A film examining the challenges of being a Black woman in the craft brewing industry was recently featured in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
The film “This Belongs To Us” is about Briana Brake who runs Spaceway Brewing Taproom in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
“Beer brewing began in parts of the world that we’ve heard now referred to as (Eastern Africa) and it (was) done by women,” Tinu Diver, the filmmaker and Raleigh attorney said in an interview with WRAL.com. “A lot of that had to do sometimes with the quality of water, so part of how beer and fermentation evolved was just part of our human survival.” “The reason why this film is called ‘This Belongs To Us’ is that, you know, often there’s this narrative that we have to teach Black people about craft beer, or we have to somehow get Black people into breweries,” she says, “But the fact is that this is something that’s ours.”
Despite being featured at Sundance, the film’s production was paused because of the pandemic. Diver is still raising funds to complete the film and cover production costs. Donations can be made here.