Standing Tall: New short film highlights the work of two prominent Black Nova Scotian women

A compelling documentary Tia Upshaw introduces us to documentary filmmaker Andre Anderson and his short film "Standing Tall."

A new short by filmmaker Andre Anderson explores culture, politics, and resilience by featuring two prominent women in the Black Nova Scotian community.

The 22-minute "Standing Tall" film features Sen. Wanda Thomas Bernard and former deputy minister of Communities, Culture and Heritage Kesa Munroe-Anderson.

Anderson says he decided to shine a spotlight on both women because they have done a lot of remarkable work.

“Dr. Kesa Munroe-Anderson is my aunt, so I got an up-close and personal vision of what she has been doing in the community, and Sen. Thomas Bernard has a lot of different accolades that I felt a lot of the youth might not have recognized,” he said during an interview on CTV Morning Live.

“I really wanted to shine a light on her story, particularly for the next generation coming up, to really get that respect and admiration.”

The film opens with Thomas Bernard speaking on her property about how she uses nature to teach history to her grandchildren and community.

Anderson says he found that aspect of the film really interesting.

“The way that she really pays respect to her grandchildren and her children, I just felt that it was a very reflective space to really hold a significant conversation with her on camera,” he said.

The film also highlights the importance of role models, something Tia Upshaw, the founder and CEO of Black Women in Excellence, says is important because they create “the foundation” for others.

“I had a conversation with a colleague, maybe a few weeks ago, and they were like, ‘How are you inspired to keep doing the things you’re doing?’ and I said, ‘No, not me being inspired, let’s talk about how I have the platform to do the things I’m doing because of individuals who have done it before me.’ So anytime I see, I call them my aunties, Sen. Thomas Bernard, it’s just like, thank you, thank you,” she said.

Anderson says many people have come to him with positive reviews about his film since its release.

“It’s a spectrum, there’s people who know (Thomas Bernard’s) story and who were grateful to see her story on screen,” he said.

“And then there’s people who weren’t very familiar with her story and now have a new, profound level of respect for her, which I feel is very important in our communities.”

"Standing Tall" is currently free to watch on YouTube.

“I wanted to make it really accessible for everybody because I got a lot of people coming to me asking me, ‘When can I see it? How can I see it?’ And at first it was going through the festival route and so we had to keep it kinda on the downlow, but once that was finished I said I just want to make it accessible,” Anderson says.

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