On March 13, 2020, the name Breonna Taylor entered the global consciousness when she was fatally shot by police officers who had forcibly entered her home in Louisville, Kentucky. But who was Breonna Taylor the person? In Bree Wayy: Promise Witness Remembrance, she is remembered from the perspectives of her mother, Tamika Palmer, and painter Amy Sherald. Looking through personal photos and videos, Palmer’s face lights up as she recounts her “best friend.” Sherald, best known for her portrait of Michelle Obama, shares her process of meeting Taylor posthumously and how she translates a person’s spirit into paint on canvas. As the resulting portrait hangs in Louisville’s Speed Art Museum, a community comes together to wrestle with this country’s complicated history while remembering Taylor’s legacy. Through Palmer’s grief and Sherald’s brushstrokes, the film examines the power of art to capture the fullness of who Breonna Taylor was and what was lost when she died. KL

Q&A following screening