SIA
A Black queer couple’s livelihood, dreams, love and health are put at risk when a global pandemic threatens to tear apart their entire world.
WRITER & DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
What inspired me to write and direct “Sia”, was based on not only my own resilience as a Black queer woman, but the resilience of Black Americans that wake up in the face of death and trauma, and still persevere. For women, BIPOC, the LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities we were living in the midst of several pandemics within a global one. Each of these communities had limited resources, job opportunities, access to healthcare, housing, and were oftentimes victims of environmental racism — all of which helped to contribute to the vast number of COVID-19 deaths. Even today, Black people continue to struggle for equal rights. The time for equity in the health and environmental sector starts NOW!
This film is dedicated to all lives loss due to COVID-19 and police brutality. This film is also dedicated to my dear uncle Jimmy, who sadly passed away during the height of the 2020 social justice movement due to receiving inadequate healthcare. Black lives aren’t being valued in places where safety and care should be top priority. It is no longer enough to just scream “Black Lives Matter” and offer thoughtless condolences, while anti-lynching bills aren’t being passed. Black Trans women are dying at an alarming rate, and police brutality and voter suppression still exist in 2021. “Sia” is my call to action. I hope Sia & Nola's timeless love and the injustices highlighted by my film motivates people to vote and speak to their local officials so that we reimagine a country where liberty and justice are granted to all. This is a piece of my legacy. This is… “Sia”.
Ashlei Shyne
““The love expressed between women is particular and powerful because we have had to love in order to live; love has been our survival”.”
