Unapologetic follows Janaé and Bella, two abolitionist leaders of the Movement for Black Lives, as they challenge state-sanctioned violence from the police department and complicit administrators in Chicago. As her own cinematographer, first-time feature director Ashley O’Shay records their stories with a rare intimacy and piercing insistence on rejecting the structures of our carceral state in both content and in form. In between and drawing strength from their activist work calling for justice for Rekia Boyd and Laquan McDonald, Janaé pursues a PhD in social work and Bella records a rap album. Over the course of several years, this kaleidoscopic approach brilliantly affirms the complex humanity and fierce pride of these community organizers.

Co-presented with the Roxbury International Film Festival