13, The Flower Shop, The Blactor
  • Sophia Gamboa
    Choreographer
  • Marci T House
    Key Cast
    "Instructor"
    Ivy & Bean, Monster High,Motherland
  • BJ Harrison
    Key Cast
    "Woman 3"
    Planet of the Apes, Yellowjackets
  • Miranda Edwards
    Key Cast
    "Woman 1"
    Snowpiercer, A Million Little Things
  • Yasmeen Kelders
    Key Cast
    "Woman 4"
    Nancy Drew, Borderline
  • Kendra Westwood
    Key Cast
    "Woman 2"
    Supernatural, Gone Mom, Debris
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 24, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    ProRes
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Crazy8s Film Making Competition
    Vancouver
    Canada
    N/A
    Winner! 1 of 6 films (out of 200 pitches) selected to be produced
Director Biography - RUKIYA BERNARD

Award winning actress/writer/director/producer, Rukiya Bernard is of Kenyan and Jamaican heritage. Originally from Toronto she now lives in Vancouver with her partner and two kids. Her viral opinion piece, Dear Becky has been the impetus of much of her writing. Her work includes the short film The Blactor (Winner 2022 Leo Award - Best Short/Screenplay/Director,) her play Yoga For Black Women, (Winner of 2020 Theatre BC National Playwriting Competition) and the docu-short El Color Negro (Winner 2021 Leo - Best Short Documentary Screenplay). She’s a recipient of the Harold Greenberg/Creative BC film fund and produced the short, Yaye. Most recently, she wrote/directed/produced Meditation 4 Black Women (an adaptation of her play. It was 1 of 6 short films chosen out of approximately 150 in BC's coveted Crazy8s competition. In December 2022, Telefilm approved Rukiya’s Development Application for the Untitled Dear Becky Feature Film. As an actor with over 80 IMDB credits, Rukiya is best known for playing "Doc" in 5 seasons on Van Helsing (Netflix/Syfy), in numerous Hallmark MOWs and most recently playing "Anna"on Alaska Daily (ABC) and "Simone" on the Emmy nominated Yellowjackets.

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Director Statement

Growing up in Toronto, racism was a daily experience. It wasn’t really acknowledged by the general public so it became a silent way-of-life. Then in May 2020, with the murder of George Floyd, racism’s existence became a part of the global cultural zeitgeist. Everyone was talking/posting about it.

For the first time, my silent way-of-life was acknowledged. Needless to say, I felt a mixed bag of emotions.

I was grateful for being seen but also felt betrayed. I needed to process my feelings. I needed to reconcile my relationships. I needed to feel a sense of hope and strength. I needed to meditate.

So I wrote non-stop and shared my writing for the first time. I discovered, healing is an interconnected process. And so the concept for Meditation 4 Black Women was born.

Each character is a part of me, an angle of Black woman-hood I’ve experienced: mother, daughter, rebel, protector, teacher, wife, sister, auntie.

In a time when we perpetually heard "I can't breathe," through the character's experiences, breath becomes rebellion. It becomes the healing balm for all.

It’s my hope the audience feels their breath in this film and gets a sense of relief. Because this film is a meditation on race, on reconciling relationships, finding one's truth and seeing how we are all connected in this healing process of racial reckoning.

You can breathe!