TT STERN-ENZI: Hello.

I am TT Stern-Enzi, the artistic director of the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival.

I am here to introduce the award winning films from the narrative shorts and the documentary shorts categories of last year's Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival.

The guiding principles for the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival are freedom, faith, disability, diversity and identity.

Those five themes play out throughout the course of developing our festival slate and also inspire the jurors who are picking our award winning films.

In theory, what we're looking for out of those themes is an idea of intersectionality across those ideas.

So for us, the ideal award winning film will be a story that is able to tap into questions of disability and diversity, freedom and faith, and incorporate all of those elements and create a sense of shared humanity for audiences to tap into as they're watching and engaging with those stories.

One of the exciting things about the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival over the last couple of years is the idea that we have been able to get some national recognition for the work that we've done here in the city.

In 2021, MovieMaker Magazine recognized the Over-the-Rhine Festival as one of the 25 coolest festivals in the world.

We followed that up with a mention in the 2022 edition from MovieMaker Magazine, where Cincinnati was recognized as one of the 25 cities for filmmakers to come and live and work in.

This says something about our region that's really exciting and opens us up to the possibility of bringing in more filmmakers willing to tell more stories within this great region.

First up, we have The Race Against Race from directors Nattalyee Randall and Jess Cornelio.

This film won the best documentary short at last year's festival and is the story of a woman who uses running as an opportunity to not just better herself, but also finds ways to be socially engaged in a larger context with the world.

Welcome to The Race Against Race.

[city street sounds] [music - I won't Let Go by Big Fil] How long are we going to scream out names like Breonna Taylor when one day somebody just completely forgets?

[music continues] NATTALYEE RANDALL: This documentary originally started where I just wanted to do something about weight loss.

I wanted to show that, you know, the average person could lose weight and then run a marathon.

I lost over 100 pounds and I started training for a marathon.

My first marathon was November 3rd, 2019, the New York City Marathon.

And at that point I was kind of like, "Okay, we're done.

We did it.

Let's make this film and be done and show people that the average American, and even the average plus size American, can pull it together and run a marathon."

And my co-director was like, "You know, I think you should think bigger.

Let's go bigger."

And then we finally settled on doing a 50 mile run, 50 mile race.

But then my mom, she was like, "You know, if you're putting this money into it and, you know, you're training for this, why don't you make it into a documentary?"

I had kind of given up on the whole 50 mile run thing.

I was like, "This ain't happening."

My mom was like, "No, you need to change it to this social justice movement that's happening."

I remember I went to my first running protest, which Coffey is how I found out about this, where we run to protest.

We ran over the Brooklyn Bridge and shut it down, and I was like, "Holy crap."

COFFEY: This is Nattalyee.

She's running 50 miles to lift up the lives that was lost due to police brutality.

NATTALYEE: There were five of us in the beginning who ran.

I remember thinking, like, "You have to make 50 miles today."

I really started to reevaluate and really think about what I'm doing when it comes to running outside and how being outside and being black is a threat.

NOVA CHURCH: After Ahmaud Arbery, around.

NYLA WATSON: The time of Ahmaud Arbery died.

COFFEY: What happened to Mr. Ahmaud Arbery affects me because I'm a black man.

JUSTIN MASHIA: When Ahmaud Arbery was murdered, it was just a lot of -- I felt like a lot of dust was kicked up.

COFFEY: I used to run one mile, being that we couldn't run long distance, I used to run one mile.

And behind me I would have my sister to drive behind me because of that.

NYLA WATSON: I had actually purchased some weighted vests to start running with, right.

And we had to have a dialog around, like, how to run while black with a weighted vest on.

Right?

Like, do you even wear it outside?

Maybe you should just wear it in the house while you're working out if you want more.

You know, like, I was so excited about running outside with my weighted vest on in order to intensify my workout.

And then I had to think about what are other people going to think or perceive or gather from me wearing a vest?

Are they going to think that it's a bomb?

