Beyond the March: filmmakers travel cross-country to highlight racism in Canada
A pair of best friends - one black, one white - are facing a camera lens on how Canadians are interrupting anti-Black racism.
Mark Holmes and Matt Cappuccitti's documentary "Beyond the March" has taken the duo across the country; from Vancouver to Toronto, and now Halifax.
The film's foundation came in the aftermath of George Floyd’s 2020 murder in Minneapolis. Holmes says those events made him recognize a shortcoming in his own understanding of Canada.
"I'm a Black man and I don't know what's the Black community is doing to stop anti-Black racism,” says Holmes.
Cappuccitti says Floyd’s death gave him an empty pit in his stomach which is when he decided to call his friend with an idea.
"Let's get the camera. Let's do something. Let's see what's happening because this isn't going to stop,” says Cappuccitti.
The two friends grew up on the same street in Mississauga and have known each other for about 40 years.
Holmes has a background in journalism. He and Cappuccitti are funding the documentary on their own.
They say anti-Black racism still persists everywhere.
“Although it may look different in Canada, it's still happening in Canada,” says Cappuccitti.
Their trip to the East Coast included a stop at Angel Gannon's ‘A Walk Through Africville’ exhibit.
“In places like here in Nova Scotia, it's always been here and I don't know why that is and I want to find that out,” says Holmes.
While in Nova Scotia, the pair are interviewing Africville historian Irvine Carvery, spoken word poet El Jones, and Stop the Violence protestor Quentrel Provo, along with other community leaders.
Holmes says it isn’t the Black communities’ responsibility to solve a problem they didn’t create.
“We need the white community. We need that allyship, otherwise nothing is going to get done,” says Holmes.
The two friends say they care deeply about the subject matter, as they envision a world beyond black and white.
"The toughest thing in the world when you hear a family member or friend make a joke, make a comment, is to actually call them out on it, right. Its makes us all uncomfortable, but if we don't things will perpetuate and nothing is ever going to change. So have the difficult conversation,” says Cappuccitti.
"Cause if you don't act it's just going to keep on going. So do something. Take action, “says Holmes.
The documentary is expected to be released in March 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.