Screening of Cannes Independent Shorts Official Selection,”Dark and Tender,” with Director Q&A, and Song Circle
With Aaron Johnson
Flexible Dates
A Screening of the Film Recorded at Whidbey Institute
Dark and Tender interrupts the Black Brute archetype and traces the earnest, compelling paths black men take to reclaim caring closeness and recover tender, platonic touch. With close-up encounters with nature, uncommon images of gentle Black masculinity, and the men facing, together, internalized obstacles to closeness, the short film captures the capacity of their nervous systems’ to heal when violence, rough sports, and tough play are replaced with tenderness and intimacy. Dark and Tender reveals the spirit of a movement, The Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project, and how it is restoring a nutrient critical to well-being — touch.
The Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project is the body of thinking born out of the development and tracking of the Chronically UnderTouched trauma story. It’s a movement supporting People of the Global Majority — people of color — to access healthy, nourishing, platonic touch in a culture that, in the United States, denies it at every turn. Tender touch means seeing people as full human beings. It is the antidote to the invention of The Black Brute archetype. In addition to the documentary film, they will be offering training for touch activists, touring an art installation, and incorporating earth building. Film is 20 – 25 minutes.
Faculty
Aaron is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch specialist working to identify and interrupt barriers between people. As co-founder of both Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, Aaron takes the time to hold the stories of black people around homophobia, transphobia, internalized racism, and those that are Chronically Under Touched. Because oppression is a part of historical and present American culture, the long-term impact of those trauma stories should be acknowledged and held as a map for our collective healing. Aaron Johnson practices and invites various methods of moving through these stories, such as the communal listening ear, sound healing,…
Learn more about Aaron Johnson
