Love Thyselves

A Note from Ayeraye

I created Love Thyselves to inspire, humor, and hit home for many within my community and my generation. I want this “feel-good” pilot episode to accumulate smiles, laughter and good memories for Black families; to fill our heads and hearts with joy, laughter, love, light, healing and happiness. Love Thyselves is a film that explores how total self-acceptance and grace, paired with self-accountability and action, can produce a level of healing that is no match for anything in the way of you reaching your goals, and blossoming. Sankofa Medias is dedicated to a movement that inspires Black youth to go beyond, to outsmart the system, and to shoot for prosperity; working to change the narrative of traumatic black stories being our mainstream platform. I create art that will inspire Black communities to keep their eyes on the prize and continue to soar. While films that promote nothing but violence, pain, sadness and loss as meaningful events that happen within Black communities can be powerful or full of lessons, they are also detrimental to Black minds, filling our heads and our hearts with sorrow. I want to fill our heads and hearts with joy, laughter, love, light, healing and happiness. I want to be a part of the movement that inspires Black youth to go beyond, to outsmart the system, and to shoot for prosperity. It is my hope that I bring laughter, smiles and memories to many homes, and that by sharing a piece of myself I send the message to my audience to accept and take pride in their whole selves, and have enough.

Nile Garcia is a Harlem based filmmaker whose only dying wish is to tell stories and create art in any capacity. He writes, directs, shoots, and edits and is an alumni of the 2020 graduating class of the Ghetto Film School. He is also one of the creative heads of independent production company Stories Are Us, along with fellow GFS alum Carlos Reyes and Jidobi Chime.

Leandra Torres is the Executive Producer for Love Thyselves. She is a Afro-Latina artist from Bronx, New York and has received her education from Repertory Company High School for Theater Arts. She is currently in her last semester studying Theater and Performance major concentration in Directing and a minor in Film. Leandra’s Purchase credits include: The Silent Observer (Director, Writer), Tough Call (Director and Writer) The Pirandello Party (AD), Purgatorio Wonderland (AD), No Child (Director/Producer), Gunshot/Doorslam (AD). Leandra would like to give a huge thank you to her family and friends. She wouldn’t be where she is without them.

Damali O’Keefe is a 21 year old filmmaker, writer, artist, and performer born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and raised in The Bronx. Damali is also Television Academy Foundation Alum, currently finishing her last year in SUNY Purchase’s film BFA program.

Carlos F Reyes is a 20 year old Mexican Filmmaker, DP and Gaffer born and raised in the West Bronx. He is part of the Graduating class of 2020 from The Ghetto Film school. He along with two other Filmmakers Jidobi Chime and Nile Garcia are currently creative heads for an Independent Production Company called Stories are us or @Stories.are_us on Instagram that is based in Harlem New York

Una Bharat (She/her) is a film/theater producer in her junior year in Arts Management. In her early stages of life, she was a professional ballerina but developed a passion to create opportunities in the entertainment industry. She produced the THP Senior Project Unspoken Word Collection, which won the Lenora Champagne Award. This semester she is producing POV Fest in May 2022 as well as two student short films.

Dwayne “Dj” Fralin is a fourth year lighting designer from Washington, DC. Purchase credits include: the silent observer,A Walrus In the Body of a Crocodile, Misanthrope and A Colored Museum. Other credits include As The Sun Sets with Dow Dance Company. Many thanks to his family and everyone else who supports him!

Abel Santiago is a DJ, Music composer, Poet, Playwright and Actor from Harlem, New York. He recently graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2021 with a degree in Theatre and Performance. He will be playing Quentin in the upcoming play/workshop ‘hard knock lyfe’ by Cris Eli Blak in Summer 2022.

Born and raised in Brooklyn Sana Bracey has worked as Scenic Artist with many NYC Theaters, spanning from NewJerseys famous Crossroads Theater to Harlem’s own Apollo Theater Designing Props Backdrops and Sets for many various types of shows and performances. Also having featured Art, Painting and Dance curricula as well as Choreography throughout the NYC Board of Education in over 300 active schools and programs. Sana Bracey has also designed Sets for Dance Companies such as Forces of Nature, Creative Outlet, Abundance Academy of the Arts and Ifetayo Cultural Arts Facility. Sana Bracey’s work is reflective of Being a Woman from The Diaspora of Native American and African American Heritage. She currently celebrates history with her continued celebrated Love of Humanity through her Crafts and works of Art in Many Productions including the works of Ayeraye Hargett and Sankofa Medias

Dematria Mugeni is an international student all the way from Nairobi, Kenya, and a senior Theater & Performance student, minoring in Psychology at Purchase College. Driven by her love of acting and singing, she naturally found comfort from being on stage. Her previous performances include “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and “Hairspray”, and her senior project “For Colored Women”. Outside of the theater, she is active in making music. In the pursuit of her dreams, she looks forward to working on more projects that highlight the beautiful stories of human nature. Dematria aims to use her talents to inspire others to believe that the power to achieve anything is in their hands. Particular appreciation to my parents, siblings, and friends.

