Some movies not only tell a story, but they also reveal the truth. Ebony Canal definitely shows up in those ranks. It is an impressive, complex presentation about black maternal healthcare. It’s an emotional project. It’s truly one of those projects in its artistic scope, each frame, each voice, each element meaningful in some way. It’s no surprise, given its competitiveness, with almost 900 submissions at only 7% accepted, that it topped the 29th Annual Urban World Film Festival in its short documentary category.
If one looks closely, there is something more to the power of this movie than meets the eye. Every woman’s story is edited with purposeful visual intent, creating not only an informative but also a somewhat humane portrait of black maternal health in America. Ebony Canal weaves together visual arts and lived realities to create something that not only tells its audience facts but also shows its humanity. Throughout its presentation of four black women’s pregnancy experiences, the movie shows its viewers not just statistics, but emotions.
Narrated by EGOT winner Viola Davis, with direction by 6-time Emmy Award-winning director Emmai Alaquiva, “HERstoric” looks at “The continuum from Infant Mortality Disparities to the status of maternal health care in America, an intersection, indeed, of Love, Justice, and Survival, itself.” But despite such grim realities, “this vision remains grounded in HOPE, to move forward maternal care, to save black mothers, to save black babies.”
For 2025, The Ebony Canal remains on an unstoppable roll with its movie festival support. Of Urbanworld’s shortlist of 143 competing films, including projects under the Classifier for works under the Black Girls Rock! Initiative, movies such as Tyler Perry’s Route 187, their Cultural Visionary Award-winning The Ebony Canal received one of its Top 3 honors in the Audience Award. Overall, its success marks it as one of 2025’s most significantly impact-relevant titles, no less than an aftermath reverberating from cinema to policy discourses.
Urbanworld is its tenth festival outing and its fourth Oscar-qualifying screening for the year. The sold-out screening in particular proved to be one of the festival’s biggest highlights, featuring an electric post-screening panel discussion moderated by Grammy Award-winning artist LeToya Luckett, with lead figures in black maternal healthcare advocacy in attendance, including Ms. Tina Knowles.
But its effects on society have not gone unnoticed. The Ebony Canal has won innumerable awards in the region for its artistic skill and contributions to society, including two Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy Awards, three Webby Awards, six Telly Awards, and an Essence Festival Award for Best Documentary for its social impact.
While The Ebony Canal remains on its festival trajectory, with discussions in studios underway, it remains a shining example of the power of storytelling to illuminate, to advocate, to transform. It remains a visual mandate, one in which black women are placed squarely at the forefront and their world, their story, their destiny is deemed to have meaning not simply for those women, but for all women. Alaquiva looks back on the previous twelve months with awe, with appreciation for what its journey has become. It hasn’t been just a process of getting their project from point A to point B, from completion to festival screenings; it’s almost a year-long tribute to something being accomplished for its intended purpose.
“It’s been 11 months of pure Joy. I would have to say that. No complaints, putting our heads down to focus. But keeping it up to continue the journey. It’s been outstanding to say the least,” he reflected. “My PR team, my marketing director, my assistant, which is an all woman team that surrounds me. It’s just been incredible. They come up with a system that allows me to be a director … It’s just been a tremendous blessing. We’re all learning together, this journey has been something that we never expected. For a success, for a film that talks about the subject matter to be this successful, is wildly and utterly remarkable. But it also underscores that when individuals come together for a cause that we’re all passionate about, it works! Because despite what goes on, we understand the core agenda to save as many lives as possible.”
Alaquiva further elaborates on his emotional message with regard to his work, explaining, “This is an offering, not from some kind of hate, not from some kind of anger, not from some kind of revenge, but from love, from responsibility, from lived experience.” He saw it as his responsibility to create something out of respect for, and care for, black and brown women.