Are they going to think that I have a gun because it looks like a bulletproof vest?

Like, you know, like, I was scared to leave my house.

WOMAN: How's it going so far?

NATTALYEE RANDALL: Good.

NOVA CHURCH: That moment allowed the whole entire running community to look at it, black, white, whatever your color was.

And you saw a lot of white people stand up in the running community and speak on how their privilege of being able to run and not have the same suspicions about them exist.

[motivational cheering] NATTALYEE RANDALL: Let's get going so we can hopefully get there by 8:15ish, 8:20.

COFFEY: I have kids, like, it's no secret that they are paying attention to the iPads and to the news and they all know just as much as we know now, especially with the way that technology has enhanced.

So, you know, my kids are just as afraid as as I am.

You know, they don't really know as much because they're not wise, but they're afraid of being black because they see, again, what's happening outside their doors.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: How are you feeling?

Good.

Oh, thank you.

My mom had, you know, she contracted COVID in October.

And at first we didn't think that much of it, but she got really sick and she was in the ICU at that time.

And I had talked to my mom before the race and I was like, you know, "I know you're here with me in spirit."

My sister came out there to do it with me, but I just had so much pressure on me.

My mom is in the hospital in the ICU.

I don't know if she's going to make it out.

I'm running for all these lives for police brutality, and at this point, I'm honestly just tired.

And now I'm in the -- I'm not in the middle of it, but I'm just -- I'm walking up to this stop, like, what am I going to do?

NOVA CHURCH: I have experienced being discriminated or been targeted by the police.

Running not too far from here in Crotona Park with a friend of mine.

We was running and the police was behind us in the park, jogging clothes on, and they stopped us and they asked us why we was running.

And I thought it was pretty clear if we were running in a park in athletic attire what we was doing.

JUSTIN MASHIA: I just get angry even thinking about it, because you should be able to just run free wherever you are.

NYLA WATSON: It just it strikes a fear that you really can't even describe.

Yeah.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: Thank you so much.

WOMAN: Thank you for everyone.

Thanks for coming out here.

Have a great run.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: Thank you.

The King Theater's five miles away from here.

Now, as we were running from Brighton Beach to King's Theater, we have rain.

It's cold.

People are getting tired.

When we got to King's Theater, we were at 26, 27 miles.

That's a -- that's a marathon.

And I called, you know, someone on the team crying because I was just like, "I can't do this."

Oh, my gosh.

I remember running up there.

As I remember running up to King's Theater and all the people I saw there, that was the biggest stop.

And I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh.

I can't stop now.

There are all these people here."

I had bike riders there, Riders for Black Lives.

You know, I had these families of, you know, Eric Garner's family was there, Sean Bell's family was there, Delrawn Smalls, you know.

And we're out here honoring these people.

And I just remember getting there and seeing a sea of people like, you can't stop.

MR. BELL: Five guys killed my son and all five of them got away.

- Say his name.

- Sean Bell.

- Say his name.

- Sean Bell.

GARNER'S COUSIN: I'm the cousin of Eric Garner.

It took five years to get Daniel Pantaleo off the force.

So he finally got fired after five years.

We want him to be held accountable.

He murdered Eric Garner.

He murdered him, and it was video taped.

He should be charged with the crime that he did.

They need to be held accountable.

We need to get our politicians to stand up and say enough is enough.

MR. SMALLS: I'm the brother of Delrawn Smalls.

My brother Delrawn was murdered on July 4th, 2016, by off duty officer Wayne Isaacs in Brooklyn, New York.

That was the first one to utilize the special Prosecutor bill that allows the Attorney General of New York to take on any police involved shooting, any police murders of unarmed men.

My brother was the matriarch of our family.

My brother is the one who taught me how to be a man today.

For me, on a personal level, I'm really missing out on his guidance.

I'm missing out on his leadership.

I'm missing out on his love as a man.

Me and my brother hugged a lot and we told each other that we loved each other.

