The film explores the role of photography, since its rudimentary beginnings in the 1840s, in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present. The dramatic arch is developed as a visual narrative that flows through the past 160 years to reveal black photography as an instrument for social change, an African American point-of-view on American history, and a particularized aesthetic vision.
Direction
Harris weaves personal family archives into broader historical tapestry.
Cinematography
Each photograph treated as living document, not static artifact.
Director
Thomas Allen Harris
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Thomas Allen Harris spent over a decade collecting these images, many from family attics and flea markets where they'd been forgotten.
The title references James Baldwin's 'The Fire Next Time' — Harris intentionally positions Black photography as prophetic witness, not mere documentation.
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Reactions from the web
It's crazy how we're still viewed as the lesser of the human race when so many people are being influenced by people of African decent. Instead of feuding let's enlighten and inspire our own people to be better, bold and beautiful. I can't wait to see the full length film. Peace and Blessings.
@ladyv2480 4
Search for your own Family Foots, put them all in an album like this!
@jimpixter
My mother only purchased dolls that resembled "MY complexion and I never had a problem with my skintone. "
@fayeselassie9407
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