Screening of Solace with Tchaiko Omawale and Alece Oxendine

Join filmmaker Tchaiko Omawale for a screening of her film Solace, followed by a talkback with Alece Oxendine. Solace is a moving and artful portrait of a smart, driven, and self-destructive teenage orphan struggling to find her place.

At 17, Sole is mourning the death of her father while adjusting to her new life with her overbearing grandmother in Los Angeles. Desperate to escape, she discovers a performance art grant that would take her back to New York. She recruits a pair of rebellious teenage neighbors, Jasmine and Guedado, to help her with the application and get her life back on track. But best-laid plans often go awry, and Jasmine’s volatile instability, the feelings Sole develops for Guedado, and her own secret battle with a destructive eating disorder, threaten to upend her plans and keep her trapped forever.

Tchaiko Omawale is a fresh filmmaking voice whose unique storytelling style – one that is both visual and emotional – along with her sure-handed directing is a rare combination in a first feature. Led by Hope Olaide Wilson’s heartfelt performance and brave turn as Sole, Solace is a unique coming-of-age story that takes on the claustrophobic isolation of mental health issues with empathy and artistry.

Tchaiko Omawale grew up in seven countries while her father worked for UNICEF. She graduated from Columbia University then interned for Spike Lee and Mira Nair. While assisting directors George C. Wolfe and Tom Vaughan, she directed several short form projects. Tchaiko was awarded the Gaea Sea Change Residency for artists working for social change. Her feature film Solace is currently in postproduction. It was a Semi-Finalist for Sundance Writers Lab 2012; a recipient of the Panavision New Filmmakers Program 2015; In 2016 the project participated in Tribeca All Access, the IFP Narrative Lab, the Creative Visions Creative Activist Program and Big Vision Empty Wallet diversity program. In 2017 it was a Women In Film grantee and a Film Independent Efilm/Company 3 grant winner. Tchaiko was a 2017 School of Making Thinking Resident fellow where she created the VR film Shapeshifters making its festival run in 2018. In between her independent projects she produces and directs commercials and branded content. You can see her work here: www.tchaiko.com

Alece Oxendine has dedicated her career to ensuring diverse content finds a global audience--a goal she's actively pursued at festivals like New York Film Festival, Athena Film Festival, and Rooftop Films; art house theaters like BAMcinématek and Film Society of Lincoln Center; streaming platform Fandor; and distribution companies like Distribber and Good Deed Entertainment. She is a proud graduate of Columbia University School of the Arts, where she currently works as their Director of Industry and Festival Outreach. Alece is originally from Durham, NC and has lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and gladly calls New York City home.

To see the full list of Stonewall 50 programs taking place in branches, visit nypl.org/stonewall50

Major support of the Love & Resistance: Stonewall 50 exhibition and related programming is provided by The New York Community Trust, Hermes Mallea and Carey Maloney, and the TD Charitable Foundation and TD Bank. Additional support is provided by Time Warner and the Magnus Hirschfeld Endowment Fund.

Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos Exhibitions Fund, Jonathan Altman, and Miriam and Ira D. Wallach.

ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org.