Two weeks ago, we've gotten a call from the CCRB, the Citizen Complaint Review Board, and they have now substantiated charges to hold Wayne Isaacs accountable for the murder.

[cheers] WOMAN: I could tell like, you know, when she was speaking up there, like, it all just hit at once.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: You can scan and see these names.

Woo, sorry, I'm really emotional.

I want to thank you all so much.

[cheers and applause] Thank you for doing this because as I run -- I could have easily been Breonna Taylor.

I could have been sleeping somewhere, but God allowed me to be here and do this.

And I'm tired, y'all.

I'm so tired even while I'm running.

I wanted to give up, and I still want to give up, but I can't.

SUPPORTER: You got this.

[cheering] NATTALYEE RANDALL: But I hope people change.

I hope comes change.

I hope people do what they're supposed to do because no one deserves to die for nothing.

And I feel so bad for the people who did and that God spared me when I was in situations like that.

NATTALYEE'S SISTER: And there a lot going on just in our family with our mom having COVID and there's been so much stress.

So I know that this is really important for her.

There's a stigma when it comes to exercise, especially with black females.

And I think that's also part of why she's doing this documentary to bring awareness.

These protests is impacting the lives of someone who lost their lives to police brutality.

MR. BELL: We need law and order, don't get me wrong, but the whole thing is that we need the right way, not the wrong way.

COFFEY: If you look at the shade that I'm in, that to shade that I wear every single day, I'm a threat.

And, you know, black lives do matter.

And then we also hear that blue lives matter.

But what those people don't understand is that at the end of the day, they take those blue uniforms off.

There's no such thing as Blue Lives Matter.

I mean, you can -- they can retire from that occupation.

I can't retire from being black.

[chanting] LATOYA SNELL: And I'm running for Trayvon Martin and countless others who never hit the newspaper, and their stories will never be told.

It took for a lot of noise for their names to be said and chanted in the street.

Nobody wants to be a hashtag.

People will make you feel like, they make you believe that you are nothing until you become nothing.

And I refuse, every single day, I refuse regardless of how hard this may be.

I refuse to succumb to that.

Because the moment I do that, that means I'm telling my kid to follow the leader.

For my kid I always have to fight.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: Another reason why I made this film was to show people that you don't have to be first place to finish the race.

And, you know, a lot of times we think, "Oh, well, if I'm not going to win it, why even do it?"

It doesn't matter if I come in first place.

It doesn't matter if I come in last place.

I just want to finish the race.

COFFEY: And I just so happen to be running today for Breonna Taylor because she's a sister of mine.

I mean, this is -- the women are very precious.

So to see a black woman being killed in her sleep in her own home just lets you know how the police thinks about us.

NYLA WATSON: You know, especially around Breonna Taylor like, she was just in her apartment.

So there would be moments where I would literally visualize people busting into my apartment because I live on the street level of my apartment building.

WOMAN: What about you, Chris?

Do you really -- I didn't expect that, like, and you really, like, let yourself go.

What happened?

CHRISTOPHER BETTS: That's my best friend, so, you know, when I saw how tired my friend was and a mixture of that and my pride just for how much work she's done and how hard she's been working on this and how long she's been working on this and to see how it touched literally, like, the tangible family members of people who have been affected by this, arguably what you could call a racial pandemic.

It's really powerful and it's -- and it's very emotional and it's messed up, like, that things like this have to happen just so -- just so the black people can live.

WOMAN: Yeah.

BETTS: And seeing a black woman, you know, being thankful for her life, you know, being thankful that she's not a victim of police brutality.

You know, as a black man who loves black women, um, I can't not be affected by that because it's familiar.

And it's also -- It's familiar and it's also a harsh reality.

NATTALYEE'S SISTER: We're just always like people think we can't do stuff because of the color of our skin, right?

Like, I'm already a woman, so I can't do it.

I'm black, so I can't do it.

I'm dark skinned, so I can't do it.

I'm short, so I can't do it.

I don't have enough money, so I can't do it.

