Private Project

The Blues

*This film depicts some violence and the remnants of violence from brutalization.

After the brutalization and death of Tyre Nichols, Memphis protestors and citizens came together in honor of his life and against the violence of the several Memphis policemen that took his life, This is a visualization of January 27th through January 31, the day before Nichols' funeral.

  • Aisha Zorelle Raison
    Director
  • Aisha Raison
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Student
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Memphis
Director Biography - Aisha Zorelle Raison

Aisha Raison has proven to be one of the strong, young Womanist poets, producers and speakers of our time. A poetry slam vet since 1997, The Ripley, Tennessee native created Afrodeesiack Press and later worked in radio as a on air personality and talk show host. For the past four years, she took her passions and placed it on film, creating her first award-winning film Girls Like Me: a self/love story in 2017, then later directed Dancin' to the Blue Moon in 2018. Today, she resides in Memphis, Tennessee, and attends the University of Memphis as an Interdisciplinary Studies student with a concentration in Africana Her-story, graduating in May 2023.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The story of Tyre Nichols touched me most because this could have been my son. Both were close in age and had a love for skateboarding. Before I saw the police video, my feelings for the loss of another young African American man riddled my soul. As a filmmaker and an activist, I could only hear my own son's voice screaming out to me for help. So his story and many such as his in the past ten years have made me not only aware, but active in fighting for justice with the one weapon I had...my camera. These stories are not stories that need to be silenced...and it is in this work that I plan to scream about our pain and our goals to seek justice.

Just know that we're not done.