The grand irony behind the PBS film “More Than a Month,” about a black man’s effort to get rid of Black History Month, is that it makes its television premiere during Black History Month.
Shukree Hassan Tilghman – the 29-year-old writer, director, and producer of “More Than a Month” – feels that black history should not be held apart from American history, and at the very least, should not be relegated to the shortest month of the year. The film shows him criss-crossing the country soliciting support for his movement. [Watch the trailer at left.]
“My way of going about it in this particular film was that maybe part of claiming that American-ness, for lack of a better term, for that history, is getting it out of that month,” Tilghman said at the recent TCA press tour. “That was sort of my first step. Maybe you have to sort of break something down in order for that better thing to take its place. But most people didn’t agree with me, and that’s sort of the story of the film.”
Tilghman’s road trip begins in Washington D.C., with each stop along the way exploring a different dimension of Black History Month: education, history, identity, and commercialism. The film ultimately questions the relevance of all ethnic heritage months, and whether separating black history from American history actually belittles the contributions of African American’s throughout U.S. history.
As for PBS choosing to air“More Than a Month” as part of its Black History Month programming, Tilghman says he's "a little torn."
"It's a film about Black History Month, February is Black History Month, it's going to get promoted, I'm going to be on a panel because it's Black History Month. All those things work, so you can't exactly air it in July," he said. "But at the same time, you're trying to see African American history outside of the box of February. In that way, I sort of wish it did air on July 4th or something like that."
Comments