CLEVELAND — Movies and film are a form of expression for moviegoers and the directors themselves. This year, that expression is being honored in a different way at the Cleveland International Film Festival with the awards the filmmakers will receive.
Artist and curator Lo Smith was tapped to make the awards. Smith took a different approach as someone who has always dug deeper when it comes to the human experience.
“I think I’m someone who likes to dig into hidden histories, to investigate Black joy and disability and to humanize an experience that’s already human," Smith says.
As a non-binary Black artist who deals with learning disabilities and a mental health journey of their own, understanding emotions is almost necessary to create art that honors those characteristics.
“I also, in my art practice, I’m not a therapist, I’m not a doctor, want to make space for folk to get to that first step, of like being able to recognize when something’s wrong," they explain.
Their recent work reflects this: “Are you Alright” tells the story of Smith's rocky experience in grad school, expressed through an encounter on an elevator.
"Are you Alright" by Lo Smith
“So I was in the elevator in my building going up to my studio. And there was a young woman who was sobbing and an older white man who was ignoring the fact that she was sobbing," Smith explains. “So he gets off the elevator, I turn to her and say are you alright? And she just like looks at me, deer in headlights, and runs off. And I think that experience really affected how I was feeling in grad school, of being like very turbulent, feeling like somethings going on and folks aggressively ignoring it.”
The piece forced Smith to look internally -- something they hope to do for filmmakers who are a part of the Cleveland International Film Festival with the awards they're making for the festival winners.
But these aren’t shiny, book shelf awards.
"It’s an art book that’s interactive. So it’s essentially a little journal that is both an award and a moment for artists and filmmakers to reflect on the process that they’ve done."
A gift meant for celebration and meditation, two things for Smith that go hand in hand.
“Once you make a thing, it’s not done. Its just edited and final printed. You created something that lives in the world now. And you probably have feelings about that.”
Smith is making around 30 awards. They will be presented throughout the Festival and at the Closing Awards Ceremony on April 9 at the Connor Palace Theatre.
Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in an unrelated story on March 9, 2022.