corktown common
Thursday, July 10, 2025

moonlight

With the short films More Than Hair and Fish Boy

“In moonlight, black boys look blue.” The premise of Moonlight revolves around this sentence. The film offers an intimate, raw, and poignant look into three chapters in the life of Chiron, a Black boy living in a systematically oppressive social environment. We watch as Chiron grows from a young, innocent boy to a hardened, guarded man while navigating his queer sexuality. While coming of age, we see him suppressing his attraction to a childhood friend,  his strained relationship with his mother, and reckoning with masculinity as he becomes involved in a life of crime and drugs. Barry Jenkins’ breakthrough, Academy Award-winning film is a revolutionary and rare glimpse into themes of Black queer love that are not often represented. Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes each portray Chiron with exceptional honesty during each key phase of his life. Their performances, combined with Jenkins’ direction, compel us to confront uncomfortable yet vital truths about race, sexuality, and gender. 

In the intimate short film More Than Hair, a young Black boy embarks on a journey to the barber shop for the first time and learns to embrace his natural hair. Haitian-Canadian filmmaker Fitch Jean’s beautifully shot and poetically narrated film captures a youthful moment in time familiar to many Black people, as the boy becomes aware of and begins to make sense of the nature of his difference. Jean, who has been writing stories since he was 11 years old, draws on personal experience to impactfully express the experiences of Black boys.

A lyrical exploration of faith, queerness, and finding yourself, Fish Boy follows 16-year-old Patrick as he grapples with his beliefs and blossoming sexuality. When Patrick begins to question God, fish scales begin to grow out of his hand, becoming a symbol not only of his turbulent relationship with his devout father, but also of his journey to become comfortable in his own skin. Canadian Screen Award winner Christopher Yip’s short film will resonate with children of immigrant parents, LGBTQ+ audiences, and anyone who has had to navigate between their own world and the world of their parents.

This screening will be presented with optional pre-recorded Audio Description available for blind, low vision, or visually impaired audience members. More information about this accessibility feature is available at TOpictureshow.com/audio. Other accessibility features available at TOPS events, including open captioning, are outlined at TOpictureshow.com/accessibility.