“I just wanted to write this love letter to Black and brown women, especially as a Black son. As Black father, as a Black husband. I had to do what I had to do to make this work and to do my part to save as many lives and babies as possible,” Alaquiva expressed with passion. “When I tell you, I would never think in a million years we could sell out the Urban World Film Festival in 48 hours. That’s crazy to me! It’s so hard to realize when you came from the mud, but also I had to realize that roses come from the mud. So it’s okay to come from the mud and still put this together.”
Alaquiva’s appreciation extends to his realisation about the overwhelming response his movie has received, something he still finds difficult to cope with. Despite not getting support from streaming giants, his movement in regard to his movie is yet to peak. Alaquiva considers his job an obligation, something he feels called to do for those stories which require being told.
“There’s a gospel song that I listen to all the time; it’s by a gentleman, Forest Frank. And one of the key phrases in that song is ‘I’ll never get used to this,’ and I can’t ever get used to this type of love. This type of support surrounding something that was a thought, something that I never thought would have this much impact on a global scale,” he said. “I’m talking Africa, LA, Chicago, NYC, DC, Pittsburgh. We don’t have Netflix, we don’t have Paramount, that’s something we’re focused on in 2026. But this is unfathomable to me to realize. But all I know how to do is continue to work hard. Never complain about anything because Black women have been going through it. And who am I to complain about anything? As a cinematic poet, my job is to tell these stories and to give black women and black babies what they need so we can learn and change this situation around as soon as we can.’”
Alaquiva also shared what surprised her about the evolution process for the powerful narration in the documentary, something which reflects the impact the project had on some of the most iconic voices in the world. What initially started out as one plan, ended up being something even more profound.
“The original OG who was supposed to do the voice over was Michelle Obama … but the original person we recorded the vocals for was Phylicia Rashad. But when she recorded the vocals it was within two weeks that Viola Davis was like ‘uhn uhn, I want to do this voiceover. I want to narrate this thing,” he stated with gratitude. “You know what’s funny is that I still have all the vocals from Phylicia Rashad. So; we plan on doing the soundtrack in which Rashad reads the album as if she’s reading to an unborn child. So we’re going to have her narrate the playlist and narrate the songs that are in for the soundtrack … that’s one of my dreams. This would also be the very first soundtrack that’s ever dedicated to maternal and infant health; ever in the history of music. That’s what we’re trying to take into 2026 … But it ended up being Viola Davis and it ended up being the perfect narrator.”
Alaquiva’s commitment to celebrating and uplifting black women is also expressed in his overall leadership and nurturing of his team. For him, the process, not just the skills, involves listening, humility, and cultural truth-telling.
“You gotta listen to Black women. So far, my team has really led me in the right direction. I can’t say enough about my team and there’s only four of us. We have to juggle a lot, but we also understand there’s stressing but there’s also a blessing,” he voiced. “I believe in those sayings. I believe we shouldn’t stress. When there’s problems or conflict, it’s okay we’re going to get through this because the overall agenda matters. Nobody is going to tell our stories the way we do. There’s culture in our stories. Yes, we’re talking about something that’s very clinical but it takes us story tellers to shape it in a cultural way that you understand and that it leaves an impression. When we think of LeToya Luckett when she drops everything and says she’ll moderate it at the snap of a finger … when you put out calls to Beyonce’s mother and say ‘would you mind coming on board with us?’ And she says ‘are you kidding me?’ Then on the red carpet she says things like ‘this is a very important film” and ‘there were moments about this film that moved her’ and compared her to when she was in labor with Beyonce…’”
For Alaquiva, what’s at stake in the movie, in these discussions, runs far beyond awards. He knows the power of deliberate storytelling to transform narratives, to return their dignity to those from whom it has long been stolen.
“It’s exactly why moments like this matter. You understand that words have the power to amplify something like this,” he relayed to me. Alaquiva expressed with absolute honesty what many black women routinely face, saying, “I’m not taking anything away from Black men, but there’s a lot of Black men that disrespect Black women all day long.” He firmly establishes his obligation based on his realization, to which he asserted, “No, I’m a father and a dedicated husband.”