I'm like, "Well, can you tell me what I can do then?"

God!

If I get one person who didn't think Black Lives Matter to all of a sudden think they matter now, then it was worth it.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: Unfortunately, my mother did pass away in December from COVID, and I'm just so grateful that she got to know that I finished my 50 mile race.

I'm at 50.22.

[cheers] I am so grateful that she is the one who told me to change the trajectory of my film because if it was not for her, I would not even be sitting here doing this film.

So because of my mom and her strength, I'm now going to give my strength to other people.

NATTALYEE'S MOM: Nattalyee, it's mama.

Just checking in, Little Sugar Plum.

Bye-bye.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: She was super sick in the ICU when I was running this race.

And afterwards I did get to talk to her and tell her, and she said to me, "I knew that I could not die while you were doing that race because you wouldn't have finished it."

And so I thank my mom for pulling through for me to finish this race and to finish this story, and I will finish the story because of her.

So thank you, Mom.

[soft music] NOVA CHURCH: So, I believe it's very important that people of color stand up in all avenues and be at the forefront and have a seat at the table.

COFFEY: We still got to fight because we still black and we still people of color that's struggling once we step outside of our doors.

NATTALYEE RANDALL: Sometimes you don't realize how powerful a movement is until you are in the midst of it.

[singing] Oh, how I.

We're all equal.

We're all equal.

We're all equal in the eyes of God.

We're all equal.

We're all equal.

We're all equal in the eyes of God.

He was a good man.

He was a good man, but he still got shot.

[music continues] COFFEY: Fight the power.

Black lives matter.

TT STERN-ENZI: As you can see, The Race Against Race was a powerful journey, the story of a filmmaker who discovers along the way that she is training and pushing herself to personal limits, but then recognizing that beyond those personal limits there is an opportunity to explore the outer limits of what she can do as a member of society in a moment of crisis.

It was a story that really captured and captivated not only our programmers, but also our jurors as well, because it was a story that was timely and impactful for all of us in that particular moment.

Our next film, Our Baby Knows from director David Chimusoro won the best narrative short at last year's Over-The Rhine International Film Festival.

Our Baby Knows it's the powerful story of a father who has to have a very difficult conversation with his young son and must figure out the best way to really engage and open up that conversation.

Stay tuned after this screening of Our Baby Knows for an in-depth conversation that I'm going to have with the director, David Chimusoro, not only about his film, but about his experience as a local filmmaker telling stories here in the city of Cincinnati.

So without further ado, enjoy Our Baby Knows.

MOTHER: Barely touched it.

FATHER: This stuff going.

MOTHER: Don't you think it's a little early?

FATHER: He already knows, he just doesn't know why.

MOTHER: I know -- I know he knows.

He's just a baby, he doesn't need to all the way know.

FATHER: I know He's a baby.

He's our baby.

I just rather he find out from us than find out from somewhere else, that's all.

MOTHER: Okay.

SON: Come in.

FATHER: How you doing, little man?

SON: I'm okay, Dad.

FATHER: You sure?

You don't seem okay.

SON: Jake told me that I couldn't play with him anymore.

FATHER: Huh?

Yeah, I heard.

He tell you why?

SON: He said his parents didn't want us to anymore.

Dad?

FATHER: Yeah, son.

SON: Why don't the Driscolls want me to play with Jake?

We were best friends.

FATHER: Well, son, it's a long story and it happened before either of us were born.

And it's a hard one.

But if this story ever starts to hurt or confuse you.

You just tell me to tell you a different story.

Okay?

SON: Can we start with a different story?

FATHER: Of course, buddy.

The year is 2002, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit.

The Undertaker, the Rock, Kurt Angle, three warriors all duking it out for the undisputed WWE Championship.

It's been a long, vicious battle and these guys just been punching each other out all night.

And then -- SON: The Undertaker?

FATHER: The Undertaker kicks Rock in the chest.

Rock goes down.

Undertaker, he's looking like he's about to seal the deal, son, but out of nowhere comes Kurt Angle flying in.

