Sweet Water: the Story of Black Communal Living

Community is key.⁣ I’ve been thinking about Community more often, since editing “Sweet Water” a short doc about Black communal spaces, & as the name implies; a Black commune in Southside Chicago, called “Sweet Water.” Fortunately, some good friends, Alex Antoine & Aaliyah Cristina, introduced me to this place.

Featuring:
Alex Antoine
Aaliyah Cristina
Onye Ozuzu

Producer: Paul Notice
Script Written by: Paul Notice & Ean Kessler
Director of Photography: Paul Notice
Editor: Paul Notice & Shawn Gadley
Executive Producer: The Notice Blog

BACKGROUND

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the “Sweet Water,” it’s an amazing Black communal space in Southside Chicago. Back in 2018, Alex Antoine & Aaliyah Christine introduced me to this place. After a robbery took most of the original footage, I resurrected the doc, with the help of Shawn Gadley (Editor) & Ean Kessler (Writer).

And I got the privilege to shoot a short documentary on Black communal living - which I aptly named, “Sweet Water.” Hope to see you there!

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Panel Bios

Onye P. Ozuzu is Dean of the University of Florida College of the Arts. Ozuzu is a "dance administrator, performing artist, choreographer, educator, and researcher". Ozuzu has presented nationally and internationally

Aaliyah Christina curates and makes dances that center mental health and healing of the Black American femme. She often incorporates her cultures coming from both the South (Louisiana) and East coast (Maryland). She founded Catalyst Movmnt (2017) to share spaces with artists and audiences as they negotiate and acknowledge their vulnerabilities as they perform and witness, respectively. She has worked with mentors + artists like Onye Ozuzu, Kristina Isabelle, Darrell Jones, and Darling Shear. Her work has been featured in j e l l o, Links Hall’s CoMISSION Festival of New Works, and Project Tool in SET FREE. Aaliyah has co-curated Elevate Chicago Dance 2018, La Femme Dance Festival 2019, and The Fly Honey Show X. Her writing has also been featured in The Dance Center of Columbia College Blog and Performance Response Journal. She desires to continue bridging the gap between performers and witnesses by focusing on acts of understanding, self-love, and communal care.

H. "Herukhuti" Sharif Williams is a sexologist, revolutionary scholar, and sex radical whose work draws upon African/Diasporic cultural traditions to help people decolonize their relationship to their bodies, love, sex, the Erotic, intimacy, pleasure, orgasm, relationships, and sensuality, Dr Herukhuti is the founder and chief erotics officer of the Center for Culture, Sexuality, and Spirituality.