Traveling While Black

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Traveling While Black
Traveling While Black poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Roger Ross Williams
Produced byAyesha Nadarajah
Jihan Robinson
Lina Srivastava
Music by Jason Moran
Production
company
Release date
  • January 25, 2019 (2019-01-25)(Sundance)
Running time
20 minutes
CountriesCanada
United States

Traveling While Black is a Canadian-American coproduced virtual reality documentary film project, directed by Roger Ross Williams and released in 2019. [1] An examination of racism in the United States, the film is an immersive experience which places the viewer inside the context of African-American travellers seeking safety and security with the help of the Negro Motorist Green Book ; [1] Williams has contrasted it with the 2018 film Green Book , labelling it as "a totally different story because [Traveling While Black] is a story of life or death, and danger, and community, and all of those things. But it’s our story. It’s for us to tell. It’s not for anyone else." [2] The film is based on a 2010 play called The Green Book. [3]

Contents

The film premiered in the New Frontier program at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, [3] before being released later in the year on Oculus VR platforms. [4] In 2020, the film was selected for inclusion in the online We Are One: A Global Film Festival. [5]

The film was shot in Ben's Chili Bowl, a famous restaurant in Washington, D.C., founded in 1958.

Awards

The film received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Interactive Program at the 71st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2019, [6] and won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Immersive Experience at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020. [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 Dream McClinton, "Traveling While Black: behind the eye-opening VR documentary on racism in America". The Guardian , September 3, 2019.
  2. Matthew Carey, "Director Roger Ross Williams On Emmy-Nominated VR Film ‘Traveling While Black’: “It’s A Big Moment”". Deadline Hollywood , August 26, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Kite-Powell, Jennifer. "Why You Need To See This VR Documentary 'Traveling While Black'". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  4. Tambay Obenson, "‘Traveling While Black’: Roger Ross Williams’ VR Doc Reclaims ‘Green Book’ Narrative". IndieWire , August 28, 2019.
  5. Dino-Ray Ramos, "We Are One: Global Film Festival Unveils Lineup Including Ricky Powell docu; Talks With Francis Ford Coppola And Bong Joon-Ho". Deadline Hollywood , May 26, 2020.
  6. Abrar Al-Heeti, "Emmy-nominated VR film Traveling While Black puts you in the Jim Crow era". CNET , September 22, 2019.
  7. "CSAs ’20: “We Will Stand Up” wins Best Feature Length doc". RealScreen , May 26, 2020.