In her 2019 short film Pick, which won a Canadian Screen Award, director Alicia K. Harris explored racial stigmas through the lens of a young Black girl on her school’s picture day. In the second work in her hair-inspired trilogy, On a Sunday at Eleven, Harris explores how the pressures to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards can be as isolating as being the only Black person in the room.
At 7-years-old, Angel (Zoë Peak) has her set rituals on Sundays. This includes a trip to the local beauty supply store with her mother, ballet class, and church. However, it is the isolating nature of her dance class that fuels her desire for conformity the most. The only non-blond-haired blue-eyed student, Angel cannot help but stare longingly at the blond wigs and hair straightener products in the store and imaging what might be.
While her central character may display an ill-perceived sense of inadequacy, Harris infuses Angel with a much-needed sense of self via the dream world she drifts into. One filled with Black ballerinas, unique hairstyles, and the guiding hands of ancestor to help lift her up.
Constructing a visually stunning mosaic, the wonderful cinematography by Jeremy Cox turns the Scarborough bluffs into a majestic landscape, On a Sunday at Eleven is a beautiful and empowering work. Contrasting the sterile blue walls of the dance studio with the warm colours of Angel’s daily environments and dreamscape, Harris reinforces the rich sense of culture and community that surrounds her young protagonist.
Emphasizing the importance of community through Angel’s dream world, where those in her real life are transported into unique roles, Harris’ short weaves the past and present into a strong rope of support. One that is anchored by presence of assured women, such as her mother or the older lades at the church, who came before her. While a film like Charles Officer’s brilliant Nurse.Fighter.Boy used the notion of ancestors as a spiritual guiding hand to the next plane, Harris shows ancestors serve just as powerful a role in the present.
Another exception work by Harris, On a Sunday at Eleven is a magnetic and visually captivating look at beauty and identity.
On a Sunday at Eleven screened as part of Short Cuts 2024 Programme 4 at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Get more That Shelf TIFF coverage here.
