Raising Aniya w/ This Side of Salina

Raising Aniya

John Fiege (Dir), 84 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director John Fiege in attendance.

Aniya is a young dance artist in Houston, Texas, who embarks on a journey to heal her spirit and find her voice after being displaced by a hurricane. With guidance from her mentor, Aniya investigates impacted communities on the Gulf Coast and develops a dance performance inspired by her experiences and the complex legacies of environmental injustice. Family, religion, sexuality, and mental health collide as she strives to transform dark histories into beautiful expression and movement. Through intimate observational cinematography, evocative dance sequences, and a haunting score, Aniya’s story traces the agony and the ecstasy of growing up, while revealing the power of art and community.

w/

"This Side of Salina"

Lynne Sachs (Dir), 12 minutes, USA, Western New York Premiere

Director Lynne Sachs in attendance.

Four women from the city of Syracuse, New York, reflect on sexuality, youthful regret, emotional vulnerability, raising a daughter, and working in reproductive health services. In a series of their own choreographed vignettes, each woman thoughtfully engages with the neighborhoods she’s known all of her life. Two performers flip through classic 1960s titles by Black authors in a bookstore. Others sit in a hat store finding time to pour into each other, as mentors and confidantes. Together they look down at the city from its highest point and wonder how to battle its inequities. For them, it’s a place they hold dear but always cautiously doubt. Produced with the support of Layla's Got You and Light Work, Syracuse, New York.