Comfrey Films is a Film Training Program and Production House designed to launch Black trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex (TGNCI*) storytellers into independent filmmaking and to tell stories woven at the intersection of being Black and TGNCI*.
Comfrey Films is focused on cultural organizing and narrative power led by and for Black Trans, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex people. We believe that there is no racial justice nor trans/gender justice without economic justice so we invest in the economic development of our community. Our work is an ode to the comfrey plant used for wound closure.
“Our work is an ode to the comfrey plant used for wound closure. That’s what our stories do. They allow our communities and storytellers to close wounds that have been open far too long.”
- Joie Lou Shakur
About Us
We were founded in Durham, NC by Joie Lou Shakur utilizing their personal resources to fuel their vision that the lives and stories of Black Trans people become unforgettable during this time. We began with a simple mission: To train the next generation of Black Trans storytellers and filmmakers, leverage our brand to get Black Trans filmmakers paid to produce media projects in their communities, and pay Black Trans film fellows to work on internal media projects that further the stories of Black Trans people globally.
Since our powerfully humble beginning in 2017, we’ve trained and nurtured an ecosystem of over 50 Black TGNCI* storytellers, archived over 190 hours of Black TGNCI* film/footage, held over 500 hours of sacred space for Black TGNCI* kin, co/produced 17 impact short films for and by Black TGNCI* creators, and a 19 part street style interview series called On Being Black and Trans In The South exploring three areas of violence most common to Black TGNCI* folks in the South; economic injustice, gender based violence, and racial violence.
It takes a village to create a film. Our work explores how this village can access individual and collective healing from trauma through the filmmaking process.
Our Scope of Work
Our scope of work includes serving our communities through partnering with trained healing justice practitioners and organizations to increase the healing capacity of Black Genderqueer storytellers and filmmakers.
We’re utilizing the filmmaking process to bring access to healing justice services and opportunities for individual and collective healing to our Black genderqueer community. We are committed to a three pronged approach of land based strategy, embodiment and bodily wisdom, and the power of individual storytelling as a landscape for growth and filmmaking.
This looks like utilizing services such as individual and group talk therapy, reiki, yoga, horticultural healing, meditation, and somatic body work during pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution phases of our filmmaking process.