Christian Anderson Residency

Nobody Falls is an important project because it centres the experience of a Black, nonbinary & queer protagonist who not only is dealing with the psychological toll of a pandemic but also the emotional anguish of realizing that they are in a controlling relationship that has and will continue to ultimately put their health and well being at risk. We’ve seen time and time again, the Black feminized character often expected to lower their expectations while also simultaneously being told to pour into people that don’t regard them with the same kind of reciprocal care. The narrative of this project rejects that trope and instead dares to take us on a journey of deprogramming. In this film our protagonists is motivated by their solitude to reach for the connections and experiences that they actually want out of life. Pushing past heteronormative and codependent programming our protagonist is forced to wade through their own complexity and guilt, as someone who has deviated from traditional relationship norms, to make peace and humanize their needs.

Due to the fact that polyamory is underrepresented and sensationalized, there is often an expectation that people participating in polyamorous dynamics have to be a model representative of the love style. This expectation can put a lot of pressure on people and can be extremely isolating especially when relationships end because it’s difficult for others to understand. This project is important because it seeks to destigmatize break-ups within polyamory and to normalize seeing Black and racialized people engage in these styles of romance, to overall promoting a perspective on having multiple lovers that isn’t slut shamey or based in traditional polygamist expectations that are grounded in misogynoir.

This project will be made in collaboration with predominantly Black queer people of marginalized genders so it is also important that this project receive funding so that we can facilitate the creation of stories that are authentic and rich with complex characters that reflect people and experiences within our own community.

Bio
Christian Anderson is an award-winning Afro-Latinx writer & director based in Toronto, Canada. A recent graduate of York University’s film production program, their work, such as “Teen Dream” and upcoming series “Bloom Room”, center queer diasporic perspectives through unique and immersive storytelling. They are an alumnus of Oya Media’s Emerging Filmmaker’s program and the Nia’s Centres Creative Connect community. Her work has been screened at the 2015 & 2020 Regent Park Film Festival, the 2022 Stella’s Place’ Get Reel Film Festival in Toronto, and in Winnipeg at the 2018 & 2019 Afro Prairie Film Festival. Additionally their short film Teen Dream has been recognized by the Canadian Screen Academy in their 2020 Black Canadian creators list for February.

 2024