Black. Brown. Beyond Borders. Ethnic Identity Across Countries, Continents, and Cultures.

Ent-Tech (Innovation & Discovery Expo) brought Je Suis Noires to Georgia State University, continuing an Alma Film Festival conversation across cultures, countries, and generations.

Georgia State University hosted a special screening of Je Suis Noires, directed by Rachel M’Bon and Juliana Fanjul, followed by a global cultural conversation as part of the Alma Film Festival’s Ent-Tech (Innovation & Discovery Expo). Special guest Tallulah Patricia, founder of AfroSwissters, joined us from Zurich, Switzerland. The conversation was intimate, marked by a level of transparency and honesty we don’t often experience in public spaces.

Presented and sponsored by Georgia State University’s Honors College, the event received support from the Department of Africana Studies, the Institute for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and the Center for Studies on Africa and Its Diaspora.

Special thanks go to Dean Sarah Cook of the Honors College and Dr. Jonathan Gayles for bringing this project to Georgia State University; to Alahna Lark, Emmy Award-winning producer, director, and founder of Lark Media, for moderating the conversation; and to Dr. Rashana Vikara Lydner, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, for sharing her scholarship and perspective.

Pictured, left to right: Dean Sarah Cook, Tallulah Patricia, Alahna Lark, Anthony R. Page, Dr. Rashana Vikara Lydner, and Dr. Jonathan Gayles.

From Switzerland to a Wider World

Je Suis Noires features women from across Switzerland reflecting on their experiences as Black women within Swiss society. Within the Alma Film Festival ecosystem, we use their stories as a springboard to ask a wider question: What does it mean to be a Black or Brown woman elsewhere in the world?

“Blackness” and “Brownness” carry different meanings across borders. Blackness in Africa is not experienced in one uniform way, nor is it the same as Blackness in Atlanta. Brownness in the Dominican Republic carries different histories and associations than Brownness in Brazil. Our conversations explore those nuances—how place, culture, and generation shape the experience of being a woman of color.

The film provides a shared starting point. Each audience introduces perspectives drawn from its own experiences, allowing the conversation to develop with every screening.

Three Settings. Different Generations. New Perspectives.

Our journey with the film began in March 2026 at the Alma Film Festival, with a specially curated experience at Hotel Alisei in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. Women with backgrounds spanning Canada, Ecuador, Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States shared their lived experiences and offered different ways of understanding the questions raised by the film.

On May 30, the conversation continued at Palate Atlanta Tasting Room, with a screening curated for executive women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and generations—from Baby Boomers and Generation X to Millennials.

The September 30 screening at Georgia State University’s Speakers Auditorium added another generational perspective. Young women and men from Generation Z explored the film through their own experiences, questions, and understanding of identity.

Across these gatherings, the exchanges have been multilayered and eye-opening. Many participants have also described them as healing. The intimate conversation at Georgia State continued that spirit, with participants sharing openly in a public setting.

Dr. Rashana Vikara Lydner, Alahna Lark, and Tallulah Patricia (seated, left to right) join Dean Sarah Cook, Dr. Jonathan Gayles, and Georgia State University students onstage following the screening and conversation around Je Suis Noires.

Fewer Films. Deeper Engagement.

With a community of stakeholders spanning 42 countries, the Alma Film Festival takes a research-centered, tech-forward, audience-focused approach to creating immersive experiences.

We curate fewer films so we can give each one more time, more attention, and more opportunities to engage different audiences. We choose stories with deep social and cultural relevance, then create experiences that invite people to question, share, and explore each film through the lens of their own lives.

Je Suis Noires puts that approach into practice. Each screening introduces new perspectives, deepening our understanding of the film and of one another.

Through thoughtful curation and sustained engagement, we support the growth of ecosystems across countries, continents, and cultures. The film gives us a shared starting point. The people give the conversation its depth. We create the space to see where it can go.

Pictured, left to right: Dr. Rashana Vikara Lydner, Alahna Lark, and Tallulah Patricia, engaged in a spirited, multilayered conversation following the screening of Je Suis Noires.

Next Stop: London

Through our partnership with the Croydon International Film Festival, Je Suis Noires will screen again in London, followed by a conversation with a kaleidoscope of women across generations and ethnic identities.

To Georgia State University, our supporting partners, Tallulah Patricia, our featured speakers, and everyone who has participated along the way—thank you for helping this conversation grow.

Across continents. Across cultures. Across generations.

About the Alma Film Festival

The Alma Film Festival is an experience-based, tech-driven, research-centered, audience-focused festival that connects film, arts, culture, and technology. With an ecosystem of relationships spanning institutions, individuals, and agencies in 42 countries, the festival builds bridges for creative exchange and collaboration across countries, continents, and cultures.

Its year-round work advances a vision of Atlanta as a gateway to the Global South—rooted in exchange, not extraction—and creates space for diverse voices, shared discovery, and meaningful human connection.

The festival is guided by its Pillars of Purpose: conversation, connection, community, collaboration, cultural diplomacy, and collective growth.

“In everything we do, we aim to spark conversations that cultivate meaningful connections and strengthen our sense of community. From this shared foundation, we hope to inspire greater collaboration, leading to cultural diplomacy and collective growth.”

~ Anthony R. Page, Alma Film Festival