Sitting for the first time in a barbershop, a young black boy will discover for the first time the symbolic power of black hair.

Director Statement

Growing up as a black man, my hair has always been a polarizing topic. On one side it’s a symbol of pride for me and a fresh haircut is always a big confidence booster. On the other side, the perception of black hair and what appropriate hair looks like from a western society's point of view is often negative. I’ve gone through a lot of haircuts and received different looks from different people both positive and negative. At different levels of society, black hair has always been a topic of discussion. Its negative look is often based on ignorance and on European beauty standards that don’t reflect a big portion of the world population. I think this project deserves to be made now because we are living in a climate where diversity growth is, unfortunately, going hand in hand with division, and the best way to combat division is with education. I made this project to show the complexity and beauty of black hair, its history and heritage, and its importance to each individual wearing that crown. But also to inspire pride and confidence in those little black kids who don’t think their hair is beautiful or who don’t know the origin of their beauty. This is also an ode to the black barbershops. This community, this family that is more than just a store. This project is furthermore important because it’s one of the only ones that deal with the perspective of black men when it comes to black hair. In recent years, new up and coming projects such as the short film “hair love” and “pick” have perfectly demonstrated different perspectives of the black women experience and although I celebrate the experience of our black queens when it comes to their hair, I felt like creating a project showing the experience of a black man, a boy in our case, would be more impactful as it shows an entirely new perspective. It’s a celebration of blackness and an ode to black hair that I believe must be heard and seen by every black boy out there and beyond to create a lasting impact.