Beba tells the story of Rebeca Huntt through the eyes of Rebeca Huntt.
Documentary
Pharrell’s Something is the Water Festival was something worth talking about! Over the weekend of the 17th through the 18th of June, Pharrell and a wide variety of artists shut it down in the streets of Washington DC. Something in the Water is a music festival that started in Virginia in 2019. Along with the artist and producer , Pharrell felt that was time for a place with that reflected what his festival is about, with good vibes and great ambiance. The multi-talented and producer gave the Capital a show performed by the best artists in rap, pop, R&B, gospel and Dc’s own go-go music. There were many mentionable performances. However there are few that stuck with us more than other. You all may know the sisters Chloe X Halle, whose stardom started with Disney; over the past few years they have given the public countless iconic songs. On Saturday, the sisters ensured that they delivered a show to remember, but what stood out the most was their commitment to perform at Something In The Water, for their fans. Throughout their performance, they revealed that the show was so important to them that they drove to DC avoid their performance’s cancellation. That is what you call true commitment to your fanbase. Of course, Teyana Taylor also gave us a show of a lifetime! Another mentionable performance was by Rae Sremmurd. The energy. The liveliness. The excitement. Those were all unmatched! Individuals who were taking breaks, walking slowing, catching up, all became alive once Rae Sremmurd came on. And of course, when the creator of the festival came on stage, the crowd could not maintain their excitement. Something in the Water was a great way to enjoy music with friends and enjoy Juneteenth weekend. We are looking forward to next year’s!
As a young woman in the entertainment industry, I’ve found myself having the most brilliant experiences with mentors who have experience in the worlds that I am passionate about. When I heard about Indeed’s Rising Voices Mentorship program, I couldn’t have been more excited to hear about the participants of the program, their stories, and the films that they’ve created. On Tuesday, Tribeca festival hosted a brilliantly insightful panel with four young women, mentors and filmmakers alike.
Indeed Rising Voices is an inspiring program from both Hillman Grad, a production company founded by Lena Waithe, and Indeed, the world’s number one job site, that, “aims to discover, invest in and share stories created by BIPOC filmmakers & storytellers around the power and meaning of work.” The program gives opportunities to those who have stories to share, and in turn is helping to create the next generation of filmmakers by giving them the tools to create work that inspires.
Moderated by Lacy Lew Nguyen Wright of Hillman Grad Foundation, the panel included 4 young women who discussed the importance of mentorship and creating connections.
The panel included Rayka Zehtabchi, an Oscar-winning Iranian-American director based in Los Angeles, Stacy Pascal Gaspard, who is passionate about sharing her Afrolatin-Caribbean culture and her passion for dance on the big screen, and Constanza and Doménica Castro, sister filmmakers from Mexico City and founders of 271 Films, a creative production company based in Los Angeles.
Rayka Zehtabchi’s Oscar-winning short, Period. End of Sentence tells the story of group of village women in Northern India who start a sanitary pad-making business, and in doing so they begin efforts to de stigmatize periods. The film is incredible and Zehtabchi talked about her journey to getting to the point of it’s creation, along with winning the academy award. She talked about being at a place where she felt like she was launched into everything that was happening and finding mentors and people around her with similar experiences helped to ground her. Stacy Pascal Gaspard told her story of winning Indeed’s competition, and entering it just a week before the deadline and then having the opportunity to have people around her help get the film to be exactly what she envisioned. Her film was the story of her caribbean grandmother, and she talked about how proud she would be of her to see her granddaughter presenting this film at Tribeca.
Hear more about Indeed’s Rising Voices and all of the amazing panelists here!