Screening of Tales: “Fight the Power” & Filmmaker Q&A with Ya’Ke Smith

Join the Department of Radio-Television-Film (RTF) for a screening of TALES: “Fight The Power,” followed by a filmmaker Q&A with episode director RTF Associate Professor Ya’Ke Smith and Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellow (Center for Women’s and Gender Studies) and visiting University of Kentucky faculty member, Dr. Aria Halliday.

Series Overview:

In this BET anthology series, hip hop’s greatest lyrics are reimagined as captivating visual narratives.

Episode Overview:

Prosecutor Stokely Overton finds himself against two police who have killed an innocent youth. As he pursues the case, Stokely’s father’s life as a political prisoner blurs the lines between past and present.

Speaker Bios

Ya’Ke Smith, Director
Associate Professor of Radio-Television-Film and former Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (Moody College of Communication), Ya’Ke Smith has received worldwide acclaim for his films. The Director’s Guild of America, the Student Academy Awards, HBO, Showtime, the City of Buffalo, NY—which proclaimed February 23, 2013, as Ya’Ke Smith Day—and the city of Cincinnati, OH—which proclaimed October 6, 2019, as Ya’Ke Smith Day—have honored him. His short, KATRINA’S SON, screened at over 40 film festivals and won 14 awards. The film was also eligible for the 2012 Academy Award in short filmmaking. His debut feature, WOLF, which NPR called “an impressive piece by a young director,” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and has gone on to screen and win awards at festivals across North America. Ya’Ke’s film, DAWN, made its television premiere on HBO in February of 2015 and screened on the network for two years. The film was also streamed as part of Issa Rae’s “Short Film Sunday” series on her YouTube channel. His web series, THE BEGINNING AND ENDING OF EVERYTHING, is currently streaming on the iONE digital platform, “A Space for Creators.” Ya’Ke has three projects on the film festival circuit, BROTHER, EDWIN, and THE PANDEMIC CHRONICLES, all of which have won top honors at film festivals across the U.S. THE PANDEMIC CHRONICLES is currently being distributed by Full Spectrum Features. He has directed episodes of the hit BET series’ TALES and SACRIFICE. 

Aria S. Halliday, a 2022–2023 Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellow through the UT Center for Women’s and Gender Studies
Aria S. Halliday, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and program in African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. Professor Halliday’s research explores cultural constructions of black girlhood and womanhood in material, visual, and digital culture in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She examines the ideological overlaps between girlhood, Black feminism, hip-hop, and performance in the United States and the Caribbean. More broadly, she is interested in how popular culture informs our personal beliefs about culture, identity, social status, and desire.