What Are You?
'What Are You?' is a short documentary that explores the lives of multiracial people as they reveal the struggles of living in a racially divided world.
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Richard B. PierreDirector
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Richard B. PierreProducer
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Project Type:Documentary, Short
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Runtime:19 minutes 40 seconds
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Completion Date:April 14, 2019
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Production Budget:6,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:RED, Sony FS7
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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African Diaspora International Film FestivalWashington, DC
United States
August 11, 2019
World Premiere
Official Selection -
Twin Cities Black Film FestivalMinneapolis, Minnesota
United States
October 20, 2019
Official Selection -
St. Louis International Film FestivalSt. Louis, Missouri
United States
November 13, 2019
Official Selection -
Africa International Film FestivalTinapa
Nigeria
November 13, 2019
African Premiere
Official Selection -
Los Angeles CineFest 2020Los Angeles
United States
January 12, 2020
Third Place Winner -
Toronto Short Film FestivalToronto
Canada
Official Selection -
National Black Film Festival 2020Houston, Texas
United States
Official Selection -
Yorkton Film Festival 2020Yorkton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Canadian Premiere
Golden Sheaf Award Documentary Social/Political Nominee -
San Francisco Black Film Festival 2020San Francisco, California
United States
Official Selection -
Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival
Trinidad and Tobago
September 15, 2020
Caribbean Premiere
Official Selection -
Rapport FestivalLondon
United Kingdom
September 19, 2020
UK Premiere
official selection -
Lunenburg Doc FestLunenburg
Canada
September 25, 2020
official selection -
Culture & Diversity Film FestivalLos Angeles
United States
October 4, 2020
InkTip Prize & Best Recorded Sound -
CineOdyssey Film FestivalCharlotte
United States
November 5, 2020
Official Selection -
TIDE Film FestivalNew York City
United States
November 6, 2020
New York Premiere
Official Selection -
NorthwestFest International Documentary FestivalEdmonton
Canada
November 11, 2020
Alberta Premiere
Official Selection
Richard B. Pierre is a multiracial filmmaker who has written and directed over a dozen short films that have screened in festivals worldwide. Richard's goal is to tell stories that depict the lives of diverse individuals and their cultures while making films that are deeply personal. Richard’s first feature length screenplay 'Crooked' was selected as a quarter-finalist for the 2009 Nicholl Fellowship.
In 2011 he received the Emerging Filmmaker at the Toronto Urban Film Festival. His first dramatic 35 mm short film ‘The Toboggan,’ funded by the Ontario Arts Council, premiered at the 2011 Chicago International Children’s Film Festival. In 2012 his first interactive short film ‘Far From The Heart’ was nominated for a Golden Sheaf Award and he was named a ReelWorld Film Festival 2012 Emerging 20 Filmmaker. He received the 2015 Curtíssima Award for Best Short Under Five Minutes for his film ’The Toboggan.’
For years I've been asked the strange, confrontational question: 'What are you?' The question concerns my racial identity and it unsettles me because I don't have an exact answer and because I simultaneously don't believe it matters. But it's also a question that the more it is asked, the more it seems to matter. 'What Are You' is a short personal documentary that uses interviews to explore the lives of multiracial people (myself included) as they reveal the struggles and challenges of being of mixed racial heritage in Canada.
'What are you?' is a question I've been asked too many times to count. I think mostly it's a question that is asked out of pure curiosity without an agenda but it immediately makes me feel as if I am some strange otherworldly oddity. It's something I've struggled with for years and I hope this film helps other mixed people who are wrestling with that same aggravating question.