From the late 90s and throughout the 2000s, Director X has made himself a household name in the music video game. Videos from some of your favorite artists such as Jay-Z, Aaliyah, Chris Brown, Drake, and many more have all received the Director X stamp. He’s become an icon for his skills behind the camera, but also for his conscious effort to break the racial stereotypes in Hollywood and highlighting Black women of all shades.

The well-established director is now switching gears and bringing his expertise to film to debut his new short film titled, “Black Love Is,” a documentary that explores the nuanced view and expression of Black Love. The short film, in partnership with Tinder, features detailed first-person accounts that reflect on Black people and their romantic relationships. Each person they spoke with for the film had their own unique experiences to share, speaking to the depth behind “Black Love Is.”

The inspiration behind this short film comes from Director X’s desire to show the importance of Black people feeling and expressing love.

“I’ve always thought it’s important to show different kinds of relationships,” Director X told The Root. “Back in the day, I [was] the director that people would say, ‘Oh, you show dark-skinned women. You have dark-skinned women in your videos, I know who you are—Little X.’ I think that was always important to [show] some range. I remember growing up, the world, when it came to TV, was dark-skinned men and light-skinned women. That’s what you got! Yep. [With this project, we felt that we] should show some of that variation.”

To give Black Love the spotlight, Director X is also incorporating components into the film that provide representation for Black people of every shade. The film also includes narratives on diversity in gender and sexuality.

“There’s a wide-ranging world out there when it comes to Black people, Black love, the Black experience. Even though not everyone is in [the film], you get that the walls are much larger,” Director X told Blavity.

Director X took on a huge task of combining art and technology to compose a documentary that encompasses the entity that is Black Love and capture it in a way people would connect to. His two decades of storytelling expertise along with efforts to advocate for diversity for Black people made this a natural next step for the director.

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