Daniel Taveras is a Senior THP and Latin American Studies Double Major with a Double Minor in Film & Video Production and Media Studies. He is very excited to have the opportunity to perform in Project Journey in the role of the Director and hopes to utilize this experience to inform his own Senior Project production in the Fall. This is his first time acting in Purchase production, but he can also be seen on Netflix’s The God Committee directed by Austin Stark, the short film CLARE by Lauren Minnerath which just premiere at this year’s SxSW film festival, Jose Acevedo’s short film EAGLE, the film TAHARA by Olivia Peace starring Rachel Sennott, and the television series New Amsterdam. Daniel hopes this show will encourage other creatives and theater makers to utilize their voice to build stronger bonds in their communities and bring contemporary issues to the forefront of public discussion.

Arielle Moore is a third-year SUNY Purchase BFA Acting major from Harlem, NY. Past Purchase credits include: Truth and Reconciliation (Man/Mama), Babette’s Feast (Mrs. Lowenhielm/Lady of the Court), and Barbecue (Black Lillie Anne). Other credits include A Little Night Music (Petra) at LaGuardia High School. She sends so much love and gratitude to her supportive family, friends and mentors

JieJer’s an inspiring actor who has a gentle and loving personality. His vibrant energy will bring you in and have you wanting to know him. He’s old school at heart and it shows in his maturity in music. He’s commitment on his craft shows in his performance. Performing is what he wanted to do before he figured what acting was. He remembers trying to copy what characters were doing on tv. He wants his viewers to relate to his character and story but in general get lost in the world he’s help created

Tim daly is a 20 year old theatre & performance major with a minor in psychology who loves meeting new people and connecting with real stories. He shadows Ayeraye, indulging in his passion for Black theatre. Being a black creative , he notices the lack of representation in our industry and plans on implementing a lot of the things Ayeraye used in his upcoming senior project, which Ayeraye will be directing!

Ayeraye’s past acting credits include: For Colored Women (Woman in Yellow), Palazzo Manor (Ash), My Own Eyes (Heather), Welcome America? (Fallen Angel) and some films as well: The Perfect Host (Peaches), Bad Trouble (Professor Hicks), It’s All in your Head (Sarah) and STEP! The Mockumentary (Step Team Ensemble).

With the drive and tenacity to build towards a world of harmony and equity, Ayeraye Hargett (@ayeraslay) is a fourth-year Theatre and Performance student with minors in Screenwriting, Film, and Global Black Studies at Purchase College. She founded Sankofa Medias; a production company with the mission of displaying and centering Black Joy, Black Beauty, and Black Victories before writing and directing Ancestral Plane (2021) and Justice (2022, coming soon). Ayeraye thanks all her friends and family for the love and support, as well as each and every person who made it possible to bring life to her vision through performance.

In our teaching and art, the Conservatory values inclusiveness, equality, and excellence. Upholding all of our training is our aim to train and graduate citizen artists: multifaceted people with a strong sense of purpose in approaching an arts education.

What is a citizen artist? Citizen artists seek to discover how their unique voices can contribute to our world. They understand what it means to be an artist, and what they are here on earth to say and do and make.

The Conservatory trains future citizen artists in three degree programs:

+ BFA Actor Training. The BFA is an intensive professional training program offered to a highly select and diverse group of students. The professional training is anchored in four years of study in acting, voice, speech, and movement, complemented by offerings in dramatic literature and analysis, history of the theatre, stage combat, improvisation, mask work, acting for the camera, and the business of acting. As one of five schools in the Consortium of Professional Theatre Training Programs, Purchase is one of a handful of colleges in the world capable of training artists at this level—and of drawing a faculty from the ranks of professional theatre.

+ BFA in Theatre Design/Technology. Emphasizing studio and classroom training, our professional training program in theatre design/technology gives students the guidance and support of established and theatre industry professionals. Many of our alumni are recognized at the top of their field, and have received Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk Awards, among other honors. Quite literally, Purchase grads are working in or have worked in every theatre on Broadway, in all tristate venues, and with countless touring productions.

+ BA program in Theatre and Performance. From traditional theatre to cutting-edge interdisciplinary work, the theatre and performance major encourages creativity, intellectual curiosity, social engagement, and critical thinking. The core requirements combine scholarship and practice to provide students with a strong foundation in theatre history and dramatic literature, with mandatory stagecraft/production courses. Theatre and Performance majors are encouraged to expand the scope of their education by studying abroad, as well as pursuing coursework in other programs of study within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Purchase College.