On Saturday, February 27th, 2021 BVOH had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to hold a screening for the short film A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION followed by a Q+A with Co-Director Ben Proudfoot and Composer/Film Subject/Co-Director Kris Bowers, moderated by Filmmaker Peter Nicks!!
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION tells the story of virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer Kris Bowers as he tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION is Executive Produced by Ava DuVernay, co-directed by and starring Kris Bowers and Horace Bowers, Emmy Award-winning composer for Green Book, Bridgerton and How They See Us.
In A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION, Bowers traces the process of breaking into new spaces through generations of sacrifice that came before him, focusing on the story of his grandfather Horace Bowers. As a young man, he left his home in the Jim Crow South, eventually ending up in Los Angeles. Encountering discrimination at every turn, he and his wife, Alice, nevertheless made a life as business owners. Today, their legacy lives on through their family and community in South Los Angeles, where a stretch of Central Avenue was recently designated Bowers Retail Square — in case any question remained about whether it’s a place they belong. Horace Bowers tells his grandson: “Never think that you’re not supposed to be there.”
Watch the film here: NY Op-Docs: A Concerto is a Conversation