He gets Undertaker by the ankle with a vicious grip.

But Undertaker, he manages to kick him off.

Now they're just brawling it out.

Rock, he gets his wits about him.

He comes back in for a -- SON: Rock bottom!

FATHER: Rock bottom!

And then Undertaker's down, Rock, he sees this is his chance.

He goes in.

He's going in for the pin.

Ref comes over for the close.

One, two, three.

Ding, ding, ding.

BOTH: The Rock is the undisputed champion of the world.

FATHER: The crowd goes wild.

SON: I love that story.

FATHER: The reason Jake can't play with you anymore, it's because a long time ago people that look like us were owned by people that look like the Driscolls.

SON: Own us?

FATHER: Yeah, we weren't really people to other people.

SON: But God made us like them.

Does God not think we're people, too?

FATHER: We are people, son.

God loves us just as much as He loves anyone else, but sometimes people are really bad to each other.

And when people are really bad to each other, they do really bad things.

You know how mom isn't from America, but she can speak a different language?

SON: Yeah, she's African, that's why her voice is so pretty.

FATHER: Exactly.

She's from Africa.

And a long time ago, people took people from Africa brought them here and made them work for free and treated them very badly.

SON: Work for free?

Like chores without an allowance?

FATHER: Yeah, like chores without an allowance.

You're pretty smart.

You must get that from your mom.

SON: I know.

FATHER: You know?

What do you mean, you know?

SON: Dad, you lose your phone when it's in your hand.

FATHER: That's true.

SON: So, when did it stop?

FATHER: It hasn't really.

It's gotten better because people who look like us and people who look like the Driscolls stood up and told the other people that treating us that way is bad.

And then those same people turned on them and treated them badly.

SON: Why?

I don't like that.

If people are doing something to help other people, shouldn't people like that?

FATHER: Yeah, yeah, but that's not always how it works.

Sometimes people see people that are just a little bit different from them and think they want to hurt them, and then somebody tells them that they want to hurt them and they do a bad thing.

SON: Like, telling me and Jake can't be friends.

Do Jake's mom and dad think I want to hurt him?

I don't, really, Dad.

FATHER: I know, son.

SON: I can bake them a cake or help Jake mow the lawn to show them that I wouldn't hurt him.

FATHER: But it's not that simple.

SON: Why not?

FATHER: Because it's not.

SON: So, me and Jake can't be friends?

FATHER: Sorry, son.

SON: Tell me a different story.

FATHER: 2016, Oracle Arena, game seven NBA Finals.

52 years, no championship.

The city of Cleveland was desperately in need of a victory, because, well, it's Cleveland.

SON: Cleveland sucks.

FATHER: Cleveland doesn't suck.

I'm from Cleveland.

Fine.

Whatever.

Game seven.

Lebron James carried the team back from 3-1.

It's close, but these are Steph Curry's warriors, 73-9 defending champs.

History will not pass them by.

But if anyone has anything to say about that, then it's going to be -- SON: LeBron James.

FATHER: LeBron FU-- SON: Dad!

FATHER: Don't tell your mother.

MOTHER: Heard that.

FATHER: Lebron James, he has made a promise to the city of Cleveland.

He intends on keeping that promise.

Fourth quarter, it's tied.

Kyrie, two minutes left, goes up for a floater.

He misses.

Iggy gets the ball, rebound, passes out to Steph.

Steph blows by J.R. J.R. is trying to keep up.

Then they pass it back to Iggy.

Iggy goes up for an easy layup.

SON: But?

FATHER: LeBron freaking James full Zero dark 30 moment, he locks in, sprints down the court and?

SON: Blocked.

FATHER: By.

SON: James!

FATHER: Cavs win.

Cavs win it, drought is over.

Cleveland, this is for you.

SON: I love that story, too.

FATHER: Yeah.

You want to hear my favorite story?

It's about this guy, call him Chris.

And he was young and dumb and thought he had it all figured out.

