In “A Concerto is a Conversation,” film composer and jazz pianist Kris Bowers interviewed his 91-year-old grandfather Horace Bowers Sr., who chronicled his life from Jim Crow-era Florida young-in’ to Los Angeles business owner. The elder Bowers reflected on his upbringing living in close quarters with multiple family members on a plantation, and recalled the hells of segregation and racial violence during the 1940s.

Bowers Sr. hitchhiked from Florida to Detroit, then from Colorado to Los Angeles, and settled there. He married and expanded a cleaners where he worked for a couple years after arriving to the big city.

Kris’ story as an artist and his insecurities about not feeling comfortable in his current position, or even his guilt associated with “taking up space” in an art where Black folks aren’t normally seen, were powerful. He portrayed an honesty that was refreshing and uplifting.

I appreciated this short because it honored both subjects’ personal histories, and used the wealth of a familial elder’s experience to translate a common “rags-to-riches” narrative to one that embodied a specific Black American experience.

Kris’ grandfather’s response to his insecurities was absolutely breathtaking. And so simple too. I’m surprised it hit me like a ton of bricks—he vocalized, essentially, that if an opportunity wasn’t for you, then you wouldn’t have it.

Everything that is meant for you is yours.

Like—it’s so simple, and yet…

My fave shot: the silhouette of Kris hunched over the piano keys as he narrates the scope of the short. The amber background was striking.

Using archival footage and photographs to provide context to life in the Jim Crow South, and the Great Migration north and then elsewhere. Just— 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾

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Watch the documentary short here.