I AM NOT OK

A mother and son respond to the unending killings of Black Americans amidst the backdrop of the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. Dance and archival photographs are woven together to evoke fear, outrage, and anger and the need for communities to come together and find solutions.

Directed & Edited by Gabrielle Lansner

Narration Written & Spoken by Tiffiney Davis

                 Starring

Pat Hall & Dahsir Hausif

Executive Director, Dean Taucher

Produced by Ben Glickstein, Gabrielle Lansner

Director of Photography, Barbie Leung

Music by Philip Hamilton, A.T.N. Stadjwijk

Journalistic Photography by Erica Lansner

On Set Photography by Arina Voronova

Assistant Editor, Jordan Campbell

Editorial Assistance, Marilys Ernst

SCREENINGS

2022 - 2024

Brooklyn Museum, NY
Chelsea FF, NY
Queens World Film Festival, NY
Jayu Human Rights FF, Toronto
LadyFilmmakers, CA
Louisville Int'l Festival of Film, KY
Southampton African-American Museum
@Southampton Art Center, NY
ADF, Movies by Movers, NC
Harlem Film Festival, NY
Reel Sisters @ Riverside Church, NY
Screeendance Miami, FL
Arte Laguna Prize, IT
Underexposed FF, SC
Socially Relevant FF, NY
Mom, FF, NY
Minneapolis Int'l FF, MN
Dance Camera Istanbul, Turkey
MOM Film Festival, NY
Reel Sisters of Diaspora FF, NYC
Ni De Aqui, Ni De Allá Dance Festival, NYC
Justice Film Festival, NYC
Seattle Black Film Festival, WA
Films on Fulton, NYC
Black August FF, Pasadena, CA
WO50FF, Lewes, UK

VENUES

Brooklyn Museum,  
Perez Museum: Miami
Arsenale Nord: Venice, IT
Southampton Art Center, NY
Museum of the Moving Image, NY
Gallery @ Fashion Institute of Technology, NY

AWARDS

Best Cinedance Award: Minneapolis St. Paul International FF, MN
Best Experimental Film: Reel Sisters of the Diaspora FF, NY
Nominated for Best Social Justice Film: MOM FF, NY
 

INTERVIEW WITH GABRIELLE, CANVAS REBEL

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-gabrielle-lansner/

REVIEW IN CRITICAL DANCE
https://criticaldance.org/film-review-i-am-not-ok/

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

"A mother’s painful and powerful lament is merged with dance, film, photography, words and music. 

“I AM NOT OK” is a reminder and an awakening for some."

"It was so powerful and cohesive, moving, gut wrenching, forceful, unapologetic and gracefully dignified, wow wow wow. Congratulations on your terrific work that is also activism reaching toward change." 

"I commend you on your work... when the events,  george floyd, took place left many dark clouds over heads especially black families it changed a lot how we do operate / live our everyday... I see and recognize my mother in her in the softness of her skin, wearing yellow which means to me a warm embrace.. I hear my mother in her.  george floyd happened but nobody realized how much change it brought into our homes. Conversations go soo much different now. Society never ask how black mothers coping with fear of losing a son & I know firsthand how my mother always reminds us when we are out in the world we have a list of instructions. I doubt those conversations are happening in every home but I know it's happening in mine. Thank you for your softness your ability to show us who we are through our mothers."

"And thank you for doing a piece like this, to speak out about the dark nightmare of injustices towards black people."

" I AM NOT OK" is an exceptional piece of work that portrays that gut wrenching feeling that we as mothers feel every day when our children leave our homes. I know I deal with that every day"