His life changed instantly.

This young man had been hurt by people.

And he started to believe that all people were bad.

And he meets this woman who challenged all that.

She is smarter, funnier, just better than him in every way.

So they fell in love and they got married and had the most beautiful baby boy.

People tried to hurt that boy, not because anything that he did, you know, just sometimes the world can be really bad that way.

That boy, how he was made, he didn't let that define him.

He realized other people get treated bad, too.

And so he became their friend.

He stood up for them when they called them names.

And he made everybody who got to know him feel like they'd won a championship game.

It's a shame that Jake won't get to play with you.

He's really missing out.

Love you, buddy.

SON: Love you too, Dad.

TT STERN-ENZI: Glad to be back with the director, David Chimusoro of Our Baby Knows.

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Thanks.

TT STERN-ENZI: Which was the winner of the best narrative short at last year's Over the Rhine International Film Festival.

And David, I am so excited to have you here.

Want to start off by just asking you just a little bit, if you could give us a little background into how you came up with the story for Our Baby Knows.

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Yeah.

First off, thank you for having me and I'm excited to be here.

The story behind Our Baby Knows was kind of, just the night that I wrote it I remember in October of 2020, just if anybody just kind of remembers what that year was.

It was I would say in my lifetime, the first time that I saw the race conversation reached kind of that peak.

And in my own way of processing the story through the the lens of a young father and son dynamic, I just kind of wanted to, I don't know, it was just kind of a thing that was a beautiful whirlwind when it happened.

But I just wanted to talk about race in a way that felt inviting and felt challenging at the same time, because I just noticed a lot of the same conversation and the same tone of the conversation where everything felt like everybody was just ready to be in attack mode.

And as a person that's had to work through conflicts with people, I've never seen attack mode work or have a great track record.

So this story, and also just pairing it with two stories of triumph that were personal to me, which are LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers coming back from 3-1, as well as the Rock winning his first WWE championship, just wanted to bring like a sense of lightness and levity to something that is very, very serious and also just wanting to introduce something new to a conversation.

And also I just wanted to make a really, really good movie with my friends.

I just liked making movies and I wrote this story that felt powerful and I just reached out to my community and my community and collaborators and we're just like, "All right, let's do this thing.

Let's try this."

And we we went after it and we did it, right?

Yeah.

TT STERN-ENZI: All right.

So I have to ask you, and again, we know each other.

I've had the opportunity.

I got to meet you a little before the festival, before you even submitted the film to the festival.

So I love the idea that we've kind of developed a relationship of sorts along the way.

And one of the things that has inspired me about my interactions with you is you were -- you were Cincinnati based.

So I'm kind of curious in terms of that regional perspective, how did that come to be a factor in the story?

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Yeah, as far as like Cincinnati being where I'm based, it's kind of just I've always felt a push to tell the stories from the place that I've been in and the place that I'm at.

I -- my training in film was at a film camp that I went to in the ninth grade.

And then they just kind of just taught us, like, the very bare bones of, like, how to tell a story through video.

And pretty much everything that I've made has been in Cincinnati, because being here is where I've met all of my collaborators, and it's also inspired a lot of the experiences.

Also having been born and growing up in Zimbabwe as well, but kind of like maturing in the United States.

A lot of my stories are just inspired, both painfully and also beautifully by the environment that I'm in.

In my own way, it's like at the end of the day, I just wanted to make movies with my friends in the place that we were at.

Because part of the things that they taught us was just like, make -- don't make a movie about space if you're not in space yet.

Make a movie about where you are.

And I just like making movies about where I'm at because it's also where I can be the most honest.

Like, I can't tell an honest New York story because I don't know New York like that.

But I do know Cincinnati like that.

So it's being able to highlight and showcase the beauty of what this place is through film and also, like, all just the art forms that I love.

And also showing us like, hey, this is who we are and instilling a sense of pride in that as well, too.

TT STERN-ENZI: Right.

All right.

