Encompassing Black and Brown Creatives at Be You Fest
Eres seamlessly supplied the community backbone in all workshops, performances, and panels by enlisting actual voices of the Bronx.
Photography by Yeka Gyadu
The first impression is typically the most memorable, and the Be You Fest did not disappoint. Immediately, guests are welcomed with fresh spring colors, dripping from neon lights, and vines are intently placed when the glass doors are pulled open. An archway focuses attention with its tangerine leafy opening, leading attendees to a projection installation of TV boxes illustrating the Fest’s logo on each wall.
This signals that this festival is meant to captivate and hold you. The Be You Fest was an immersive experience for creators to learn, mingle, and explore new creation activations, meant to inspire and derive new connections. It was a true hub for all disciplines in the media industry. The Fest was hosted in the heart of the South Bronx, a purposeful placement by the organization Eres.
It’s no secret that there are roadblocks to being BIPOC within the media industry—honestly, all industries. But Eres, a creator-focused Latina women-led organization, has vowed to build doors that were closed despite this. Founded by Christine Cortes and Michelle Polanco, they are moved by an observed deficit of BIPOC voices within the media industry and a desire to create spaces that not only provide resources but amplify community stories and artists. The foundation of their mission is to build a nervous system of creators.
Photography by Yeka Gyadu
The system, in turn, offers a vetted marketplace for collaboration and mentorship. The best part of all? Eres is homegrown in the Bronx. The authenticity of reclaiming sacred BIPOC spaces, especially during the tide of NYC’s gentrifying real estate changes, is a reminder of the beauty in our backyard.
Eres seamlessly supplied the community backbone in all workshops, performances, and panels by enlisting actual voices of the Bronx. For example, the dubbed complexity of lighting Black and Brown skin is a plaguing conversation that is often structured by simply excluding Black and Brown people. However, Eres, partnering with the LR2 Bronx studio and Shotti NYC, broke down those barriers by offering demos and hands-on help. The commencement of the workshop buzzed the room with energy. Attendees, including me, were excited to get their hands on cameras and utilize each other as models to better understand light balance and correction.
The unifying aspect wasn’t felt in just one workshop, but all the facets the Fest offered. The vendors were all local Bronx community businesses, from food to lifestyle products. The panelists were mainly Bronx natives, providing advice on platform building through podcasts (No, not Joe Rogan’s podcast).
Photography by Yeka Gyadu
The installations were made in partnership with the School of Visual Arts MFA program for Interaction Design to allow students the opportunity to forge creative interactions for the festival. Jeremie Candio, a first-year student, spoke on the importance and general fun he had being trusted to incorporate his creativity into the Be You Fest’s environment.
“We are allowed to self-define what creativity is to us. When exploring creative fields like photography or drawing, we sometimes think we should abandon those who use [STEM-based studies like] medicine or law,” Candio says. “No, these fields are so transdisciplinary that your background always comes into play with your creative expression…no matter what, you’re creative.”
Eres brought joy and fostered community through the unparalleled Be You Fest. Each person who left gathered a new contact, a new idea, or even a new purpose for interpreting our journey through storytelling. The Fest’s overall intent couldn’t be more precise. The resignation of creating without each other isn’t possible, and when in search, we reach for one another. In that moment of synchronicity, the magic happens.
