BuzzFeed reporter Kelley L. Carter is reporting from Sundance and made an important observation: "This year’s lineup offers a series of films that capture landmark black experiences and is serving them to a predominantly white audience."
This year’s crop of Sundance Films include many notable selections that focus on the experiences of black folks. Those include Stanley Nelson’s new documentary "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution" and a new documentary on Nina Simone called "What Happened, Miss Simone?" There’s also the film "3 ½ Minutes," which looks at Jordan Davis’ murder in Florida. Carter writes that it’s important for predominately white audiences to see these stories:
I have no illusion that the Sundance Film Festival will become a beacon of blackness overnight. That’s simply not the intention of this mainstream festival — what it does best is highlight emerging filmmakers, some of whom have the potential to tell stories that spark sweeping social change. It’s a place that celebrates an art form with the ability to capture the totality of human experience and puts it before an audience that may very well never encounter strife of any sort.
So why not bring black stories to a white audience?