From left to right: Kaleber Soze (Shane), Curtis C. John (director/co-writer, co-producer), Marjuan Canady (Robyn), Robbie Morgan (Darryl), Mecca Woods (co-writer, co-producer) (Photo courtesy of Jason A. John)“Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying.”
A quote from poet Nikki Giovanni opens the short film Zemira. It’s all about the title character, Zemira Black (Michelle Nicholson), and her life as a teenager in the South Bronx. She lives with her parents, both of whom are crack addicts and abusive (mainly towards one another as seen in the opening). The film then quickly cuts to her writing on a beach, full of serenity.
While she writes, Zemira looks up and watches a father holding a child and in that moment, she has a revelation and later makes a shocking proposal to her best friend Robyn (Marjuan Canady)—that they both get pregnant on purpose and at the same time. How far will Zemira go to have love as a tangible, present thing in her daily life?
From a volatile situation at home to her boyfriend Shane (Kaleber Soze), who abuses her verbally and physically, it seems that her life's path has already been mapped out for her. However, she finds escape through her writing. In fact, a powerful moment in the film comes when Zemira's father, Darryl (Robbie Morgan), encourages his daughter to write as often as she can. He further suggests that perhaps similar support from his own father would have helped him to become a painter.
On the surface, one might feel that this story is more than familiar to warrant yet another movie on teen pregnancy (e.g., Sapphire’s Precious) and drug abuse in urban areas. With its subject matter, urban setting and dialogue (particularly between Zemira and Robyn), this film comes perilously close to having a dated, “afterschool special” quality. But there is promise as a full-length, more fleshed out film. Written by Mecca Woods and Curtis Caesar John, Zemira not only focuses on the lack of self-worth in young, black women, but also on the transformative power of art and how it can help to rewrite anyone’s life story.
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Tags: Bronx, Caesar, Canady, Curtis, Giovanni, John, Kalebar, Marjuan, Mecca, Michelle, More…Morgan, Nicholson, Nikki, Precious, Robbie, Sapphire, South, Soze, Woods, Zemira, abuse, drug, pregnancy, teen, writing
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