DRIFF Alumni Spotlight: Alicia K. Harris
Alicia K. Harris received a 2022 Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Directing for the episode ‘Next Stop’ in the web series ‘Aftermath.’ In 2020, Harris won the Canadian Screen Award for the Best Live Action Short for her film ‘Pick.’
Since 2017, DRIFF has cultivated a space for audiences to engage with diverse filmmakers from the Durham Region, across Canada, and around the globe. Our Alumni Spotlight series highlights the impacts and achievements of past and present DRIFF filmmakers working in media arts today.
Alicia K. Harris is a director from Scarborough dedicated to celebrating the Black experience with a focus on beauty, spirituality, and vulnerability.
Flashing back to last fall, her short film ‘Pick’ was part of our Drive-In series. The film follows a young girl who wears her afro to school on picture day and must deal with the unexpected consequences. ‘Pick’ celebrates the beauty of black hair while providing an unflinching critique of systematic racism and the ways in which it manifests in the lives of young girls. Following its premiere in 2019, ‘Pick’ received a number of awards and accolades, including the Canadian Screen Award for Best Live Action Drama in 2020.
However, that wasn’t the first time we had the opportunity to show Harris’ work, as she was also featured in our 2017 fall festival for her film ‘Love Stinks.’ This coming-of-age short explores girlhood, growing up, and friendship as 13-year-old Jay and her two best friends acquire a Playgirl magazine, and try to decide if they are ready to look at a naked man for the first time.
Recently, she was nominated for Best Directing (Web Program) at the Canadian Screen Awards for her direction on the episode ‘Aftermath’ of ‘Next Stop,’ an anthology comedy about the lives of Black Torontonians, now playing on CBC Gem. We caught up with Harris to get a glimpse of her cinematic world and learn about how the success of ‘Pick’ has influenced her filmmaking career.
First off, it's been a while! What have you been up to since your film ‘Pick’ was shown at DRIFF in 2021?
DRIFF was the very end of the film’s festival run, we premiered at Urbanworld back in 2019! Now my focus has shifted from festivals to educational screenings. I am working with a group of teachers to create a teaching guide for the film, so it can be shown in classrooms and the next generation can learn from the film.
‘Pick’ is a very powerful film that has received incredible reviews, including a number of Best Short Film awards across North America. How has this short impacted your career?
It impacted me personally because I was able to come to re-love my natural hair through making it. For my career, the film showed my identity as a filmmaker - someone who was telling personal, socially impactful stories with a unique and strong visual style. Many people (who I’ve now collaborated with) started to keep an eye on me and my work after seeing ‘Pick.’
I see that ‘Pick’ is Part One of the HAIR IS trilogy, a series of short films exploring the personal and political intersections of black hair, identity, and freedom. Can you share anything with us with the development of part two, on a Sunday at eleven?
That film is still dear to my heart, though I haven’t found the time to make it yet. It’s been funded by arts councils, and I really look forward to making it soon… hopefully this year! It's a celebration of Black sisterhood and Black hair and a spiritual successor to ‘Pick.’
What inspired you to start using film as a medium to tell stories?
I loved music and drawing as a kid, and expressing myself creatively. Eventually I directed plays in high school, and it was through that medium that I came to see how all art forms come together in directing a visual medium - music, visual arts, storytelling, lighting, acting, etc. I came to love directing through theatre, and eventually that led to movies.
As a director and writer, what's the hardest part about bringing your stories from the page to the screen?
It's very vulnerable telling personal stories, and it took me a while to feel like my stories were worthy of being told. Filmmaking is a long process, and it can be difficult telling a serious story and being in the energy required to make that film. It's important to not get sucked into the film entirely, and still have other hobbies and passions!
What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers out there?
Seems cheesy… but believe in yourself! It took me two years after film school to make my next big short, ‘Pick.’ And I had to convince myself every day I was still a filmmaker, even though I was working retail. It took me four years post-film school to become a paid director, and I did a lot of smaller, really low paid or no paid projects to prove myself along the way. I really believe that talent and hard work is important, but ultimately the people who “make it” are those of us who believed in ourselves the longest. There’s no clear path or time limit to follow your dreams.
What's one underrated film or one underrated director that you think should be on everyone's radar?
‘Beans’ directed by Tracey Deer. A really beautifully done, powerful, coming-of-age story that every Canadian should see.
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‘Beans’ will be screening as part of DRIFF’s 2022 Drive-In series on June 16, 2022. To learn more, visit: driff.ca/beans.
To dive deeper into the mind of Alicia K. Harris, check out her #DRIFFDirectorsChat conversation with legendary Canadian filmmakers Jennifer Holness and Sudz Sutherland.
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Thank you to Alicia K. Harris for sharing generously throughout this conversation.
Hannah Polinski is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker currently based in Southern Ontario.
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Want to participate in growing film culture and attending a film festival in Durham Region? The Durham Region International Film Festival’s events include an annual fall film festival in Durham Region, summer drive-in film screenings in Whitby and DRIFF in a Jiff short film screenings in Oshawa. Visit driff.ca, become a DRIFF insider or follow us on social media at @catchthedriff for all the details.