Well, I've got to -- I got to follow up with this, because, again, one of the exciting pieces about having you take part in the festival and to see you go through that whole process is what was it like for you to not just have made a film here about Cincinnati, but then to be in a festival in your hometown as well?

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Dude, it was unreal.

Like, it's -- I was living in Over-the-Rhine at the time, so like just being able to, like, walk outside of my door and then walk to a, like, a screening of my movie with my friends there.

And then also, like, just, like, this -- this thing happening in my neighbor.

Honestly, it was, it's surreal.

It was very surreal of just, like, this is -- I, A, am like in this thing that I've always wanted to do for my entire life.

Like, like, I fell in love with movies in the ninth grade and I was just like, that's it.

And to kind of have one of those, like, this is it moments just walking around Main Street, walking around Vine.

Just going through all the familiar things in my neighborhood, but also again in a new way, it was -- it was cool.

It was my Cincinnati Bengals are going to the Super Bowl moment.

I'm just like, I was in it, but it was -- It was that.

It was that for me.

So, yeah.

TT STERN-ENZI: Okay.

So as you're looking at this whole process and again, I'm hearing you talk about, again, sort of the practical experience of shooting here, being in a festival here.

I kind of want to find out, though, just in terms of the story itself, what were some of the films that inspired you or that you feel like that you're kind of speaking to through Our Baby Knows?

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Yeah, there are a lot of films that inspired how we shot, the tone of it, even, like, just the -- just the overall execution.

Just going through my head as far as, like, the animation side of it.

Dear Basketball played a really, really big part.

And just how I remember watching that film and just being like blown away.

And it was just like, yeah, just Dear Basketball did something to me where there was like, like the beauty of it, the slowness of the story, but also just how real it felt because it was just like, man, that was Kobe.

And he was telling us his story in that way.

And also, just as a black dude growing, growing up within the within the United States, it's very rare to find pieces of art that speak directly to black men in a way that is -- that has a sense of lightness and a sense of care.

And I wanted to do that with that one.

I liked the up and down-ness of 500 Days of Summer.

That's my favorite movie.

And there is a way in which that movie can just take you out from like being in a very, very sad and low moment to kind of just like, all right, now there's -- not necessarily like a weird dance number, but it was just like a thing of just, like, I wanted to, like, yeah, I felt like I wanted to wrap a lot of my favorite movies all at once and make them into my own little favorite movie of my own.

STERN-ENZI: Well, I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit because again, one of the things that has been so exciting about following you through this process is knowing that you went from making the short film to now the idea of making a feature.

And again, all -- I feel like all the elements are in place with the feature as well.

You're telling a Cincinnati story.

I'm assuming you're working with a really close, really close knit group of people who are from here as well.

How does that change the way that you're telling the story?

I mean, is the scale any different?

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Yeah.

Oh, absolutely.

Just even the scale in writing process.

So Our Baby Knows, what I love about it, it was like it was this like lightning in a bottle moment that I did get to capture.

It was like written in a night, boom, boom.

My friends were inspired.

The writing process for a feature length film was very, and is very, very different.

Like, I can't just hope for like lightning in a bottle.

It was a lot of just like regimented writing as I was going through the process.

So it's been about a year and some change of just writing the story and updating it and just kind of feeling it out a whole lot more.

And there's also a change, there's also an upgrading in scale as far as, like, how I want to tell a story.

It's an exciting and eye opening thing of just, like, the -- just the nature of, like, here's how to carve a path for yourself as a filmmaker, especially as one as an independent filmmaker.

And I think starting to better change my relationship with the idea of independent filmmaking and really just kind of, like, I want to be what I would call more of a commercial community based filmmaker where it's everything that I've done has been thus far with the strength of, like, my collaborators who are also like my community.

Like these are people, like, like, my director of photography is like one of my close friends.

Like, these are the guys that, like, helped me move apartments when I need to.

So it's kind of that thing where I hope that With From Cincinnati, With Love, I get to make a project at scale with people that I love and then also introduce that kind of process to filmmaking because our industry is full of a lot of burnout.

