Voetry

This little underdog keeps moving 🖤🎬

So grateful to share that Voetry: Edition 5 has officially been selected for the Queens Underground International and South Carolina Black Film Festival, screening this October in Columbia, South Carolina!

Every new festival acceptance feels a little surreal with this edition. We made these films with a whole lot of heart, limited resources, plenty of unexpected bumps, and a team that kept finding ways to make the vision work.

So to see this little passion project continuing to find its way into new rooms, new cities, and hopefully new audiences… like I keep saying, gratitude doesn’t quite cover it.

Edition 5 has reminded me that something doesn’t have to be the biggest or have the biggest budget to still have something meaningful to say. Just gotta keep pouring into it and see where it lands 🌱

Thank you to everyone who has poured into Voetry, supported from the sidelines, shared a post, offered a space, showed up on set, or simply reminded me to keep going.

South Carolina, here we come! 🇺🇸🖤

Blessings on blessings.

Today’s Poet of the Day is Wakefield Brewster. 🖤

As a Calgary-born Canadian, I’m a little embarrassed to admit I didn’t know this gentleman right here. Luckily, Greg Frankson tipped me off, and I’ve been spending part of today listening to Wakefield’s poetry. Wakefield Brewster

A Black poet raised in Toronto by Barbadian parents, Wakefield has called Calgary home since 2016 and served as Calgary’s Poet Laureate from 2022 to 2024. His work carries so much character, conviction and call to action. Sometimes that action is large, asking us to imagine and create real change.

Sharing a quick portion of one of his poems that I’m sitting with today. Grateful to have been pointed toward his voice, even if I’m a little late to the party. 🖤

This moment. 🖤

I’m deeply grateful to the City of Toronto City of Toronto for inviting me to perform spoken word at the Black Liberation Flag Raising, officially kicking off Emancipation Month.

The poem I shared, “This Second,” is an oldie but a goodie. I chose it because it was written around the idea that every second offers us a new moment, another chance to decide who we want to be and what kind of mark we want to leave behind.

I heard someone speak about the power that could exist if, in one shared moment, we all chose to embody some of the best of humanity. Imagine a room full of Nina Simones, Eartha Kitts, Erykah Badus, or simply fill in the blank people choosing courage, truth, care, and purpose. What could shift?

I don’t share that idea to dismiss defeat or pretend every story comes with sunshine and a happy ending. The truth is, I wrote this poem while climbing out of one of my darkest moments, when seeing tomorrow felt hard, let alone imagining the promise of a new second. Somehow, despair still formed these words.

When I think of our elders, ancestors, and leaders, I wonder how they held onto the possibility of seconds that would one day count down toward liberation. This poem became my small reminder that even when we cannot see the way forward, our words, choices, and very presence can still speak life.

Thank you again to the City of Toronto for trusting me with this moment, to Ase Community Foundation Aṣẹ Community Foundation for recommending me, and to everyone who came out, watched, supported, and shared in the day. Most of all, thank you to the Black communities, elders, ancestors, artists, and advocates who carved the way for moments like this to be possible.

Grateful does not quite cover it. You speak life. We speak life. 🖤

Stylist: TheFLOstate
Makeup: Shanice

Olivia Chow CAMH CAMH Foundation Black Mental Health Canada TAIBU Community Health Centre CMHA Toronto BCC | Hub • Podcast • Events • Culture 🇨🇦 Afro Diaspora Pulse B E N N Y B I N G Dwayne Morgan Writer Speaker

Another one for Edition 5 🖤🎬

I’m so happy to share that Voetry: Edition 5 has been officially selected for the Toronto Independent Film Festival.

This edition asked a lot of us. There were moments where the path felt anything but straightforward. Health, budgets, delays, and the usual growing pains of independent filmmaking all had their say. But through it all, we kept holding onto the vision.

That’s why moments like this land a little differently.

To know these films are finding homes, and to receive such encouraging responses from festivals dedicated to championing independent work, means more than I can put into words. It’s a quiet reminder that sometimes all you need to do is keep showing up.

Deep gratitude to everyone who poured into this edition. Every volunteer, collaborator, supporter, and friend helped carry these stories forward.

Here’s to another stop on the journey. Onward. 🌿

PoetryFilm