Interview:
Ya’Ke Smith,
writer/director,
"Brother,"
"The Pandemic Chronicles"
![]() Austin-based filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith brings two of his recent projects, the short drama Brother and the web series The Pandemic Chronicles, to this year’s Austin Revolution Film Festival. Brother focuses on how the relationship between two close high school friends—one white, one black—is impacted by the unexpected arrival of the former’s racist older brother. Shot pre-vaccine, The Pandemic Chronicles offers four stories about life during the COVID-19 lockdown in and around Austin told predominately from the perspective of marginalized people. Brother and The Pandemic Chronicles will screen at 3 p.m. Feb. 19 as part of “The Change We Need” block during the Austin Revolution Film Festival. Ya’Ke Smith will also moderate a post-screening panel on inclusion with other filmmakers with work in “The Change We Need” block. Ya’Ke Smith previously directed the feature film WOLF, the web series The Beginning and Ending of Everything, and the short films Dear Bruh: A Eulogy. A Baptism. A Call to Action, Dawn and One Hitta Quitta. He recently directed an episode for the third season of the BET series Tales and is currently working on the web series The Electrics. Ya’Ke Smith is also an Associate Professor of film at the University of Texas at Austin’s Radio-Television-Film department and Moody College’s first Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Aired: Feb. 17, 2022. Web sites: https://exodusfilmworks.com/ https://www.facebook.com/yakefilmmaker https://www.austinrevolution.com/ |
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