No One Heals Without Dying

This Experimental Docu-Short examines how a culture's development around a lack of physical autonomy for Black Women can foster shame, silence and repression. This examination allows space for methods of healing that have developed through the experience of birth, death and other emotionally indelible rights of passage. The film aims to encourage conversation towards certain topics: Black women's ability to possess themselves, healing in congruence with the need to inform and fight, the cyclical nature of certain forms of PTSD and the importance of woman centered healing community.

  • OLAMMA N OPARAH
    Director
  • OLAMMA N OPARAH
    Writer
  • Colbie Fray
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 23, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - OLAMMA N OPARAH

Igbo. Woman. American.

The Atlanta based writer and director’s choice of cinema lies in its ability to convey the inner reachings of the soul. Her use of sound and visual associations represent the universal knowledge expressed through the African diasporal experience, deconstructing mainstream media’s representation of Black women, men and children. Themes in her work often pose the questions, “How does one heal from genetically ingrained PTSD?” or, “How do women exact internal change if rage is impolite, unaccepted, or ignored?”

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