THE DAILY BRUIN (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES) -- As the first part of the tetralogy “The Love Cycle,” “Love Like Winter” tells the story of two ex-lovers as they reconnect during a wintry evening in Chicago. Starring Great, “Love Like Winter” was also written, directed and produced by the alumnus and assistant professor of Cinema at San Francisco State University, with only one other crew member on set. The film was an official selection in the 2021 Pan African Film Festival and has been featured at other Black film festivals.
Great said the film represents a recentering of the conversation when it comes to Black lives in America. Instead of focusing on the reality of race relations and how that negatively affects Black lives, he opts to show and celebrate Black love and daily life, he said.
“This film, for me, was thinking about ways to accentuate what I would call the allure of everyday Blackness,” Great said. “And what I mean by that is representing an alternative vision that bears the weight of the individuals and the characters in the film.”