And also just, like, a lot of people leave no longer loving film after having worked in the industry just because of how people treat people.

And part of the most exciting things about the process of, like, making short films with my friends is, like, we got to accomplish a lot of things while also taking care of each other as people.

And if it ain't broke, don't fix it, just make it bigger.

So, so, so that's kind of what I want to do with this one just, like, be with my people?

Obviously, if it's as people, as something grows, people get to come inside of the thing, too.

But there is kind of just, like, a special sauce when it's, like, I get to make really, really cool art with people who just care about me as a human being.

TT STERN-ENZI: I love that idea, and it's going to stick in my head for a while too that kind of the merger of the commercial, and the community.

Because in a lot of ways I feel the festival world and especially our festival kind of operates within that zone too.

We understand and appreciate the fact that we are part of a film festival industry, but we're doing it within a very specific community.

We have the support of LADD, so we are there.

We're thinking about how do we incorporate people with disabilities into these larger discussions of diversity and how that plays out in the industry.

So that's an important factor for us.

But my final question is going to kind of take that idea with everything that you said.

And I want to focus again on Our Baby Knows, because at the end of the day, the thing that attracted I think our programmers and probably the jury as well to make sure that you got the vote to be one of those award winning films is this idea of shared humanity.

And at the end of the day, that's what your story is really about.

It is about sort of taking these big societal issues and finding a way to kind of crack them open and have an honest conversation about them and an honest conversation that allows us to, within that moment, these two characters get to sort of think through and talk through what's going on.

But we're watching them do that, and then we're opening ourselves up to that too.

So, how important is that sense of shared humanity, not just for Our Baby Knows, but probably for everything that you're going to do from now on?

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Yeah, I'd say the -- and thank you.

Thank you for that.

The process, not even just process, the idea of just like shared humanity for me and where it comes from is just this idea of, like, it's inspired by my faith and also in my faith, this idea of viewing people as completely beautiful and completely loved as they are.

So it's this idea of just, like, how do you -- how do I get to showcase that?

And there's something beautiful about allowing all people to feel seen, because when we understand more of just, like, we are -- we -- every person comes from a context and that context is usually got dropped into this big floating rock and we're all trying to make sense of what is life and what is all of this, And how much easier it is when the environments that you're in are like where kindness is an unspoken rule because that's just what -- how much easier that makes life and how much more beautiful that makes life if that is the level set.

Unfortunately, that's not -- that's not always the reality that we're in.

Once we engage in this idea of, like, we are, we are all part of the same family, the same human family, we get to actually start to build a world better for the ones that come after, because that's a very important thing of just, like, part of telling the story.

And I've gotten to go to a couple of middle schools and show this film in front of, like, families and parents, and then a conversation that follows.

It's been really, really cool and inspiring just to see how much kids already have a sense of the way the world is.

But also just like that spark to want to immediately make things better.

As grown ups, or whatever, we very much kind of get set in the way of just like, "Well, it is what it is."

It can be better.

We can actually, like, I know it's very Kumbaya-esque, but also, why can't it be?

You know, like let's try that for a change.

It would be really, really nice where it's like all of my friends of different backgrounds just felt safe in the world.

I think that's really at the end of the day what I want to do with my art is allow people to feel safe in the world.

TT STERN-ENZI: All right.

David, once again, that was the perfect summation for, again, why your film was so impactful at our festival.

So I'm glad we had the opportunity to talk and share a little bit more information about that.

And I just wanted to let you know that, again, this has been a pleasure sort of watching you go through this entire process.

I hope audiences are going to really be able to appreciate you and hopefully figure out ways to check out your film as well.

So again, thank you for joining us today.

DAVID CHIMUSORO: Thanks for having me.

Thanks for having me.

TT STERN-ENZI: This year's edition of the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival will take place July 6-8, right here in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I want to thank you for watching this segment.

And I look forward to seeing you at this year's festival.