Recipient of Hot Docs Crosscurrents Fund.

We Will Be Brave talks about Black and POC men's mental health in a way that is honest, vulnerable, timely and very rarely seen on screen.

Follow the journey of Toronto's Good Guise collective, who are committed to sparking conversations around healthy masculinity through art. From photography and beatboxing to poetry and martial arts, the artists in the collective share their unique lived experiences and welcome others to join in their mission of finding radical alternatives to shame and punishment.

Explorations around what masculinity is, and re-evaluations of what it could be are intertwined with revelations about the unique mental health challenges faced by men of colour, who are often sidelined or exclusively villainized in these conversations.

This intimate local story explores questions of fatherhood and father-figures for men of colour, in a way that doesn't hide the rough edges, but also refuses to downplay the tenderness that is equally present.

As each of the subjects grapples with upheavals in their personal lives, their resolve is further tested by a dire lack of resources and the burden of racialized discrimination. We Will Be Brave is a story about personal evolution, healing and an unlikely brotherhood forged in vulnerability.

- Film note by Gesilayefa Azorbo, For Viola Curator

The screening will be followed by a dynamic conversation with the director of the film, Chrisann Hessing, and founding member of the Good Guise collective, Julian Diego—moderated by multi-disciplinary artist and co-founder of The ANKOBEA Fatherhood Initiative, S-Quire Johnson. 

While this screening is presented free of charge, please consider a donation of $10 in recognition of the value of the work presented, and in honour of Viola Desmond, featured on the $10 banknote, at checkout. Half the proceeds will be shared directly with the filmmakers, who also receive screening fees.

For Viola: Hot Docs' screening series centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC)-led stories and filmmakers, named in honour of Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond. This series seeks to affirm Hot Docs as a space of inclusion for BIPOC creators and audience members alike. In order to minimize barriers to audience participation, all screenings in this series are free of charge.

For Viola is supported by

Read Hot Docs' Anti-Racism statement here.